2008 Porsche Boxster Convertible: Entry Level Excitement
Written by Kimatni D. Rawlins,
This past week, team Automotive Rhythms was toying around in Porsche’s entry level sportscar, the Boxster. It was “Speed Yellow” with black leather and the optional 18” Boxster S rims tucked in Michelins. My five year old daughter called me Racer X, Speed Racer’s older brother who also drives a canary toned race machine. However, though the Boxster is quick, nimble and fun to drive, it’s far from Porsche’s top-of-the-line performance warriors. Somebody dial up 911 and order me a Turbo!
The vehicle is small and I am not. At 6 feet and 230 pounds, the Boxster’s interior felt claustrophobic. Only until I dropped the soft top in ten seconds was I able to feel a bit freer. There is also no room to lean the seats back when relaxing while parked. Physically, the vehicle is diminutive. At stoplights I was looking up to everything including small family sedans. Only when pulling next to a Mazda Miata did I feel the playing field was even. Yet, for this size there is a lot of storage space. The front trunk fits a normal sized carry on and book bag while the rear trunk stores a little more.
On the performance spectrum, the Boxster’s water cooled engine puts out 245-horsepower and 201 pound-feet of torque. But you can’t show off the 2.7-liter horizontally opposed six cylinder because it is buried. Engine access requires a trip to the dealer. Linked to a short shifting five-speed manual transmission, the little guy flies off the line. It gets out and keeps its pace so fluidly that others will perceive you are in something more powerful from Porsche. Electronic help for added safety and performance is offered by way of Porsche Stability Management (Porsche’s name for electronic stability control), traction control, “Active Brake Differential”, “Engine Drag Torque Control” and anti-lock brakes. The four-piston calipers on the front and rear vented rotors work well. While driving in the middle lane going around 50 mph a work truck in front of me lost a piece of equipment. It tumbled right in my path as I couldn’t maneuver left or right due to vehicles in both lanes. So I got on the brakes hard. There was no skidding or sliding. The Boxster just stopped abruptly in a straight line. Nice! You will also get 20 city mpg and 29 highway mpg. Pretty impressive.
Besides the fun and performance, the Boxster features cool yellow seatbelts and an optional Bose high-end sound system. Yet, it has no multi-media interface like the majority of today’s vehicles. No iPod/MP3 connection, no Bluetooth, no navigation, no hard drive for ripping CDs and no USB port for downloading electronic music files.
At $51,415 (including more than $6,000 in options) the Boxster offers the experience to escape the world and enjoy the open road freely, but it comes at a hefty price.
