Boxster GTS

Annual bank holiday sports fun fund raising day today and up for grabs for the weekend for a tenner prize was a Boxster GTS which they had at the show, had a good look round and a sit in, it was an auto with paddles, fantastically finished cabin, it oozed class and I'm going to have to take a test drive, looked and felt a mile away from the '04 S I had for a short while a few years ago, which was very nice btw. Anybody tried a GTS? This could prise me out of the 35is next year test drive depending.
 
I think Jax might be the one to comment is Boxter S has most of the GTS toys .... sat in a yellow cayman GTS this weekend and it was lovely.
 
john-e89 said:
Annual bank holiday sports fun fund raising day today and up for grabs for the weekend for a tenner prize was a Boxster GTS which they had at the show, had a good look round and a sit in, it was an auto with paddles, fantastically finished cabin, it oozed class and I'm going to have to take a test drive, looked and felt a mile away from the '04 S I had for a short while a few years ago, which was very nice btw. Anybody tried a GTS? This could prise me out of the 35is next year test drive depending.

Yep. Nice, but another step up in terms of cost. With extras, 60k is not unlikely. It does kind of kill the reasoning for buying an S though. A nearly new S is my thought.
 
It would have to be 2nd hand, no way could I go to 60k, wondering if they're worth the extra in real world terms over the S.
 
OP though I've not tried the GTS - as ZermattV has mentioned I've had my '12 Boxster S for a few months now and it has IMHO all the important driver focused specifications such as PASM ( love it though the Sports threshold is very firm and probably suitable only for track or very smooth roads), Sports Chrono ( looks cool & fun but the actual usability is a little questionable - I probably need to explore further though combo of PDK and SC gives some more features), Limited Slip Diff which I'm pretty sure I've felt push me round some bends, Porsche Torque Vectoring - love the idea of aiding traction and increasing cornering speed but not sure if I'm sufficiently skilled yet to notice much and no idea if you feel the LSD or the PTV ??

Switchable sports exhaust is awesome - I negotiated this with the OPC as part of my deal with no trade in etc. It's useful to be able to switch off at times as it can be loud if you're behind someone you would rather not accuse you of loutish behaviour or pootling through a village. When you get a chance to open it above around 3,600 and hear the sound bouncing off both sides of a bridge maybe it's wonderful - I've not been near a tunnel lately but looking forward to that.

Also have adaptive xenons, cruise, PDK, launch control ( tried that at Silverstone in their car !!), PCM etc. so it's difficult to see where the extra is for the GTS unless you love Alcantara - I don't - had it before in a my daily driver, an Audi and wasn't impressed how it wore and bobbled. Extra power in GTS is only 15 bhp which you could get from a re-map if you must but doubt it makes much difference really.

Sports & Sports Plus buttons make a very real difference particularly to throttle mapping and both gear shift times and shift points - much much more than in my Z4 E85 with SMG (admittedly much older technology). Sports Plus is a bit mad left to it's own devices but pressing on and putting PASM back to normal and even with PSE off it's quite a ride - there's just so many set up options with PDK/ PASM /SC etc.

So - of course I'm entirely bias but I think a Boxster S with PDK, PASM, PTV, PCM, PSE, 20" wheels and a few more acronyms makes more sense and is somewhat more affordable ( still need to use a healthy does of man maths mind to justify it as a weekend car which mine is)

Prices for GTS seem very high and likely to remain so - it is an awful lot for a Boxster I think and that's from someone who genuinely wanted a mid-engined Boxster over a rear engined 911(for now).

Hope this helps.
 
Does your Sport Plus do the rev matching on down shifts as well? I really like that feature as I am no good with that heal and toe bit so the ref matching makes the downshift a lot smoother on a manual at least.
 
Yes it does and much better than most humans methinks - at Silverstone in Sports Plus mode I was exiting the right/ left S bend on Porsche's own circuit in first gear sometimes - PDK's choice - not mine which felt a little strange and probably wouldn't in my own car but demonstrated how happy it was to rev - can't recall if that was before or after I met my breakfast for the second time !
 
No - the breakfast re-meeting time must have been after the launch or brake testing. That is when I had to scrape my lunch off the windscreen anyway :lol:

The sport plus rev matching makes me look like a much better driver as well 8)
 
yep its pretty fierce the launch control - the 991 C4GTS i was out in had ceramics and it certainly stopped - but i lacked Jax commitment ! my bete noir was the kick plate i was not brilliant at it .

I think the GTS makes sense when buying new but not sure on the second hand market i'd pay the extra - if the 15 bhp in the 981 is like the 997 the power is delivered right at the top of the rev range . but at 70k i think i'd go for a 2 year old 991 C2S with a Porsche Warranty instead .
 
jaxZ4 said:
OP though I've not tried the GTS - as ZermattV has mentioned I've had my '12 Boxster S for a few months now and it has IMHO all the important driver focused specifications such as PASM ( love it though the Sports threshold is very firm and probably suitable only for track or very smooth roads), Sports Chrono ( looks cool & fun but the actual usability is a little questionable - I probably need to explore further though combo of PDK and SC gives some more features), Limited Slip Diff which I'm pretty sure I've felt push me round some bends, Porsche Torque Vectoring - love the idea of aiding traction and increasing cornering speed but not sure if I'm sufficiently skilled yet to notice much and no idea if you feel the LSD or the PTV ??

Switchable sports exhaust is awesome - I negotiated this with the OPC as part of my deal with no trade in etc. It's useful to be able to switch off at times as it can be loud if you're behind someone you would rather not accuse you of loutish behaviour or pootling through a village. When you get a chance to open it above around 3,600 and hear the sound bouncing off both sides of a bridge maybe it's wonderful - I've not been near a tunnel lately but looking forward to that.

Also have adaptive xenons, cruise, PDK, launch control ( tried that at Silverstone in their car !!), PCM etc. so it's difficult to see where the extra is for the GTS unless you love Alcantara - I don't - had it before in a my daily driver, an Audi and wasn't impressed how it wore and bobbled. Extra power in GTS is only 15 bhp which you could get from a re-map if you must but doubt it makes much difference really.

Sports & Sports Plus buttons make a very real difference particularly to throttle mapping and both gear shift times and shift points - much much more than in my Z4 E85 with SMG (admittedly much older technology). Sports Plus is a bit mad left to it's own devices but pressing on and putting PASM back to normal and even with PSE off it's quite a ride - there's just so many set up options with PDK/ PASM /SC etc.

So - of course I'm entirely bias but I think a Boxster S with PDK, PASM, PTV, PCM, PSE, 20" wheels and a few more acronyms makes more sense and is somewhat more affordable ( still need to use a healthy does of man maths mind to justify it as a weekend car which mine is)

Prices for GTS seem very high and likely to remain so - it is an awful lot for a Boxster I think and that's from someone who genuinely wanted a mid-engined Boxster over a rear engined 911(for now).

Hope this helps.

Cheers for the comprehensive write up Jax, much appreciated. I very very nearly bought a mint low mile 08 3.4 s before the 3 zed's, had the adjustable shocks and chrono pack etc, A boxster is where I'll go next I think and take your point and agree that the bit extra for the GTS is prob not worth it unless cash is no object, so a 2nd hand non GTS it'll be.

I've seen the rainy pics of your Porsche on the Pentlands loop post, looks a cracker.

Thanks again.
 
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