Considering a boxster

[sars]

Think the 911 is the only one to go for, the rest is just simply sub standard to serve a larger market.

Sorry PVR to pick yours and not one of the others that have stated the the 911 is the only real Porsche. These statements I feel are a bizarre and can be viewed in the same light as the "real Porches have air cooled engines" group or the "if you go faster than 5 mph you will die" group.

Porsche have spent the last 47 years trying to correct a fundamental design flaw with the 911, that is the position of the engine, yes they have almost got it right, well not right but enough trickery to make it feel right, that is until you get it wrong and then Mr Newton will tell you I told you so!

The Boxter and Caymen, with their engines in the right place, are better driver cars, the only reason Porsche don't provide them with as much power as the 911, is the fact that they know it would be a much superior car at a lower cost, thus it comes down to profit and boy they make considerably more profit on a 911.

 

[moodhead]

I had a Boxster S from new the year it came out when I lived in the UK, a 2000 model, one of the first in the UK and drove it everyday to and from work (70 mile round trip) and drove it as much as possible, when I sold it I had done around 36,000 trouble free miles, not the slightest problem and I didn't think the servicing costs were insanely high. I would say a bit more than BMW servicing but still pretty 'affordable' as an everyday sports car.

Here in Spain I had the opportunity to 'review' a 295 BHP Boxster S for 24 hours for a magazine article and literally spent the day in it, a few weeks later I got the Cayman S again 295 BHP and did the same so I had a great chance to have the car to myself, empty roads and nothing else to do than put the cars to the test. :driving:

A few months later I was in the market for a 2 seater but my budget just wouldn't stretch to the current model Boxster, the best I could get for the money was a 2001 Boxster S with around 120k kms. When compared to a 2003 Z4 3.0 with 66k kms and a fully loaded car the Z4 made the most sense and I didn't see the point getting a 2001 Boxster S with 120k kms and a lower spec than the brand new one I had in the UK.

Before I got my Boxster S in the UK I had a 2.8 Z3 for about six months which I enjoyed but is nothing like the Boxster or Z4 in terms of driving experience. When I test drove my Z4 I was more than pleasantly surprised and pound for pound or dollar for dollar I think the Z4 is just amazing and after 60k kms, a trip around Europe this summer and 2 years I still love driving this car and think it is very close to the Porsche for fun.

My opinion is the following, the Porsche is as others have said a precision machine, a scalpel, it is sublime to drive and if I had the money I would choose the Porsche as it just has the edge but not by a lot. Regarding this whole Boxster being a poor mans Porsche it's complete nonsense, when I had my Boxster S my best mate had a 911 Carrera 2 and he was of this same opinion until I let him loose in my car and he admitted he felt very little difference. As others have said, Porsche has to keep the power down in the Boxster / Cayman for sales purposes. Saying that I drove the 996 twin turbo on a couple of occasions and this is hands down the best car I have ever driven, just amazing.

As for me, I am 99.9% certain my next motor is a Porsche as soon as I can justify it, until then the Z4 is more than enough fun!

 

[roofless]

How true it is i don't know but i've read that the 911 costs around 5k more than the boxster to build. I know many people say the boxster is the poor mans 911 but a good friend of mine has one, 4 years old and it's fabulous and it's a Porsche. The 911 is the holy sales grail for porsche and the cayman and the boxster would be better cars if only porsche would let them be. I'd love one and i think you'll love it if you get one, the ride is fabulous and the car sounds great. Like a Z4 it all depends on the model you get. I don't know enough about running costs etc, most people on the forum have more knowledge than me, but as one members signature says - if i remember right - 'it's the journey that counts'. What will you enjoy your journeys in the most.
I love my E89 and when the boxster is parked next to it both get admiring looks, but i think the Z4 has the edge visually.

 

[easty027]

good boxster buying guide in this months evo if your interested?

 

[Shipkiller]

Sorry if I am late to the thread, but if you want a good comparison between an Z4M and a Cayman, one of the guys over here in the states has both. A 2007 Z4MC and a 2007 Cayman.

He bought the MC for his wife and then after several months of driving the MC (when his wife would let him.... :rofl: ) he sold his E90 M3 and bought the Cayman.

This is the link for his thoughts on each car and they are pretty honest....

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=444077

 

[chris]

The cayman is supposed to be the best handling Porsche though, just ugly :rofl:

 

[toplad]

This can be summed up very easily. The boxster is a better drive but more costly to run by a country mile. My brother had the earlier 3.2s and had the rms failure so a new engine needed at 32k. It was a real ordeal getting Porsche to sort out under warranty. From what I have read the later models are a lot more reliable. So if you have the money for one of those, buy it and enjoy Porsche ownership! Otherwise get a z4 and have 90% of the thrills at 20% of the ownership costs.
Like bigT says though if you start googling porsche problems you will find them, a bit like holiday reviews - hardly anyone writes a good one.

RMS is a leaking seal, that’s all, not the same as the engine blowing up.
RMS is a few hundred pounds to sort out, but can lead to engine failure in some cases.

I've had a few Porsches, Boxster included and it was 100% reliable and a brilliant drive. The Boxster is the roadster which all other convertibles are measured against. To dismiss it would be a bit churlish in my view. It has the best handling, brakes, steering and feedback of any of its competitors. I do prefer the Z4M coupe, the beemer is flawed compared to the Boxster, but is more of a drivers car.

There's a lot of second hand information in this thread, lots of it inaccurate and recycled without any first hand experience.(this isn't aimed at you dreamer)

Engine failure is not common in the Boxster, it does happen but it wouldn't put me off owning another Porsche.

I would however get a proper warranty if you do buy one, although I did run my 986S without a warranty for nearly a year before I sold it.

 

[toplad]

I can echo (sort of) what Adam D and Dreamer have said above about Boxters/Caymans.

I had an hour to kill before taking the Z for a service and thought it would be a jolly wheeze to have a sit in a late 2009 Cayman at a nearby Porsche dealer. I made what I can now only reflect on as the grave error of allowing the admittedly polite and attentive salesman to force me into driving the bloody thing.

This Cayman had 19' wheels :| , sports exhaust , short shifter , active suspension and LSD (not tested). I got a good drive up and down the same excellent part of the A6 I had punted the Z down about 15 minuts earlier.

Staggering steering feel, precision and turn-in, pancake-flat cornering (especially with the active suspension switched on), lovely short-shift gear change with a precise and direct clutch, exceptional poise, balance and ability to change direction quickly. Didn't really test the brakes properly (with all I've said before there wasn't any need to shed much speed for the bends) but they are not as heavily servoed as on the Z.

I love the Z in general and my M in particular. But the Cayman is a scalpel to the M's bludgeon.

In terms of the overall drive, I though the Cayman was the best car I have ever driven and I now can't get it out of my head. But the cost to change is slightly more than I paid for my pristine, well-specified 9 month old Z when I bought it 2 years ago and that just seems wrong. Plus having cleaned and waxed the M over the weekend, I still think it's the better looking car.

The tales of reliability problems and big bills will, I hope, help me to overcome my latest obsession.

On first acquaintance the Cayman S is superb, but I got bored of mine within a year. I enjoy the Z4M coupe much more. It's a brute compared to the Cayman. Requiring input for every inch of the road, you feel like your actually driving the car yourself. Balancing the Z4M into a corner while matching the revs on the downshift requires a bit of learning, to drive the Z4M fast is a challenge. I can drive the beemer just as fast as the Cayman S cross county, but I’m much more involved in the action.

The Cayman S almost drives itself by comparison, yes it has more steering feel, is better balanced and poised, but the Cayman turns everybody who drives it into a driving God. The engine is was also a let down on my 06 car(the later ones have more power I understand), requiring full revs to go quickly and hence use a lot of petrol, I use to get 18-19mpg in the Cayman, mainly because you have to keep the revs up all the time. I see over 23 mpg in the Z4M coupe along the same route.

The Cayman doesn’t like to be pushed beyond its limits either, it’s better than the Boxster, but still can get a bit snappy and starts to under steer if you get enthusiast with the throttle on corner exit or corner entry speed, you don’t always feel you’re in full control. With the Z4MC you’ve got the option on using the throttle/backend to turn the front end into the corner and really drive the car out of the cornermore . The pace of the Cayman is dictated by the front wheels only.

I know my wife prefers the Cayman, it’s has a better ride, better interior and is sublime in most respects, but if you want a car which is a true drivers car the Z4M coupe has a much longer lasting appeal in my view.

 

[Angus McCoatup]

toplad for the considered views.

D'yknow - I'm inclined to agree. I had another longer go in the Cayman S yesterday, which involved a wider variety of driving situations than the straightforward hoon I had last week.

Still very much of the view it's great and, for what I look for in a car, doesn't leave anything to be desired. It seems easier to drive than the M, mainly due to the lighter clutch, slicker gear change and easier clutch engagement (this last bit is something I guess I could improve in the M by seeing about that pesky CDV). It also feels the lighter and more nimble of the two cars and is noticeably more poised over less than perfect roads, plus it has better visibility from the driver's seat, especially the rearwards and rear three quarters view.

But as I drove off in the M, I felt the differences were less marked than the first impression I gained last week. I like the more enclosed feel in the M's cabin, I like the level of involvement in driving it and think that on the days when you don't want to press on so much, it's a much more relaxed drive than some reviews give it credit for.

I guess it's all down to personal preferences at the end of the day, but the way I look at it, this one year old gen 2 Cayman S is not more than twice as good as my 2 yr 9 month old, pristine M (which is basically what the price difference is suggesting). Beyond a certain point I think it's better to spend the money on enjoying the car you have rather than the never-ending pursuit of bigger, better, faster more etc, and for the cost to change from a well specced M to even a lesser specced Cayman S, you could have a great deal of fun in the M.

 

[toplad]

toplad for the considered views.

D'yknow - I'm inclined to agree. I had another longer go in the Cayman S yesterday, which involved a wider variety of driving situations than the straightforward hoon I had last week.

Still very much of the view it's great and, for what I look for in a car, doesn't leave anything to be desired. It seems easier to drive than the M, mainly due to the lighter clutch, slicker gear change and easier clutch engagement (this last bit is something I guess I could improve in the M by seeing about that pesky CDV). It also feels the lighter and more nimble of the two cars and is noticeably more poised over less than perfect roads, plus it has better visibility from the driver's seat, especially the rearwards and rear three quarters view.

But as I drove off in the M, I felt the differences were less marked than the first impression I gained last week. I like the more enclosed feel in the M's cabin, I like the level of involvement in driving it and think that on the days when you don't want to press on so much, it's a much more relaxed drive than some reviews give it credit for.

I agree, it definitely feels more poised and settles in to a corner quicker, it’s ready for another steering input with a great aplomb than the Z4MC, you’re able to trim the line through a corner very accurately and you instantly know how much grip you have from the front wheels
Visibility is much better; it feels more like a normal car to be in, apart from the engine noise/boom behind you. The Z4MC is actually quieter on the motorway though.
If the Z4MC rode as well a PASM Cayman I'd be very pleased, the ride on the Cayman really is excellent and allows you to get the power down quicker and more of the time.

For me though, the engine was a let down and it was too civilised to be fun, the engine in the Z4M is the star of the show. In the Cayman, the chassis take centre stage.

Both superb cars

 

[exmazdamx5]

One the reasons that I decided not to buy a boxster (from Boxa net)

http://www.boxa.net/forum/index.php?s=0eca22d14808683c2903ebb8b894007b&showtopic=47662

 

[PaulN]

Ive got a Boxster 2.7 and its lovely. But then again so is the Z4....... Its like asking to choose between your children you can love them both as much even though they are different.

I use an indy for servicing and other things. ours is a 1999 with 30k on the clock and has just had new discs/pads last year, RMS/Clutch, they year before and has a service every year. Most years it cost about £200-£400 but the Clutch and RMS came to £900.

I think both the Boxster and Z4 are stunning looking cars.... maybe not Lambo or Aston Stunning but hey not the same price bracket either.

Cheers

PaulN