z4 vs boxster s

theowhowe said:
It irritates me when people call it "a poor man's 911" or whatever. I want a roadster. I could get a used 911 for not that much more than a used Boxster, but they aren't roadsters.

@Leon_in_UK, why would you take the Boxster over the Z4?

I can get a 2006 Z4 for about $5000 less than a 2006 M roadster. Is the M roadster $5000 more of a car, or if I were to put $5000 worth of work into the Z4, could it be comparable or better than an M roadster?


If you can afford one get one, it feels better driving it, sounds much better and it has much better weight distribution, the handling is immense!! Go for the right spec though, I had 19" 911 wheels, steering wheel, heated seats xenons... Feels good driving the car as you look over the bonnet and you can see the end of the car plus the 2 raised lights on each side, looks like a 911... Plus you get 2 boots and in my appinion they are better looking.
 
Money!!!! Credit crunch... Not saying z4 is ugly I like mine loads just if I had the money would buy the boxster and that's down to opinion they are both good cars.
 
I believe that the Z4's strength lies in its ability to be used everyday with a similar running cost to a family car, whereas the Boxster is definitely more expensive to run. Yes I would love to have a Boxter, buts its just not practical enough to do 25,000 miles a year in.

If I had the means to buy a 911 instead of a Boxter, would I get the Boxter, of course not..... I would buy an R8 :D
 
sars said:
If I had the means to buy a 911 instead of a Boxter, would I get the Boxter, of course not..... I would buy an R8 :D

I looked at the R8 and had a test drive but wasn't convinced, added to the fact the shape has been out some time now and must be due a cycle change.
Discount's were massive though :o
 
True more expensive to run and service etc. It's on par with the z4 for practicality? Not sure what you mean by that??
 
Over the years I have owned two z4s and one boxster s. I prefer the z4 as it feels more substantial and yet is every bit the sports car. Wouldn't own a boxster s again, but I could see owning another z4.
 
Kryton said:
Sorry but I don't agree, I've got a 991 on order and I do think if you buy a Boxter you are telling everyone that you cannot afford a 911, if the Z8 was available for the last few years I would never have bought a Z4. :)

Is this the 2012 model? If so do you want to have that adopted son you always craved?
 
Leon_in_uk said:
theowhowe said:
It irritates me when people call it "a poor man's 911" or whatever. I want a roadster. I could get a used 911 for not that much more than a used Boxster, but they aren't roadsters.

@Leon_in_UK, why would you take the Boxster over the Z4?

I can get a 2006 Z4 for about $5000 less than a 2006 M roadster. Is the M roadster $5000 more of a car, or if I were to put $5000 worth of work into the Z4, could it be comparable or better than an M roadster?


If you can afford one get one, it feels better driving it, sounds much better and it has much better weight distribution, the handling is immense!! Go for the right spec though, I had 19" 911 wheels, steering wheel, heated seats xenons... Feels good driving the car as you look over the bonnet and you can see the end of the car plus the 2 raised lights on each side, looks like a 911... Plus you get 2 boots and in my appinion they are better looking.

The comment "looks like a 911" reminds me of the VW advert', the salesman for a rival brand shuts the door and says "see it sounds almost exactly like a Golf" :poke:
I would love a 911 or even like a Boxster S but just could not manage the likely running costs (or unreliability) of a Porker on my £10k budget for a 3rd car indulgance.
 
Leon_in_uk said:
it has much better weight distribution

I am not going to disagree with your statement, however the Z4 has equal mass distribution over each wheel, I wonder what could possibly be better than this apart from a lower c of g?

Leon_in_uk said:
True more expensive to run and service etc. It's on par with the z4 for practicality? Not sure what you mean by that??

Practicality in the sense that the servicing cost would be horrendous given my annual mileage, two services a year at how much a go?

Where as I have just hit the 20,000 mile point, my car has used 1 litre of oil, has averaged 36 mpg over that mileage(actual) and two years servicing for £300 with the computer saying I have another 7000 miles to go. Lets be clear this is a sports car like no other I know of.
 
agree more expensive to own and run. driving behind the porsche badge makes it worth it! and seeing those raised lights at the front across the bonnet makes it cool to drive. I loved mine anyway! but i also love my z4. If i didnt care about money as much i would go for boxster but because of credit crunch the z4 is better.
 
Just an interesting snippet of information on weight distribution

E85/E89 has, according to BMW, a weight distribution of 50/50
Porsche Boxter is 46/54
911 GT2 is 37/63
 
I have owned both. Really liked the Boxster - beautifully built car, superb handling and was pretty quick (quicker than the Z4). The Z4 feels a bit flimsy in places by comparison but it has been utterly reliable, very, very cheap to run and looks better. Major service on the BMW was £350 at the main dealer. Last Boxster one was around a grand.

Z4 is better value and more modern IMHO. Boxster is quicker but by a margin that is irrelevant.
 
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