Zed vs Boxster

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psw007

Member
I was hoping to get peoples opinions on which they think is the better car!?

I almost bought a 3.2 Boxster S (987) this weekend (2005 reg) a lovely car, however I decided to keep my 3.0L Zed. As much as I really liked the Boxster it didn't WOW me enough to leave the Zed Family!

Has anyone had a Boxster previously? Just wondered what peoples thoughts are!?

The Zed lives to fight another year & hopefully I won't have any more wobbles!
 
I sold my987 to buy my Alpina

I liked the Porsche it felt very solid but for me the s was lacking some power

The handling is quiet different the booster felt like you were in the middle of the car with a pendulum effect

The z feels liked you are pulled down the road and you are over the wheels

I prefer the sound of my alpina the Porsche was too quiet

The build quality is good on both cars

Isold the Porsche with some leaking to the joint between the gearbox and engine which is common
 
I was thinking about a Boxster before I bought my now Z4, anyway my mate ended up buying one, I've been in it once and that made my mind up that I made the right decision to buy a Z4.
Then again I've never been a big Porsche fan.
 
Until the 981 came along, I couldn't bring myself to buy a Cayman or Boxster purely since the interiors were shockingly poor and old fashioned.

Its only in the past few years that they seem to have woken up to the fact that for £45k, a buyer wants the whole package.

The E85/86 interior seems a little dated now, but 10 years ago was cutting edge. All Boxster interiors until the 981 seemed old fashioned even when new :(
 
psw007 said:
I was hoping to get peoples opinions on which they think is the better car!?
Click to expand...

Z4 :driving:

IMHO the boxster is the poor mans porker when you can't afford a 911 :poke:

[and the engine is in the wrong end] :lol:
 
A 10 year old boxster just looks naf, I test drove one before the Z and the interior looked about 20 years old. It sounded crap and it felt slow. New ones look nice but they still don't really fill me with desire.!!
 
If it's a driving experience you're after then its a no brainer, get the Porsche. The 987 3.2 is a fabulous car to take down a road, the whole car feels like it pivots around you and the feedback and driving position is just so.

However, as something to live with I'd rather have a Z4 any day mainly due to how in a straight line there's no difference between the two and when the road does get twisty I have much more fun feeling the back of the Z4 moving around than I do in the rather straight laced Porsche. That and the Z4 simply looks so much better from just about every angle.
You then come to practicalities where the Z4 wins out because that long bonnet makes everything underneath unbelievably easy to maintain and keep tidy whereas the mid engined Boxster is a bit of a faff, Porsche have done a commendable job in allowing access to the engine given how it's placed but even so, having set the roof to the service position and then remove a cover does get tedious.. Insurance, mpg, general running costs and all that good stuff are fairly similar to be honest, maybe with the Z4 just edging it. Oh, but Porsche did find space for two boots :P
 
thepits said:
psw007 said:
I was hoping to get peoples opinions on which they think is the better car!?
Click to expand...

Z4 :driving:

IMHO the boxster is the poor mans porker when you can't afford a 911 :poke:

[and the engine is in the wrong end] :lol:
Click to expand...

I will never subscribe myself to that theory, as a drving enthusiast I would hope that people would buy the car they want rather than settle for one they didn't but it's all they can "afford". Lately I have considered the new Caymans and Boxsters as they have great reputations for excellent handling, to the point that Porsche are struggling to justify the cost of the 911 in comparison. As a driving experience they come highly rated.

Maybe some people do make that mistake and take the "poor man's" option. I would rather save up, get finance and actually have the car that is best in my mind.

H.
 
DPG said:
I'd happily be called a poor man if someone would give me £45k to buy one.
Click to expand...

Precisely. The new boxster is lovely. I don't have £45k though, so I will stick with driving my £45k-when-new-7-years-ago Z :D
 
987 is a great car..

They still have the engine problems upto 2009 though,and for that reason alone i wouldnt have one..


My mate has a near concourse 986 3.2S....And its poise and balance is something the Z can only dream of.... unfortunatly the speed of the Z is a thing the 986 can only dream of..
 
They sound lovely too... But too refined if I'm honest. I like my dirty bastard lary snarling banshee howl 8)
 
The porker Boxter a very capable / accomplished car. The image problem (which it has got) is slowly fading away.... :(

Keep the Zed and save some money for a 911!
 
I've never had an E85 so can't compare, only to my E89 which is irrelevant to your question.

I love my 987.2 Boxster. It is a beast, balanced, growly and has immaculate handling.

The Sunday times puts it top roadster again this year, "The Porsche Boxster won this category last year, and wins it again by a country mile"

In all fairness, you are asking on a z4 forum so in all likelihood most people are going to come out in favour of the zed! I just know I wouldn't swap my boxa for my old zed but they were both in a different class anyway and, as I said, I have never owned an E85.
 
I drove a 987 a few years back.

Imo i thought i rode far better then my e85, handled better over the bumps and holes and probably a better GT.

The only thing which put me off trading my e85 for one is for the cost to upgrade it wasnt noticeably faster (the 3.2) and the cabin is nowhere near as nice, the cabin tech looked dated and i couldnt find any with mfsw or xenons.

Boot storage could be a plus as if you combine the boot and the bonnet on in the boxter you have more storage.... However thats no good if you have 2 suitcases which fit in the Z they will have no chance in the boxter.

My decision was ultimately financial... If you took that away and say i had a £20k car allowance if i didnt use it i lose it... Well i would chose the boxter over the Z.



Sent from my iPhone 5s using Tapatalk
 
I've had a Z4, Boxster (987) and 2 911's (996 and 997).

If you want a drivers car get the Boxster, it is well balanced and a fun car to drive, much more so than my Z4 which felt a bit wallowy in comparison.

The cabin inside my 987 Boxster was similar to my 04 Z4 (the Boxster was 05) but Porsche have never been great at keeping interiors up to date, but didn't bother me particularly.

For pure performance though, I haven't beaten (and don't think I'll ever be able to justify buying again) my 997 Turbo Cab, which was phenomenally quick, planted and an all round great car (unless you needed a lot of boot space :D) ..........
 
The Boxster is great to drive. I suppose if you "almost" bought it, that you have driven it? The 987 though, looks too much like a toy, I love Porsche but the 987 just looks odd. I would prefer the Cayman or the latest Boxster.
 
If I were looking to buy a new E89 35i / 35iS then the new Boxster and Cayman would make that decision hard. i don't know what the difference in price is, but if it were <£5K then either of the Porsches would win for me.

i think both the E85/86 and E89 Z4s are nicer looking than the earlier Porsche Cayman / Boxster. the interior of the E89 is definitely much nicer than the older Porsches.
 
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