2013 Porsche Boxster S : First Drive

Porsche’s baby roadster started life in 1996, in the same vein as the 356, with a small engine (2.5-litre) but one which was crucially mounted ahead of the rear axle thereby making it not just an affordable entry level model in the Porsche portfolio of sports cars but enhanced the firm’s portfolio as well.

Even more importantly, this engine placement also helped make it a much more user friendly stepping stone over its classic 911 big daddy. This recipe was lapped up in happy numbers – over 243,000 units worldwide - ever since and now comes the third generation version which is packed to the gills with tech and mechanicals from the 911 yet so very much more different from it in character and delivery.

In these days of engine downsizing, weight reduction, more efficiency and what have you, Porsche knew that the latest iteration of the Boxster had to be not just relevant socially but also do the business when measured up to rivals in class. The roadster market in the class the Boxster operates in is made up of just four other serious contenders – the Mercedes-Benz SLK350, the BMW Z4, the Audi TT and the Nissan 370Z and therefore the Zuffenhausen offering had to have that zest and ammo to not just get its new all-aluminium nose ahead of this quartet but also fire up the senses in more ways than one.

Firing up the 3436cc flat-six boxer motor (the heart of Porsche mind you for decades) in the top of the line Boxster S sets the tone for the day-long drive. One which traversed across the Black Forest, looping across hills and dales, back roads in the German countryside, ample high speed blasts on the autobahns and runs across small towns and villages en route. 

However, to many of those who fail to spot the difference between 911 and Boxster (yes indeed there exists this large breed all over the world!), the new Boxster quite clearly has grown up and visually has many cues adapted from the 911 yet it manages to deliver the soft, clean and subtle look about its character belied only by those large gaping vertical air intakes on its flanks just ahead of the rear wheels. 

And unlike the previous two generation offerings, both these intakes now feed into the airbox of the flat-six motor unlike only the left-hand side one in the earlier versions! The aural whoosh as the car gathers speed coupled to the new sports exhaust makes for an audio experience which can be likened to the automotive equivalent of a music maestro conducting an orchestra!

The new Boxster employs an all-new mix of revised architecture and geometry along with a new aluminium-steel material mix for the monocoque and body panels. What this translates into is a weight reduction of 35 kilogrammes which is pretty significant for a car in its class but with torsional rigidity increased by over 40 per cent! The Boxster S tips the scale at 1320kg for the manual transmission version and 1350kg with the PDK unit.

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Starting off a strong footing also has helped with the revised new design which sees an all-new wheelbase extended by 60mm to 2475mm and along with this have come wider track dimensions at both ends. The front track now measures 1526mm, up 40mm while the rear has been widened by 18mm to now measure 1540mm. Factor in large 19-inch alloys wrapped with 235/40 ZR19s in front and 265/40 ZR19 radials at the rear and the new dynamism begins to emerge in your subconscious, even before you step into the cockpit and get going!

Taking these dimensional aspects into account, the Boxster’s body also displays new flush edges, especially as the tyres fill up the wheel wells without there being any pronounced display of over-muscular proportions. The wheelbase may have been hiked by 60mm but overall length is just 32mm longer with significant reduction in the overhang up front.

View it in profile and you get to see a flatter and forward mounted windscreen and probably the only hint of drama in the entire external package comes by way of the motorised rear spoiler, which so very niftily blends into the straked tail lights! Being a roadster, it looks gorgeous with the soft top folded away but even this doesn’t compromise its versatility, the canvas hood folds out of sight (in an astonishing nine seconds) but yet gives a large luggage bay at the rear to go with another one up front! Don’t expect any such from the others in class!

Interestingly in what is an all-new car, it is only its flat-six boxer engine which is the familiar ingredient in the mix, upgraded keeping in mind the new mantras for the moment as espoused earlier in the feature. While peak power has been upped by an additional five horses to 315bhp, there is no increase in torque which remains at a pretty strong 360Nm but the operating powerband is now wider – from 4500 to 5800rpm. And top it off, the company claims that this results in a 15 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency!

One of the delights about the new Boxster is that it comes with a slick-shifting six-speed manual gearbox as standard equipment while on the options list is the new and completely redesigned seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. The Boxster remains one of the very few with a manual gearbox as standard and the manner in which it involves its pilot in the driving experience is sheer joy. The PDK dual-clutch seven-speeder (seventh being overdrive) is quicker but less involving (to a degree I must add) and with the optional SportDesign steering you finally get proper shift paddles rather than the twiddly switches on the steering wheel which made cog swapping quite a fussy operation earlier.

The Porsche boffins have clearly transferred many of the tricks from the 911 on to this Boxster, one of which is the adoption of the dynamic transmission mounts (if one has specified the Sport Chrono option). Throw in Porsche’s PTV (Torque Vectoring) which modulates traction by working with the mechanical limited-slip differential to selectively brake each of the rear driving wheels, making the drive affair one which is seamless but without any of the sportiness being dumbed out of the equation.

If that’s not all, the PDK unit incorporates a very novel ‘idle speed coasting’ system built into the software which senses when you are lifting off the loud pedal gradually or when you are changing up into the tallest cogs. Porsche says that this helps those drivers with a forward thinking ability which rewards them with better fuel efficiency, especially in everyday driving situations.

The most impressive thing about the cockpit is its familiarity plus also its high grade feel and turn-out. If that is not all, the way the driver-focused ergonomics have been crafted makes it so very comfortable to eke out the optimum from the machine. The interplay between the controls, steering wheel, pedals and seat plus the forward visibility adds to making the driving experience oh so very natural for many drivers and that is another beauty of the Boxster package. Fire the flat-six and you are rewarded with an engine which is surely at the top of its ability but one which is the least bit temperamental.

In fact tip-toeing through towns and the narrow streets through many of the quaint villages dotting the Black Forest sees the car being as docile as a family hatch with driveability to match. Head out of these very village roads and hit the open stretches and the boxer begins to punch like a thoroughbred. I first drove the PDK-equipped version and the alacrity with which the Boxster hurtled itself from rest and also out of corners while going through the ’box is one of modern day motoring’s sheer pleasure. It is not about how quick or fast that get the juices flowing but the taut chassis and the way the four tyres stick like glue to the tarmac which has you howling with delight. 

The prodigious grip and that terrific electrically-assisted power steering are revelations that clearly manifest themselves as the hallmarks of a great car. There has been quite a deal of debate on the subject of the electrically assisted steering gear but make no mistake that this has ample feel for the initiated, being not just well weighted across its operating spectrum but also supremely precise and thanks to the widened front track plus the extended wheelbase, the car grips well and turns in brilliantly. This ability to dart in and out of corners, track true yet firm through the twisties, make lane change movements with élan and yet stay supremely poised makes you never stop driving. The high speed stability is near perfection, more so since a day after I reluctantly handed the Boxster back, I got to drive the latest 911 Turbo and the differences in the handling, ride quality and steering were decidedly loaded in the Boxster’s favour!

However, the operating range of the Boxster is compromised somewhat thanks to there being just a 64-litre petrol tank so while you might be tearing up the countryside and the autobahns, be prepared to look up fuel outlets once every 450 to 500km. Porsche claims the Boxster could do 100km using just 8.8 litres of premium petrol but then we weren’t measuring, at least not on this fun run. Of course sedate driving might get you a bit more but then this is a car which begs to be given the boot and it rewards in that vein. Zero to 100km/h comes up in a Ferrari-matching 4.8 seconds while 200km/h from rest is achieved in an equally impressive 17.3 seconds, these being what the Boxster can do when equipped with the Sport Plus package and the PDK transmission.

These are slightly slower than the PDK of course and there is hardly anything to choose from either when the top speeds are factored in. The manual, with a claimed max velocity of 279km/h is the faster of the two by 2km/h, the PDK-equipped Boxster achieving this in the sixth cog.  These sort of speeds and acceleration times and in-gear roll-ons are what makes the Boxster such a compelling everyday machine over all else in class but also quite a formidable opponent within the family itself! Given its tremendous poise, its terrific handling and grip to go with the performance on tap, the new Boxster seems a bargain compared to the price you would shell out for a 911 cabrio! The best just got even better!

This isn’t to infer that it is a slouch should you be at the wheel of the Boxster with the 6-speed manual. No sir, not at all because no one makes manual transmissions of the calibre and capability like Porsche does and a long thrash in the Boxster so equipped provides proof of this statement. The shift action is terrific and the torque points for all the cogs are brilliantly configured. to make the flat-six sing on every upshift and downshift. Switch on the sports exhaust to make the audio even more rorty and the Boxster sounds fantastic – the exhaust crackling on the overrun when high up in the rev range is something to savour. On the performance delivery front for all those who thrive on the numbers, zero to 100km/h comes up in 5.1 seconds while you are looking at a 17.6-second time to get to 200km/h from standstill.