Reviews
Gallery 1
If the previous Porsche 781 Boxster shared genes with the 911 GT3, the 718 now feels like it has a common ancestor with the 911 Turbo.
The 718 is a far less highly strung car, one you surf a wave of tacho-wide torque rather than neck-wring to the very last howling rpm like before.
Having driven the new car in Australia for the first time, we are getting our heads around the new Boxster’s major engine – and personality – transplant.
Efficiency has improved, as you would at least hope, the PDK base Boxster needing 6.9 litres to cover 100km and the PDK S 7.3 litres, savings of one litre and 0.9 litres respectively.
The styling has been tweaked in traditional Porsche fashion. We quite like the new prismatic, dark tail-light set-up, although many would struggle to tell the new car from old.
Porsche has also swapped Cayman and Boxster around, the droptop now positioned as the more senior model. A base manual Boxster has jumped from $104,500 to $113,100, the manual S also up from $130,100 to $143,400. (A base manual 718 Cayman is now $110,000, the manual S $140,300.)
Despite the downsizing, your money still buys something truly special to drive. Whereas the old Boxster was undoubtedly quick, to go properly fast you had to think about maintaining momentum and keeping the revs up for maximum progress.
In the move to 718, the Boxster has become a much more serious weapon. In S-guise, in particular, it’s so fast you need time to adjust.
The new low-down torque makes it easier to hustle and is even more welcome with Porsche’s new Sport ESP, permitting out of slower, tighter corners a quicker rotation of the car with the loud pedal – which you couldn’t really do with the old one.
Of course, the handling is sublime, the Porsche 718 Boxster – like its predecessor – a real sweetheart on a twisty road, the chassis seeming to get better and give you more the faster you go. It makes an F-Type – itself not a bad jigger – feel like an old Ford Explorer.
But though comparatively wobblier, some customers will be lost to cars like the Jaguar just for the noise. A boxer-four, even tuned by Porsche’s acoustic team, cannot beat an on-song six. Something special has been lost in the move to four cylinders.
Anyone who didn’t know the old Boxster will be blown away by the 718. In this one model update, the Boxster has become a much more potent device, now with the grunt to match a traditionally talented chassis, yet still seriously satisfying to drive fast.
4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS
LIKE: Seriously fast and talented DISLIKE: Something special definitely lost with the two cylinders
SPECS Engine: 1988cc flat-four, DOHC, 16v, turbo Power: 220kW @ 6500rpm Torque: 380Nm @ 1950rpm Weight: 1355kg 0-100km/h: 5.1sec Price: $113,100
