No doubt you could lure it into daft drift
skids, but on dry public roads – even roads as spectacularly twisty as these –
you’d have to be doing unprintable speeds to get the Boxster unbalanced in the first
place, so extraordinarily high are its limits. That F-Type will chuck itself
into a slide while gently exiting a parking space.
Does the GTS feel faster than the standard
Boxster? In truth, not really. That power hike, after all, is a mere five per cent.
Maybe there’s just a little more urgency towards the top of the rev range, from
where, if I were someone who understood the intricacies of variable-intake
camshaft control, I’d say Porsche has liberated those extra horses. Against the
newest, cleverest generation of turbo petrols, the flat-six still feels a
fraction gutless at low revs, only really getting into its stride up past
5,000rpm, but is this really an issue? Surely it’s just an invitation to hoof
the Boxster to its 7,800rpm rev limit, and bathe in the deluge of cracks and
booms from the GTS’s bespoke exhaust. In any case, this is the point: the GTS
doesn’t feel like a fundamentally different car to the Boxster S, just one
that’s the tiniest bit sharper around the edges.
Part
of the GTS package includes a modest range of styling upgrades inside and out
Some will want for more. Assuming Porsche
is rather better at making cars than I am at making fish soup, and could avoid
the Infinite Spiral of Flavour Destruction, it’s interesting to wonder why it
didn’t go rather further in the Boxster GTS’s overhaul. After all, it’s not
like the chassis can’t take it: even without any further suspension tweaks, the
Boxster feels capable of handling another hundred horsepower, easily.
I suspect Porsche’s conservatism stems from
the issue that has beset the Boxster and Cayman from their very inception:
treading on the toes of big brother 911. Consider this. The Boxster GTS is
thirty-one thousand pounds cheaper than the basest 911 Carrera Cabrio, but
gives away just 25bhp and 16lb ft of torque. Oh, and it’ll do the 0–62mph run a
tenth quicker, too.
Six-speed
manual is standard, with seven-speed PDK optional. You’ll want the former
And yes, of course, if you need a tiny pair
of rear seats, you’ll get the 911, but I am fairly sure not many people buy a
911 for its ability to transport Wee Jimmy Krankie and his even more terrifying
identical twin ‘Cupboard Jimmy’ in the back. No, they buy it because it’s a
passably practical sports car that doesn’t require you to vacuum-pack your
spare underpants so they’ll actually fit in your car for a weekend away (yeah,
we’re looking at you, F-Type). But so, it’s worth remembering, is the Boxster,
with its decent boot both front and back. (Where is the engine? Where did they
hide it?) And, though the 911 Carrera cabrio is far from a slouch, given a
choice between that car and the Boxster GTS when faced with this lovely slice
of Black Forest tarmac, I know where my (entirely hypothetical) money would go.
True, the cabrio isn’t the strongest 911, but remember there’s a Cayman GTS on
the way very soon with no less than 335bhp, a car that should ask some rather
searching questions of the 350bhp 911 Carrera coupe.
GTS
and Boxster badging rendered in black: no shiny chrome lettering here
Still. Though it looks like mighty fine
value alongside a 911, it’s true you can go rather faster for less money than a
Boxster GTS, which starts at $88,855. The Merc A45 AMG – rarely heralded as a
budget option in any competition – offers 30-odd horses more and,
significantly, four-wheel drive for 10 grand less cash, while Subaru’s WRX STI
is 10 per cent less powerful but barely more than half the money. Both would
stick very, very close to the Boxster on any road or track... but you’d have a
whole lot less fun at the same time. Worth considering, too, that to spec a
Boxster S to GTS levels would cost you about $6,705 more, and you’d still end
up with less power.
New
bixenon headlights are included on the new Boxster GTS
Even so, the Boxster GTS is about much more
than big shouty numbers. It’s the best real-world roadster out there, made just
a little better. A Boxster with a bit more: what’s not to like? World
domination assured.
