Best Test Drive Report Ever

[cardinal03]

For example, the Lotus Elise is all talk, a nagging fishwife berating and belittling you with every useless bit of information about the road surface in a torrent of abuse and irritation. The Boxster Spyder filters out the nonsense, distills the information into bits and bites that men can understand and skips directly to the core issues without being a bother. Make no mistake, though, because the Boxster Spyder isn't a luxury car — it'll pitch and judder on broken highways — but it's rarely offensive. It's the same nagging wife, but this time she's yelling through a kitchen door, so only the really significant stuff comes through.

http://www.insideline.com/porsche/boxster/2011/2011-porsche-boxster-spyder-full-test-and-video.html

 

[Cheyenne]

Oh man, what a loser of a test driver...Bagging on the Lotus? Nice try...

 

[Joebar4000]

I think he's referring to the writing - whether you agree with what they say or not is sometimes irrelevant if you want to actually be entertained and informed while reading reviews.

Looks like it could have been written by an ex-Performance Bikes staffer :thumbup

I'd still take the Elise over the Boxster tho... I had the chance to drive a Boxster at Laguna - big, wallowing lounge-chair in comparison to the Elise, which, admittedly, I was only a passenger in.

 

[theAmazingKickstand]

Do boxters still destroy theire engines at 50k miles?

There is nothing worse than having to get out of the car to put the top away and arefully fold flaps so that they dont rip.

One thing I realized and hate with my new racing convertible!! On a miata you jsut drop it bak at a stop light in 3 secs..5 secs to reah back and pull it bak up. Having to put the top up over night so that fog doesnt get in pretty muh takes away from 'vert ommuting on a regular basis if you have to go through the carefull process twice a day......but it did finally force me to clean the garage =)

 

[maxboxa]

Oh man, what a loser of a test driver...Bagging on the Lotus? Nice try...

he's not kidding. i drove an elise and i could almost swear it went airborn when i failed to navigate around a dime i spotted on the road. the boxster has got to feel like a rolls royce in comparison.

 

[Caddywumpus]

Porsche is the definition of a money pit.

 

[juha_teuvonnen]

Do boxters still destroy theire engines at 50k miles?

Why 50K? Sometimes they self-destruct at 30K or even 20K, especially when driven only on week-ends. They rarely last past 100K even with rebuilt motors. The brainless morons from Zuffenhausen who designed the POS located the intermediate shaft underneath the rear main seal where it gets all the oil that frequently leaks. Then they used a sealed ball bearing for the IMS. Who uses sealed bearings for engine shafts? Only retards at Porsche engineering team.

The M96 motor is also known for at least 3 different kinds of cylinder failures (d-chunk, slipped liner, lokasil failure). Sometime when you open a "virgin" Boxster engine you find evidence of shoddy workmanship that was repaired at the factory, such as welded blocks and cases or liners in 2-3 cylinders out of 6. The cranks are often poorly balance and crankshaft cradles machining quality leaves much to be desired. This often results in repeated failures of the rear main seal, which eventually necessitates an engine replacement. You are lucky if the boxster is still under warranty when you need a new engine. Most of the M96 engine parts are expensive non-rebuildable throwaway junk, like powdered metallurgy fracture-split con rods. Rebuilding the M96 motor is rarely practical, due to cost of parts and special tools needed for the job. It is one of world's most inconvenient engines to rebuild.

To add insult to injury, the car's performance is best described as "anemic", especially given the price tag.

I would never touch that pile of turd with a 10 ft pole. The only Boxster I would consider would be an older one with a blown engine, they can be had for 3-4 grand (Ouch!). It would probably make a good chassis for a WRX Sti motor. Unfortunately, with the exception of the later model 6-speed manual boxster transmissions are not capable of handling any amount of horsepower over what the wimpy stock engine produces.

A guy who bought a C5 Corvette back in 97 or 98 for less than what the Boxster was selling for now has the car that is worth twice as much. The Boxster resale has got to be the worst in Porsche history, may be next to 914.

 

[Sharky]

Why 50K? Sometimes they self-destruct at 30K or even 20K, especially when driven only on week-ends. They rarely last past 100K even with rebuilt motors. The brainless morons from Zuffenhausen who designed the POS located the intermediate shaft underneath the rear main seal where it gets all the oil that frequently leaks. Then they used a sealed ball bearing for the IMS. Who uses sealed bearings for engine shafts? Only retards at Porsche engineering team.

The M96 motor is also known for at least 3 different kinds of cylinder failures (d-chunk, slipped liner, lokasil failure). Sometime when you open a "virgin" Boxster engine you find evidence of shoddy workmanship that was repaired at the factory, such as welded blocks and cases or liners in 2-3 cylinders out of 6. The cranks are often poorly balance and crankshaft cradles machining quality leaves much to be desired. This often results in repeated failures of the rear main seal, which eventually necessitates an engine replacement. You are lucky if the boxster is still under warranty when you need a new engine. Most of the M96 engine parts are expensive non-rebuildable throwaway junk, like powdered metallurgy fracture-split con rods. Rebuilding the M96 motor is rarely practical, due to cost of parts and special tools needed for the job. It is one of world's most inconvenient engines to rebuild.

To add insult to injury, the car's performance is best described as "anemic", especially given the price tag.

I would never touch that pile of turd with a 10 ft pole. The only Boxster I would consider would be an older one with a blown engine, they can be had for 3-4 grand (Ouch!). It would probably make a good chassis for a WRX Sti motor. Unfortunately, with the exception of the later model 6-speed manual boxster transmissions are not capable of handling any amount of horsepower over what the wimpy stock engine produces.

A guy who bought a C5 Corvette back in 97 or 98 for less than what the Boxster was selling for now has the car that is worth twice as much. The Boxster resale has got to be the worst in Porsche history, may be next to 914.

Now I am really glad I didn't go for that used Boxster I was looking at when I was in the market for a new car six months ago. There was something about not having access to the motor without the car on a lift, that struck me as just silly.

That and Porsche parts are crazy expensive (the Boxster requires a Porsche spec child car seat that retails at about $1,000).

 

[juha_teuvonnen]

Now I am really glad I didn't go for that used Boxster I was looking at when I was in the market for a new car six months ago. There was something about not having access to the motor without the car on a lift, that struck me as just silly.

That and Porsche parts are crazy expensive (the Boxster requires a Porsche spec child car seat that retails at about $1,000).

You have made a wise choice. A used Porsche Boxster should be considered a ticking time bomb. Some 911s of the same vintage have an engine that has similar design, except it's a bigger displacement engine. They do have similar engine issues, albeit less frequently because they are not as cheaply built as Boxster. They share the same flawed design of the intermediate shaft.

Never buy an "entry-level" Porsche, there are always better cars for less money. If you have more money than you know what to do with - buy their top of the line product, with extended warranty, and drive it like you stole it. This way, when (not if) it fails they will take care of it swiftly. Usually for the same amount of money as top of the line 911 you an get a Ferrari, but with Porsche you don't get dinged 4-5 grand in maintenance costs every 20K-30K miles.

 

[fromeast2west]

A Boxster with an LS swap would be kind of fun, but I agree, there are still plenty of better cars for less money around.

 

[xtasie99]

I heard of a guy with a GT3 which leaked oil THROUGH the block. One particular section was so thin that some casting defects were large enough to seep oil. I dunno if that's common with high end motors, but I can't imagine that the GT3 engine is any more high end than a motorcycle engine. I heard the story cause I saw him with an F430 and asked where his GT3 went...