Yea, we can all meet up... that's a great event *NM*

Ok, some driving impressions........

My new-to-me 2009 C2 S: C2 S Pics Here

My (now Grant's) 2000 Boxster S: Boxster S Pics Here

Short take: My Boxster was a bit more fun to drive; this C2 S is a freakin' beast and a luxurious one at that.

They are clearly both built by the same company and share many of the same characteristics. Now to be fair to my new car, I drove the Boxster for 12 years and put 197K miles on it so I knew how to drive it and drive it well. For spirited driving, I could instinctively keep the revs up and that was fun. The car felt more nimble than the C2 S, smaller, and lighter. In all, a bit more fun to drive.
The C2 S has more horsepower than I have ever driven next to my friend's Ferrari 355 (but I never pushed that car hard). I find myself being a bit absent minded when it comes to gear selection in my C2S because the thing has so much power, it just doesn't matter what gear you are in when it comes to just normal light to light, around town errand driving. The thing is like a tractor with its big low-end torque. The torque curve feels a bit flatter too so the Boxster had more wow in its RPM range. The car is incredibly planted and feels bigger to me, probably because the cabin is more open. This is all actually a loss of fun.

So did I make a mistake? No, because on balance, each car has its strengths.... and strong the C2 S is. WOW..... from a rolling start, I hit 123 MPH in seconds! Sheeeeeeesh!!!! That engine and sound reminds me of the American muscle cars of my youth and it even shakes a bit at idle. When you push it, the front end is more lively than the mid engine car and I get more torque steer from it - this is fun. However all of this happens with amazing acceleration and while exhilarating, the fun is over pretty quickly because you can hit triple digits just within the CVS parking lot.

I am also 53 years old and if my history with my Boxster is anything to go by, I will have this at least 10 years and probably longer. So I love the added luxuries of that beautiful leather, nice Bose sound system (it is good but not at all great) and all the other dopey crap the previous owner ordered. These crazy every way-adjustable sport seats are fantastically comfortable and really hug me in.

By the way, I had to install gas pedal extenders for both cars because the brake and gas pedals are just too far apart in height to heel-toe with city braking pressures (I just added the Rennline gas pedal this evening).

I am really impressed that Porsche has been able to segment the market like the monster GMs, Fords et al, but have been able to make great sports cars up and down the line. The Boxsters are really amazingly good cars... they just have a bit less horsepower and creature comforts. But being mid engine is a plus over these rear-engine designs (although to be fair, I need to get this thing out on the track to fully understand it).

I thought I would not miss my Boxster S now that I am in a more expensive car.... that is my programming from growing up in a GM world..... but I do. I would love to own both.

Cheers!!!
Bruce in Philly.

Sounds like you're going to make good use of that radar detector, Bruce.
Are you going to do any track days in this one? How about WG in August with NNJPCA?

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Bruce, your experience sounds very similar to mine. I recently traded from a base 987, to a 997 S Cab. Very different experiences, with the 987 being the better all-around car, but the 997 s being just a flat-out hoot when you are feeling like nailing the throttle, breaking the rear end loose, and hearing that incredible sound.

Going from 240HP to 380HP (?) must have been a real hoot! Just going to 315 in the 981 was real eye opener for me.

Great looking car--full leather? I like those wheels--aftermarket?

I also moved up the hp range going from a 1999 at 200 hp to a 2008S at 300 hp. It adds a certain fun factor. With the extra power though, I wish it could have remained a 5-speed. My 1999 with less power and fewer gears was a bit more engaging (for those of us who like that sort of thing).

Great post. I've been thinking about moving to a 997.2 for a long time (current 987.5 owner, previous 986 owner). After every 997 test-drive,I always get back in my 987.5 and find it so much more fun to drive. Nonetheless, the extra-cabin space and ability to get a glass targa top will likely lead me eventually to a 997/991. Congrats on your 997.2! Great color and sport seats.

On top of the bump in hp, the real treat is going to 3.8 liters. Growing up on muscle cars there were lot's of sayings like "no replacement for displacement", that are still true today. However, I still really do miss the smaller and lighter 987. You can really feel that extra 10% in weight, and it even shows up in the sounds the car makes going over bumps. To answer the other question, yes, it has full leather, and that is really nice.

My 2009 997S Cab seems like a much more solid car than either of my Boxsters ('98 base and '02 S). Fewere rattles and squeaks, doors close with a thud, etc. I also enjoy the extra gagues. I do miss the two seater feel of the Boxster's cabin and the confident feel of driving that car. Even with all the electronic dodads, that engine sitting over the rear axile is always in the back of my mind when pushing the 997. The Boxster is definately more tossable.

This is where Porsche is a bit dissapointing to me.... They are employing the things that usually appeal to an older market.... heavy doors.. thud.... this stuff is purposly engineered for marketing and sales purposes and are not only unnesccary, take away from the true feel of a sportscar.

What is a sportcar? I read somewhere that is a car that you can actually race if you had to. There are very few cars that you can drive off of the showroom floor that you can race without modifications, and Porsche is one of them. I like the good looks, luxuries, and everyday usability such as driving in the snow. But they really could reduce the weight if they wanted to.

Peace

Bruce in Philly

2 generations removed and presumably 2x the mileage and maybe 3x the price.

I'd expect the newer car to be way ahead of the older car just as I acknowledged every generation of the Boxster as being better than the previous.

My cars were both same generation, 05 987 and 07 997, and close in mileage, both about 29K. I hate to say it, but I view the Boxster as a sports car, although quickly moving "up" the market, and the 911 being a high performance GT. My previous 911 was a 90 C-4 coupe that I sold about 15 years ago. The 911 has changed a lot since then.

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garyinseattle
My cars were both same generation, 05 987 and 07 997, and close in mileage, both about 29K. I hate to say it, but I view the Boxster as a sports car, although quickly moving "up" the market, and the 911 being a high performance GT. My previous 911 was a 90 C-4 coupe that I sold about 15 years ago. The 911 has changed a lot since then.

I hadn't spent too much time behind the wheel of a 911 (2000 C4 for a few days in Germany) before driving the 991 last summer, but everything about the 991 experience struck me as high end GT--interior/exterior styling, grade of materials,noise level, etc.
What all the upscale visual effects did for me was to overshadow, a bit, the competence of the car--braking, handling, acceleration were amazing.

I see the same trend in the 981; the car also does amazing things when in motion, but Porsche has decided to make the care more upscale so it can be different things to more people--sports car,GT cruiser or a combo of the two.

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garyinseattle
My cars were both same generation, 05 987 and 07 997, and close in mileage, both about 29K. I hate to say it, but I view the Boxster as a sports car, although quickly moving "up" the market, and the 911 being a high performance GT. My previous 911 was a 90 C-4 coupe that I sold about 15 years ago. The 911 has changed a lot since then.

I think that's quite right. Porsche continues to make great sports cars, then they muck it up with all the Lexus/BMW/M-B type extras. The 991 is more a GT cruiser, than a real sports car, and the 981 is headed there also.....especially 'devils PDK baby.

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

The Lotus priced out around $96k, the 991S at $145K (amazing).
The 991 was way faster but the Lotus won the evaluation on a lot of subjective stuff--steering feel, balance,etc.