Re: Review of the 2013 Boxster by a former 986 owner and current 987 owner

As background, in early 2005 I purchased a 2003 CPO Boxster base manual. In early 2009 I sold the 986 and purchased a new 2009 Boxster base manual. Late last month in LA I spent just short of a week with a 2013 Boxster base with PDK.

For what it is worth, below are some of my personal observations:

Interior: Despite the wide center console, there is noticeably more interior space in the cockpit of the 981. I especially appreciated the improved door pockets for storage. Perhaps an unfair comparison, but the 18-way power seats are better than the manual seats in the 987 and felt endlessly adjustable. While I still prefer the Sport Plus seats for their side bolstering, I could happily live with the power buckets. The overall interior quality is an improvement over the 987, but I still find the area where the dash meets the PCM screen to be Hyundai-like. While I think this can be rectified by ordering a leather dash with deviated stitching, I find it hard to rationalize the cost of that option. The car was fitted with heated seats, but I found the amount of heat produced disappointing and less intense---even in the highest setting—when compared to my 987. The 981 was also fitted with the ventilated seat option, an option I approached with skepticism. After a couple of hot days in the sun, I now think ventilated seats are well worth it for the price. For a car with so few miles, I was surprised that there was a small creak/rattle that emanated from the front dash. Also, while the car had a black interior, the silver air vents on the dash were annoyingly reflected in the front windshield. Finally, when I initially test drove a 981 at its launch, I found the higher rear deck made rearward visibility dramatically worse than the 987. After a week with the car, this became a non-issue and I adjusted accordingly. Having said that, visibility is better with the 981 mesh windscreen removed, but wind turbulence noticeably increases. If I owned a 981, I would look into Pedro’s TechNoWind.



Performance: As mentioned, the car was a PDK that was not fitted with the Sport Chrono Package. It did not feel any faster to me than my current 6-speed 987. If anything, the 981 “felt” slower in normal day-to-day driving. My guess is that this has a lot to do with feel versus reality. I think in my case the PDK—as well as the overall more stable chassis and expanded wheel base—made the new Boxster “feel” slower. Having said that, the 981 felt far more stable than my 987—in a degree that far exceeded the difference felt between the 987 and 986 (which I think is quite significant).

PDK: I understand why people like the PDK transmission—especially those who primarily track their cars—but I found the PDK to be boring after a week in day-to-day driving. While I rarely let the PDK shift for me, I still missed having a clutch pedal and rev-matching. As noted, I think the Sport Plus button (which my 981 lacked) improves the PDK experience.

Electronics: The Bose sound system was quite good in my opinion; however, I was extremely unimpressed with the navigation system. I currently use a four-year-old Garmin in my current Boxster and I think that unit is far more user friendly and accurate.

MPG: In 500+ miles of driving I averaged 19mpg at an average speed of 25mph. I had no problem with the auto stop/start system and found it to be much better than the one currently fitted to the BMW 328.

Comfort: In day-to-day driving the 981 is definitely more comfortable than the 987. In the 987 I occasionally experience some “thuds” on poorly paved city streets that make me cringe. The 981 suspension seemed to soak whatever was thrown at it and isolated the driver and passenger from almost all serious road imperfections.

Dual Climate Control: The car was supposed to have the dual climate control option, but I could not figure out how to have the fan blowing on the passenger side without the fan blowing at the same speed on the driver’s side (perhaps this is not possible).

Electronic Steering: There is no doubt that the new steering of the 981 lacks the feel of the 987. Coming from someone who prefers the 987 steering feel, I can say that after a week in the 981 the difference became less noticeable. Having said that, I was happy to return to my 987. My guess is that we will need to wait until the 981.5 for Porsche to narrow the steering feel gap between the two cars.

Xenons: I have yet to have a Porsche with Xenons and was excited to see the difference in beam pattern, illumination, and general clarity. I was disappointed and did not notice much—if any—difference. It could be that I didn’t do enough highway driving at night to get a fair comparison.

Parking Sensors: The parking sensors in the 981 are a surprisingly useful feature. While it’s still shocking that the 991/981 paltforms lack a rear camera option, the sensors definitely improved my ability to parallel park the 981.

Styling: The 981 in both Boxster and Cayman styles looks much better in person in my opinion. I was surprised at how many glances it got from people on the street—even in areas with ample Astons, Ferraris, and Bentleys. My 981 was black, so I imagine a red or yellow example would get a lot of attention—a good or bad depending on your perspective.

There you have it for what it's worth. Happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for a great write-up. Owning a 987 and having test driven 981's on a number of occasions, my observations and feelings are the same as yours in almost every area.

The only one that I might disagree with is the Xenon headlights. I haven't actually tried them at night on a 981, but my 987 has them. First car I've ever had with them. Based on my experience, I'd never buy a car without them unless/until they come up with something better. When you're away from city lights, I find they will show up signs and road markings much farther down the road than regular lights without dazzling oncoming cars.

I think the dual zone climate control just allows you to have different temperature setting on each side, but there's only one fan for both. At least that's my understanding.

Nice write up. Thanks for posting. Did you primarilly drive with the PDK in 'normal' mode or 'sport' mode? I found the sport mode to really demonstrate the PDK's strengths while the normal mode felt, to use your words, boring.

I find the heated seats more than adequate, and having the heated steering wheel option is a subtle, but comforting option. Look Ma, no gloves!
The seat ventilation allows one to hold off engaging the AC.
Although your car apparently didn't have PASM, I find in Sport mode it prevents the front suspension from hitting its bump stops (?) when going over speed bumps a reasonable pace.
The dual climate is individually settable for temperature. Driver and passenger can adjust airflow with the vent slat controls.
Xenons have been a terrific plus for me, even going back to my '01. The sharp upper cutoff takes some getting used to, but the quality, quantity and horizontal spread of the light produced is very helpful on otherwise unlit roads. Getting the PDLS option gets you more "range focusing" and it's fun to watch the light projection swivel into turns.
The body style, while arguable, certainly gets constant, and I mean constant comments and head turnings. The car seems to be an ambassador of good will.
Pedro's wind stop is definitely a plus, although one can see a reflection of the floor console's silver trim in it. Oddly enough, the somewhat OE matte mesh has reflection issues: you can watch the clouds and overhanging branches go by. Pedro's is a lifesaver when merging from the left, and gives great clarity for monitoring what's directly behind at a distance.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2013 07:13PM by Laz. (view changes)

......Pedro’s TechNoWind.

The guy, a PDK non tracking, racer wanna be, is still waiting for more reports on it.

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

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. Per the questions: I did drive the PDK primarily in Sport mode, but the Boxster did not have Sport Plus. I’m glad to hear that others have noticed big visibility improvement with Xenons at night and have had good experiences with the heated seats. Overall, a great car. If I were to order a 981, I would make sure it had both options.

I just re-read your original post and wanted to comment on one other thing that you found. That being the suspension's ability to soak up rough road surfaces. That really is one of the things where I also found a big improvement over the 987. I've had the opportunity to drive both PASM, as well as, Sport Chassis equipped 981's back to back. Both were on 20" wheels. I was expecting them, specially the Sport Chassis, to have a harsh ride over rough surfaces, but found they really soaked up concrete expansion joints and other rough surfaces. My wife even commented that she's find either setup comfortable on a long road trip.

*Meaning that option, although I think the high-beams themselves are halogens.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2013 01:31PM by Laz. (view changes)