Best Value Motoring

Porsche has always been the aspirational badge, they are expensive enough to maintain their exclusive image, yet not too expensive to be out of reach for most. With more than 10 years since Porsche released the Boxster, they have never been as affordable. The 911 fanatics will say that the Boxster is the car you buy if you can’t afford a ‘proper’ 911, be it as it may, you will not for a moment feel like you’re losing out when you’re in here. Besides, without the Boxster, Porsche as we know it might not even exists today being on the brink of bankruptcy in the mid nineties.

Although the 911 might be the quintessential Porsche, the Boxster due to its mid-engine layout is logically the better handling car. The weight of the engine sits within the wheelbase keeping the rotational inertia low which gives the Boxster its handling prowess. This is the car that you want to take out on a Sunday to find a secluded road, to push the car through the turns with the roof down. The innate balance of the Boxster is such that you learn to trust the car’s abilities giving you confidence to take yourself to the limit. You will soon be cornering much faster in the Boxster than in the 911. The Boxster is by no means the fastest car around, but again in this case, especially on the road, you feel like you’re in control all the time. The flat six engine produces a raspy howl that is recognisable as pure Porsche and pushes the relatively lightweight body with ease.

The steering is communicative and it telegraphs your intentions to the wheels. In fact, all the controls are perfectly weighted, adding to the tactility of the whole driving experience. The gear change, throttle, brakes and even the turn signal stalks have a consistent weight and feel to them. This is something the Germans do best and is often overlooked by most manufacturers. Enjoying a car is not just about pure numbers, it’s often the minute details that inexplicably makes one car great and another just good.

This particular Boxster is the S, with the 3.2l engine. However, you will not be disappointed whichever engine you choose. At the asking price of $44,000 and with much of the depreciation already taken out of the equation, the Boxster is certainly within easy reach for most. True it will most probably be a 2nd car, but it can most definitely serve as a daily driver. It has 2 boots, one in front and one in the rear making the Boxster the roadster with the most luggage space. Porsches are also reliable and few things do go wrong. Servicing is relatively reasonable by supercar standards and oil changes are done in 20,000km intervals. I think the question now is whether to take the black or silver.

Pros: Handling, steering

Cons: Yuppie image problems

Via Carsales