1000 miles in

[toplad]

So I've done just over a thousand miles now and thought I'd share my thoughts and impressions. 

The car has definitely livened up, my car had very little use over the last few years by previous owners. This seems to have effected the engine in terms of power and mpg. 

I used to have a Cayman S and I remembered the mpg was around 22-23 mpg, but I struggled to get above  20 mpg in the Boxster S initially , which I found odd.

Recently I've been doing a few motorway runs and it seems to have cleared some shyte out of it. The mpg has gone up to 22 mpg and the engine feels stronger, to the point I've been hitting the rev limiter a few times and been traveling at speeds which have taken me by surprise when I've looked down at the speedo. 

One other thing I noticed is, with exiting junction swith my usually throttle position a bit of wheel spin and PSM intervention is induced 

It certainly doesn't feel as flat as when I first bought it. 

Think the morel is to use these cars every day if possible as mine feels much improved 

[Paul P]

Italian tune up seems to be required for Porsche of all types, I remember 15 years ago being told by  petite lady (who I wrongly assumed was the receptionist at the Indy I had taken my 911SC to) - she was in fact the owner)  explaining that the reason I though the brakes and the gear change were "wrong" was that I was (in her words) "driving it like a pussy" - she took me out in my car for a little drive and, yup, she was right. 

Not a mistake I am repeating with my boxster - although (it's a different car to yours and a different journey) - I hit 40 mpg in my 2.9 PDK on the way to work the other morning -  that is about what my Audi A4 cabriolet used to give me.

[BenCA]

How does it compare to the cayman?

im trying to work out what to buy as a second car and whilst I initially wanted to go the cayman route - I’m reconsidering due to examples available, specs and the minefield or bore score knowledge!  Starting to think a Boxster may be a better bet...

[Pinewood]

I tried both before opting for a Boxster. With the roof up i have 9/10ths of  Cayman. 

Boxster gives me two cars in one with the roof down.

[toplad]

3 hours ago, Pinewood said:

I tried both before opting for a Boxster. With the roof up i have 9/10ths of  Cayman. 

Boxster gives me two cars in one with the roof down.

I sort of agree, but would say 7. 5/10ths. The precision of the steering and feel through it is greater. The Cayman  chassis feels  tighter and it's a better tool for picking apart a road. The back end settles down quicker under hard cornering allowing you to get on the power and attack more. 

You also can work up to the limit quicker because you know what you have got underneath you instantly when driving hard. 

I ordered the cayman because it had 295hp, at the time the Boxster S had 280, but within 6 months Porsche had stuck the same engine in Boxster and I sort of regretted not waiting  and buying the Boxster instead. 

Despite the firmer and slightly more dynamic chassis I prefer the Boxster S. The trouble with the cayman is, you just end up traveling very fast into corners, as standard the car is set up to understeer and this limits the fun imo. It's very accomplished, but a tad boring once you got used to it. 

The cayman lasted a year and I don't regret selling it, I have considered another but prefer the Boxster as it handles brilliantly, is more or less as quick in the real world, (it's so close between them it's driver dependant) despite it feeling much tighter. 

Boxster is just more fun with the roof down. 

One last thing about the cayman, is the cabin noise. There's sort of a hum/resonance, it's quite loud on the motorway which I found annoying 

[BenCA]

Very interesting, thank you.  I would have thought the Cayman would make a better motorway cruiser/ have less of a hum at cruise?  Is the Boxster slightly more tail happy then?

 

[toplad]

There is more hum, it's a sort of buzzing/hum that was present on my 06 car, maybe porsche engineed it out on later models. 

Neither car is tail happy in my view, both silp into understeer when pushed over the limit in standard setup. 

If you want tail happy, you want a Bmw Z4M, proper driver's car 

[BenCA]

I was kind of hoping the cayman/ Boxster would be a proper drivers car!  I’m not after big smoky drifts, but the occaisional shimmy out of a 90 degree corner or the ability to trail brake and have the car feel a slight bit of slip is more my thing.  Perhaps I’m best looking elsewhere?

[Menoporsche]

You can always adjust suspension set up. 

[rowbos]

Just now, Menoporsche said:

You can always adjust suspension set up. 

And tyre pressures?

I haven't really experienced too much understeer on either of my Boxsters but can certainly induce rear end excitement if I want to (I'm talking oversteer not Blue Oyster Club)...

[toplad]

9 hours ago, rowbos said:

And tyre pressures?

I haven't really experienced too much understeer on either of my Boxsters but can certainly induce rear end excitement if I want to (I'm talking oversteer not Blue Oyster Club)...

Lol

Yes, actually I find the Boxster has a more mobile rear than the cayman, it just seems more adjustable with the throttle. Although it has been a while, so I'd like to drive both cars back to back to confirm 

I had a great drive on Saturday evening, roads were dead and I attacked a few roundabouts I know well, back end of the car just starting to come into play on the exit, felt superb, controllable and quick. 

I enjoy the handling more in the 987 than I did in the Cayman or the 986`s I had in the past I think 

[Bravestarr]

I haven't had understeer at all. I have a very quiet roundabout on my commute and if I do a quick lap (as you do) it's the back that always lets go first.

On corners that I know it isn't too hard to get the rear to move. Tends to be on second gear stuff though. I wouldn't be provoking it in higher gears/speeds.

As a relative Boxster novice I have also managed to scare myself silly by having the back come right round twice on slippery roundabouts. I'm much more careful in the damp now.

[toplad]

If you've had no understeer you're not trying hard enough 

[Withy]

19 hours ago, rowbos said:

And tyre pressures?

I haven't really experienced too much understeer on either of my Boxsters but can certainly induce rear end excitement if I want to (I'm talking oversteer not Blue Oyster Club)...

+1 for this.  I checked tyre pressures on mine a while back, inflated to the correct pressure and it made a world of difference - actually opposite to your prob tho - mine seemed to oversteer if 3 drops of rain arrived, but after upping the tyre pressure it was like glue on the road

[toplad]

I think some people are not understanding what I'm saying. I don't have a problem with understeer. 

Every car will understeer if you try to enter a sharp corner too fast. My car is set up up correctly with the right pressures, but if you try and go round a 90 bend the car understeers if you go into fast 

[Greenman]

EDITED: Sorry ignore the below, I was talking about 981. I suspect below may apply but I have no personal direct Experiance of 987.

 

The Boxster isn’t an understeer prone car at all IMO, however that doesn’t mean you cant provoke understeer in the circumstances toplad explains above,  you go too hot into an unexpectedly sharp bend and you will likely get some understeer, however you can go around the same sharp bend at a similar speed with a balanced chassis and a bit of trail braking and possibly invoke oversteer. Overall I think it’s a very well balanced chassis, the only downside (to some) is that the grip levels are generally extremely high such that you have to push pretty hard to get much chassis movement of either kind, particularly in the dry.