Oh
Porsche how I love thee, how we all love thee... The Boxster is now
somewhat of a gay icon, fast, fun and looks you wish you could find in
a man, I doubt anyone reading could say they nobody in their circle
doesn't have one, had one or wants one.
The revised
Boxster S is superb, 0-62 in 5.4 secs with a top speed of 169mph and
295bhp, power is always on tap, it sounds amazing and hood up or down
it looks fantastic. In normal suspension mode it's comfortable, nimble
and happy to pootle around town soaking up admiring looks. However
click the suspension into sport and everything tightens up and the
Boxster S takes on a whole new life. The mid-mounted 3.4L engine
creates a great driving feel and the S feels planted and really sticks
to the road, even under "adventurous" driving styles and the quality of
the build is second to none.
Now official fuel consumption for the big daddy of the Boxster range
are somewhere around the mid 30mpg area, however I suspect that you
need to drive like your granny to actually achieve that, I was getting
a not to shabby late 20's mpg, which is still not bad for the size of
the engine and the performance you get.
So in a sector of the market filled with lots of prestige sporty little
drop tops what sets it aside from the likes of the Merc SLK or BMW Z4.
Overall the driving experience in my opinion is better, maybe its
because as a child I grew up in the 80's when the Carrera was the
supercar of choice for the upwardly mobile and I still think of a
Porsche as meaning you've made it. It doesn't matter if you've saved
your whole life to buy one, insure it and run it, you still know that
whether there's a hunk laid next to you or not there's still a sexy
little beast on the driveway outside waiting for you.
The Boxster S is priced from 41k upwards.
To
those out there who use the terms "Boxster Coupe" or ""Hard-Top
Boxster" to describe the Porsche Cayman, please actually take the time
to drive one as you blatantly have no idea what your talking about…
The
Cayman is a stonkingly good sports car, yes it uses the same engine as
the Boxster and yes it shares many of the styling clues, however least
we not forget people that the Boxster is also an immensely popular
sports car and who can blame Porsche for utilising all the facets of
one great motor to ensure another. Styling wise the Cayman is more
appealing than a 20 minute trolley dash in Alexander McQueen's and
ultimately probably far more satisfying in the long run, I mean lets
face it the Cayman wont refuse you the ability to use it should you
pile on the pounds after a 2 week absence from "Rumbasize".
The 3.2L engine not only sounds more amazing that Dame Shirley B in full "Big Spender" encore but also performs better
Anybody
reading this who like myself was born in the late 70's and grew up in
the 80's (if there's a gay god then please let somebody reading this be
my age!!), then you'll remember that back then the 911 was considered a
real status symbol with most of us gazing upon it as a supercar, yes if
you owned a 911 then you'd made it, or you were at the very least a
yuppie city stock broker getting rich quick (we all know how well that
ended!) and wearing a lot of power suits.
However
today's 911 Carrera Cabriolet is a somewhat safer and more
sophisticated machine, yes it's still stunningly beautiful to look at
and it still evokes that childhood excitement. Its just as beautiful
inside and the interior quality is second to none. Slip behind the
wheel and you cant help but feel instantly powerful, to be fair the 3.6
litre 325bhp engine does help the feeling along and will see you
hitting 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds. It's worth pointing out that get into a
911 for the first time and attempt to use all that power and 1 of 2
things are likely to happen, you will either be claiming for a new 911
on your insurance having just stacked the first one into the back of
the car that seemed so far away when you pushed your foot to the floor,
or you'll be facing oncoming traffic head-on having just found out that
that's the result of putting your foot down in a 325bhp rear wheel
drive Porsche with the steering wheel pointing in any direction other
than straight ahead.
Once you're accustomed to the 911's amazing handling complete with
flighty backend (it just loves kicking out when you corner at speed),
driver feedback is excellent and you really feel at one with the car,
hell it's a great car, in fact it's very close to perfection. I do have
one major issue with the Porsche though and that's the Sat Nav, I have
never in my life driven a car with a more appalling navigation system,
it's about as useful as a DVD entitled "Fool those around you into
thinking your straight" with your host Dale Winton (complete with new
catchphrase "Good luck, now lets release those balls"). I love the 911
it's an out and out true to its roots sports car, it's roughly the same
price as the XK and worth every penny.
Panamera
I
used to dislike the styling of the Cayenne immensely, it looked like a
bulky overweight frog on stilts. Look stage right and cue the new
facelifted and slimmer fronted Cayenne. My what a difference a few
cosmetic enhances make, Porsche have pulled off the vehicular version
of a Joan Collins facelift (rather than a Joan Rivers facelift, love
her at least she's honest about it). Everything has been subtly
enhanced refined and slimmed down, sporty touches have been added
without going over the top and turning it into a jacked up 911. The
Cayenne now looks like a proper Porsche the smaller wider tapered
lights and the deeper front vents / bumper really make a massive
difference and gives the Cayenne the road presence it deserves now.
Now driving wise the Cayenne is a master stroke of engineering and you
know your driving a Porsche (all be it a tamed down one), however
Volkswagens Toureg was used heavily in designing the original Cayenne
and from what I can tell everything Porsche borrowed has remained which
isn't a bad thing at all. It is truly outstanding to drive and the
performance is amazing especially in the top of the range Turbo S.
So now its more attractive than the prospect of a three some with Jake
and Heath on the brokeback mountain of shame, would I buy one? Yes, the
only thing that puts me off is the fact that buyers of the Cayenne are
considered label queens who can't have a 911 because the habitat (we
know it's from Ikea!) units wont fit in the back. But what's the
difference in buying a Porsche over a Range Rover, a Jeep or the Merc
ML, for that matter anyone who buys a prestige brand. If you've got the
cash to splash then why the hell not do it I say.