2017 Porsche 718 Boxster review, test drive

It’s got a small, 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine alright, but don’t jump to conclusions about the Porsche 718 Boxster’s abilities.

Published on Mar 31, 2017 12:15:00 PM

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2017 Porsche 718 Boxster review, test drive

What’s it like on the inside?

You sit low in a Boxster but outside visibility is surprisingly good making it easy to place the car. The cabin on the 718 has been updated but it doesn’t give the same feeling of newness as you get in an Audi TT. The air-con vents are slightly different, the steering wheel is from the 918 supercar and there’s a nice-to-use, new touchscreen that’s thankfully part of standard equipment. You will have to spend big for a better sound system or sportier seats but that’s just the sad reality of doing up your Porsche. The stock seats hold you well but only the driver’s perch gets electric adjust. Porsche will have to rethink the spare wheel position too. The space saver is oddly positioned just behind the passenger seat, to accommodate which the backrest can’t be fully reclined nor can the seat be taken back. Frankly, the passenger seat is all but unusable with the spare in place. Perhaps the front luggage compartment (there’s another one aft the engine) under the bonnet could host the spare but would Porsche want to compromise the Boxster’s delicate weight balance?

What’s it like to drive?

First impressions of the small new engine aren’t particularly positive. Idle is a bit gruff and the engine sounds mechanical and borderline clattery at low speeds. But these lesser points become inconsequential the moment you drive the Boxster as a Boxster.

The first bootful of throttle will push you hard into the seat; the 718’s 4.9sec 0-100kph time makes it over half a second quicker than the 981 S to the ton, and it’s faster than its predecessor until 200kph too. As you’d have guessed, it’s the turbo and the thick band of max torque available from under 2,000rpm that makes all the difference. Power doesn’t build in a crescendo-like manner as it did in the old car. What you get here is a hint of turbo lag followed by a strong, sustained thrust from low in the rev range until about 7,500rpm. For reference, the old car revved until 7,800rpm. Where the Boxsters old and new also differ greatly is how they sound on their journey up to the limiter. The characteristic rasps and snarls of the flat-six are obviously missing, and in their place is a rorty, boomy note with pops on the overrun for added effect. The whole sound experience is, well, different. Not bad, just different.

What hasn’t changed, though, is the Boxster’s handling. The 718 is just sublime around corners. There’s a brilliant sense of connection with the car through the steering, pedals and paddles (or gear lever), the front wheels do exactly as commanded and the overall sensation is of being in a car that pivots around the driver. Seriously few sportcars on sale in India put the driver in the heart of the action like a Boxster does. And because you are such an integral part of the experience, the Boxster doesn’t intimidate even at the silly speeds it can hold through corners. Grip levels are amazing, there are no exaggerated movements from the body and even the brakes are beautifully calibrated. Importantly, the Boxster doesn’t get unsettled by mid-corner bumps, and ride quality and ground clearance are fairly good for what is a stiff sportscar. The Boxster is a razor-sharp precision tool you can use every day.

As ever, the brilliant seven-speed dual-clutch PDK gearbox is a key part of the package and ensures you are always where you want to be in the powerband. It’s super quick in shifts, ultra responsive to manual inputs and very lenient in how it lets you downshift to the limiter.