New Porsche Boxster S. A Re-Awakening

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Finally we clear the traffic, and after leaving some space to the S in front, I twist the drive mode dial to Sport and plant the right foot. Sport mode is part of the Sport Chrono Package, with which comes the sports dual exhaust. The sound of 315 stampeding horses snorting their aggression through the valves as the revs rise is heavenly. And yet even more intoxicating is the burble on the overrun, a sound which creates a whole new aural experience and one which improves the Boxster immeasurably as a consequence.

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Yes, ‘experience’. As well as the breathtaking landscape in the Black Forest, it’s fair to say that my Boxster preconceptions are eroding fast. The throttle is beautifully responsive, the electro-mechanical steering weighty and pliant, and the sense of speed both on the straights and through the winding backroads highlights really makes exemplifies the two-seater’s balance. The best though comes when I flick up through the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) gearbox, especially when the drive is kicked into Sport Plus. I’ll admit that I am not a fan of the gear change buttons on the steering wheel, the optional paddle shift system much more conducive to energetic motoring in my opinion.

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Still though there’s barely a gap between one shift and the next, no sudden lurch and no emanating lag. Just smooth, linear, instant acceleration that makes me want to hustle the Boxster ever more without fear of an errant rear-wheel drift springing up from nowhere.

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All in a Boxster. I don’t mind admitting that this combination of speed, vigour and excitement has truly surprised me. True the rear-wheel two-seater has always been a fun car to drive, but this new S model embodies I dynamism I hitherto have not experienced from the 911’s baby brother. On the back roads, the Boxster’s newfound poise and go-get-‘em attitude seem to fit me like a glove.

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After a few hours of controlled lariness, the convoy calms its pace. The dial goes back into Comfort and the civility returns as he head along a widened stretch of B-road towards our lunchtime stop-off. There’s still another day of driving ahead – during which I leap behind the wheel of a manual Boxster for a huge amount of fun after many-a-month of straight-line Middle Eastern highways – but my mind is already made up.

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No longer is the Boxster just a delicate model to look at and admire, but always to treat gently. Now there’s a harder edge, a new burst of life and a secret hooligan side one wouldn’t imagine a Boxster could boast.  As I sit down to a delicious lunch at our mid-day stopping point still very much in Baden-Württemberg territory, I consider just how much of a leap has been made.

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Traditionally the 911 and the Boxster have evolved from one generation to the next, their paths set but never to deviate. Now those lines are closer than before. What we have here then is not natural progression, but revolution. And crankandpiston is keen to see how far this revolution stretches. We want more of this. And soon!