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It's difficult to imagine what the car market would've been like without the Porsche Boxster. A mid-engine sports car that changed the game, was never heard of until the first-generation 986 came along in the mid-90s.
The Boxster hasn't only been an important model for Porsche; it's mattered to enthusiasts who couldn't have possibly stretched their budget and bought a 911. But the 911 has remained rear-engined for ages now. The Boxster, like most supercars, has its engine right behind the driver and passenger's seat.
Porsche 981 Boxster S Is Not A Poor Man's 911
It is wrongly regarded as being the poor man's 911, and the only way to deal with a naysayer is to have them strapped on in the passenger's seat, and drive off to your favorite mountain road. That's when all of it will start to make sense.
The 981 Boxster S was one of the best modern sports cars made, and buying a used one for a shade under $46,000, will not only be the quickest route to the Porsche ownership experience but will also get you noticed by the pretty girls at work.
It's close to being as fast as the 991 911 Cabriolet but because of the engine placement, it has a better-balanced chassis, meaning, you'll have a ball driving it. As for performance - it's just a heavy right foot away!
Porsche 981 Boxster S Hasn't Lost Its Charm
The 981 Boxster S remains pretty to this day. The shape is hard not to like, and it looks way better than its predecessors. The design can best be described as expressive, with all the subtle lines and gentle curves, asking you for your attention. The indentation in the door, which channels the air into the rear section air intake, is a design element that won't grow old.
The bi-xenon headlights look great, and so do the huge lateral radiator openings up-front. We think the 981 has better-looking headlights than the 718's. At the rear, we've always loved how the tail lights and the wing are linked by a sharp edge that spans the entire width of the rear end. The central lamp (or strip) found under it is a combination of a rear fog light and a reversing light.
It's beautiful to see how it curves around the corners of the car. The central twin-flow dual tailpipe is found on the Boxster S, while the Boxster gets an oval-shaped one. Both look great, but if you're looking at a Boxster with the base 991 911's engine in it, then it's the 'S' that's going to make all the difference.
Porsche 981 Boxster S Cockpit Fits Like A Glove
If there's an interior you've got to sit in before you knock on heaven's doors, it's the Boxster's. It continues to be sophisticated, even in this age of large tabloid-like screens, touch, and voice control. The clean lines have been inspired by the Porsche Carrera GT supercar from the early 2000s.
The distance between the gear lever or selector and the steering wheel isn't much, and that adds to the sporty character of the car. The center console has a logical layout to it, and you'd be happy to feel buttons, instead of swiping through screens. The three circular instruments are now considered classic, given how every other modern car's cluster is a fully-digital display. The best part about the cockpit is how the driver's seat can be adjusted individually and more precisely.
Performance & Handling Makes The 981 Boxster S An Awesome Buy
The Boxster S is powered by a 3.4-liter boxer engine that pushes out 315hp and 265 lb-ft of torque. It accelerates from 0-60mph in 5.0 seconds, if bought with the 7-speed PDK gearbox, and it can manage a top speed of 172mph.
Upon starting the engine, it sounds different from the 718 - and it's a good difference. Push the Sport button, and it gets a bit louder, further opening up the sports exhaust valves. The Boxster S has the ability to be two kinds of cars: a calm city runabout, and a track machine.
The Sports Car Lives On
Of course, Porsche sells more SUVs and crossovers than sports cars - take the Macan and Cayenne for instance. But those are more for folks who like to take the weekend easy - and while the brand does sell more SUVs than most of its other models, nothing stops them from staying true to their roots, and the 981 Boxster S is a stark reminder of just how clever Porsche is in getting the dynamics of a car spot-on. A craft not too many know well.
It's built like any other Porsche: to last for, perhaps, even longer than you can live great to drive, and reliable. The third-generation 981 Boxster is not necessarily an expensive car to run and maintain, unless you're going on too many vacations, and have no money left for the car's expenses.
It's immensely practical and will do the errands just as nicely as a Volkswagen Golf R. When the 981 was new, it was a bit expensive, but the model's value has depreciated reasonably well over the years, making it more accessible to buyers with a budget for a new Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
Source: Porsche