| We Rent a Porsche Boxster S
5/27/2003 |
I surprised Debbi with a day for just the two of us, driving a Porsche Boxster S to up to Knoebels's. We picked up the car at 9, dropped the top and headed out 322. First impressions were not overwhelming. While the car pulls strongly, so does the WRX that we have. The shifter for the 6-speed manual was just OK in this easy cruising mode, the steering was heavy, the brakes needed resurfacing, and the ride firm.
Once we got up into the serious twisties (PA 125 near Shamokin), the car came into it's own. This road has sections that are nothing but 15 mph hairpins joined by 50 yards of uphill (or downhill) straight. You can drive for 10 miles and never get out of 2nd gear. On this section of road, this was the best car I have ever driven, bar none. The Boxster held to the road like it was painted onto it. Going 40mph around these hairpins was an otherworldly experience - the car just hung on, and whispered "faster, come on, let's play". The steering that was just heavy around town was positively telepathic in the tight stuff. And the sound! The sound this engine and exhaust make at full-throttle is spine-tingling. If I had this car, I would be running it up through the gears all the time. At the end of this wonderful section of 125, we turned around and did it again. And again. Mmmm.
Later in the afternoon the rains came, so top up and make our way back to Paoli, where we got the car. All told we did almost 300 miles, virtually all of it on great driving roads. Would I spend $56,000 on a Boxster S, assuming I could? If I lived in the middle of the mountains, I'd be hard pressed to find a car it's better. If I could only drive less than 5% of my time in the mountains, I'd probably go for something more useful/comfortable in everyday life. Perhaps an M3, or even a Z3, like the one we rented in 2001.
