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Last week PorschePurist.com was invited to Birmingham, Alabama to the Porsche Sport Driving School to experience Porsche’s PDK transmission at its best (both on the road and on the track). The two day event consisted of a 200 mile Time, Speed, Distance type rally and then a day of on-course driving instruction in a variety of PDK equipped Porsches.
The varying driving courses (street and track) were a great way to showcase the two sided capability of Porsche’s double clutch: a fuel-efficient and effortless automatic cruiser capable of delivering close to 30 mpg, coupled with a racing thoroughbred that forgives even the worst drivers with faster lap-times than similarly equipped manual Porsches. As the PorschePurist.com team has had the good fortune to drive a number of PDK equipped Porsches in the past, we chose the Porsche Boxster S for this event as it’s one Porsche we haven’t spent enough time in.
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve heard people say that the Boxster is a “girls” car or not a “real” Porsche. I’m not sure where this psuedo “bitch” status comes from, but I can say with confidence it’s unfounded and without merit. Say what you want, but after watching Hurley Haywood pilot a 2009 Boxster S around the track at Barber Motorsport Park for a lap time just a few tenths of a second shy of his time in a 2009 Porsche Carrera I became an even bigger believer. A believer in mid-engined goodness and the merits of balance over power. Any doubts left lingering, after seeing Hurley’s times, were quickly wiped away after spending the better part of a day at the Porsche Sport Driving School in a Boxster S (and other P cars) receiving instruction from none other than David Donohue himself (for those of you who aren’t motorsport fans: 1. Get with the program; and 2. Driving lessons from David are the equivalent of golf lessons from Tiger Woods).
The Boxster is a Porsche in every sense of the word.
Available in two flavors: The entry level base model and the sportier “S” version. The 2009 Boxster develops 255 horsepower at 7200 RPM from the 2.9 liter engine equipped with Porsche’s VarioCam Plus. With 10 horses more than last year’s version, the base Boxster achieves a top speed of 163 MPH.
Opt for the Boxster “S” and horse power jumps to an impressive 310. The addition of 15 more ponies, from last year’s S version, propels the car from zero to sixty in less than 5 seconds and a top speed of 170 MPH.
There’s nothing entry level about those figure and definitely nothing girly!!
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be giving you my impressions of PDK on and off the track, the Porsche Sport Driving School, and even more on the Boxster. If there’s anything specific you want to know, feel free to leave a question in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer.
Related Posts
A Week With a 2009 Porsche Carrera S with PDK
A Boxster Affair
Porsche Doppelkupplung (double clutch) or PDK Explained
Porsche Factoid: The PDK Transmission is over 20 Years Old
[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptLast week PorschePurist.com was invited to Birmingham, Alabama to the Porsche Sport Driving School to experience Porsche’s PDK transmission at its best (both on the road and on the track). The two day event consisted of a 200 mile Time, Speed, Distance type rally and then a day of on-course driving instruction in a variety of PDK equipped Porsches. The varying driving courses (street and track) were a great way to showcase the two sided capability of Porsche’s double clutch: a fuel-efficien [...]
How does the PDK feel from a performance driving standpoint?
*stir stir stir*
Only a “girl’s car” from the perspective of who buys the cars. And that might not even be accurate. In any case, just look at the (lack of) sales volume; the market is speaking very loudly now.
Also, go find Clarkson’s comment that suggests a Boxster is an announcement to the world that you can’t afford a 911. So the car is being knocked around from all sides.
@Andrew, I’ll answer your question, from my perspective, in a post next week. you might be surprised…
@Ken, I agree with your statement about who’s buying them (or not buying them at this point). I hope that came across in my post. I was truly impressed and surprised with the performance and capabilities of this car.
As for Clarkson, you know how he is. Always looking for a way to bash Porsche…
Actually, it was Richard Hammond that said the only reason you buy a Boxster is because you can’t afford a 911, not Clarkson.
Where I live, I actually see more women driving 911s.
I used to think the Boxster was a chick car… then I test drove one. Not only did I change my mind about that, I ended up buying one. It’s the best car I’ve owned to this day.
I know the perception of the Boxster is often feminine, but I wonder how the results of this question would look if it was asked only to people who have actually driven one.
I love my Boxster. I’ve owned many 951s. Still own an SC and a SPEC 944. The 99, lowly 2.5, is still a great car to drive. And on track days, still plenty fast to give you a thrill.
It is stupid you can buy a decent one for $10k these days. I want another one.
One of the best parts of the 2.5 is you can really DRIVE it on public roads and not be in to illegal speeds in the blink of an eye. Very engaging. And the noise, tough to beat the induction noise of this small engine.
@Jeph, I think, like you, that if we only asked those who drove them the answer would be quite different.
I admit, I used to be in the camp of thinking the Boxster was “girlish”. No longer!!! I’m a believer at this point.
@Kevin,
It’s incredible how many bargains are available right now. We’ve been thinking about adding a 914 to the garage, but may look to the Boxster now!!
When I got my boxster I was also looking at 911’s. Wanted a rag top and the boxster, imho, is a better looking car than the 911 cabriolet.
I think a lot of the people who think the boxster is a chick car haven’t ever driven one. I like 911’s, but the boxster is a much different driving experience.
Do yourself a favor, take a boxster s out on your local track’s next DE day and see if you still think it is a chick’s car. Might not be as fast as the 911, but they certainly handle better.
@Tom,
Thanks for commenting and giving your opinion. I’m hoping that your thoughts are directed to all the readers and not at me as the author.
If so, I’d ask you to go back and re-read what I wrote as I’m in agreement with most of what you say.
Hi John
The “do yourself a favor” comment does make it seem like it was directed at you. It was meant as a global comment to any and all who might consider a Boxster.
Like the Miata, I firmly believe the Boxster gets a bad rap from people that haven’t spent much time with them (can you tell I like small convertibles?). Some folks just look at price tags and HP numbers and those folks might miss out on a great car in the Boxster.
@ Tom I can say amen to both the Boxster and the Miata comments. I test drove an Boxster S a while back with a friend looking to add a 3rd P-car to the stable and I was floored! It was pure driving excitment and involvement. I loved the sound, the balance the true Porshce-ness. Mind you I drive a 993 RSCS and have driven almost every Porsche ever made.
Same thing with the Me-otter, I rented a Spec Miata a couple years ago and drove it for a weekend in the rain at a track I know well. Consider me enlightened. I drive a little bit fancier version(MX5 in GA) now and love it!
@ John, considering you are thinking about buying a boxter, I would say you agree
@Christian,
I never knew you were playing in the Dr. McDreamy arena. Was the Miata that good? I’ve always thought it would be better for AX events vs. full fledge track events. Kind of like a well built 914.
Christian,
If you ran a Spec Miata race, all I can say is – you have a lot more sand than I do. I have seen a few of those races and they are more like Spec Piñata.
John – the Miata is so light you can make it go very quick with just a few mods. It is the epitome of a point and shoot sports car. Easy to tail wag your way around and look like a pro doing it! The twisties rule in a Miata. I used to run one for AX, but never did get it to the track.
Drive a Miata and then hop into the Boxster. Price not being a factor you will choose the Box every time (for a variety of reasons other than HP, most dealing with refinement), but if you really like to drive you will appreciate the Miata.
@Tom,
What I should have said to Christian was “I never new you were playing in the Dr. McDreamy camp way back when”. As most of the readers probably know, Christian is PorschePurist.com’s Motorsport editor and also a professional racer in the KONI Grand-Am Challenge. As for sand, he has bags and bags of it!!!
Christian’s Team Freedom Miata is probably the only Mazda with a Porsche based web-site as a sponsor.
I think the Hyundai Tiburon V6 is FAR superior to the Boxster. I know….I posess photo’s of both!……..
Meneer,
Great comment!! I would say your are more qualified to judge than most.
That’s restraint!
DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS!
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WHO CARES !!!! If you like it….. buy it !!
@Joe,
I think most of the people who have commented so far would agree with you! If I can come up with the $$$$ I might just get the new Spyder!!!!
I really love my Cayman S to much to change ……………..Yet..;
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[...] how capable the PDK transmission is both on and off the track (you can read more about it in “Is the Porsche Boxster a Girl’s Car?“). We were fortunate enough to be paired with David and were immediately impressed by both [...]