The more I see of the new Porsche Boxster Spyder, the more I think this could be the next Porsche in my garage. The PCH has to be one of the best driving roads in the US and having just driven more than 1200 miles up, down and around the same places in a 2009 Boxster S it was good to see these roads again. Don’t forget to watch the video through to the end to see how the top functions. Enjoy!!!
I love the fact that Porsche is fully embracing the web and utilizing a multitude of social media sites to reach out to Porsche fans, enthusiast and prospective buyers. I’m even happier that Porsche’s first video of the 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder is free of the usual voice over and instead is set to music with a bit of exhaust note thrown in for good measure.
Yesterday’s announcement gave limited details on the new 2011 Boxster Spyder. Today, Porsche revealed their new micro-site with in-depth information, additional pictures and a pretty cool interface. Check it out for yourself.
The Porsche Boxster and Boxster S have a leaner, yet more powerful, big Brother. Agile, powerful, open and efficient. That’s how Porsche describes their new 2011 Boxster Spyder.
As the third model in the Boxster family, the Spyder is the lightest Porsche available, weighing in at a mere 2,811 lbs. The new lightweight performance roadster delivers 320 horses from its mid-engined 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine (that’s nearly 200 lbs less and 10 horse more than little brother Boxster S).
The official press release, included below, has a top speed of 166 MPH and a 0 to 60 time of 4.6 seconds (when equipped with PDK and Sports Chrono). My guess is we’ll see times closer to 4 seconds flat once the press get a hold of a car to test. One item of interest, unlike the previous two Spyder versions (2004 and 2008), this new Boxster is not a limited production. Starting at $61,200, Porsche will build as many of them as you want. Full details after the pictures below.
ATLANTA – November 5, 2009 – Weighing in at just 2,811 lbs., the new 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder will be the lightest Porsche available – from a company known for lightweight, proficient sports cars. This new mid-engined roadster represents the true, purist form of the sports car – agile, powerful, open and efficient. This third Boxster model will join the Boxster and Boxster S and will make its world debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, December 2, 2009.
The newest member of the Boxster family stands out from the other versions of Porsche’s mid-engined roadster. Its low-slung, lightweight soft top – when closed – extends far to the rear to protect the driver and passenger from bright sunshine, wind and weather. This top, when combined with extra-low side windows and two striking bulges on the single-piece rear lid, provides the Boxster Spyder with a sleek silhouette reminiscent of the Carrera GT.
The Boxster Spyder features a 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine with Direct Fuel Injection upfront of the rear axle. Maximum output is 320 horsepower (hp), 10 hp more than the Boxster S. The combination of 10 more hp and 176 pounds less weight than the award-winning Boxster S, plus an all-new sport suspension that lowers the Boxster Spyder 20 mm, a lower center of gravity, a standard limited slip differential, and exclusive wheels provides the kind of driving dynamics that back up the unique look. Aluminum door skins and lightweight interior door panels from the 911 GT3 RS contribute to the weight reduction.
When equipped with Porsche-Doppelkupplung (PDK) transmission and the Sports Chrono Package, the new Spyder, using Launch Control, accelerates from a standstill to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds. Top track speed is 166 mph – with the roof open.
Fundamentally, the entire Boxster family is the successor to the legendary 550 Spyder and RS 60 of the Fifties and Sixties, all sharing the same mid-engine roadster concept. Low weight and supreme agility combine to provide outstanding driving pleasure.
In 2004 and 2008 Porsche produced limited editions of the Boxster bearing the additional name Spyder, honoring the 550 and RS 60. In contrast, the new Boxster Spyder is a regular, but specially developed and upgraded production model as compared with the Boxster and Boxster S.
The 2011 Boxster Spyder goes on sale February 2010. U.S. pricing is $61,200.
For those of you not familiar with this sad and gruesome story, a little more than a week ago Fargo dentist Philip Gattuso was found dead in his condominium. His home had been ransacked, his Porsche was missing, and according to court documents, he was killed by repeated blows to the head with a hammer. Only a few days later police had the suspected murderer in custody. How they were able to catch the alleged killer involves the help of the victim’s Porsche, video surveillance tape and reads like a scene from a prime time police thriller.
According to police, Michael Nakvinda was paid $3,000 by the victim’s father-in-law (Gene Kirkpatrick) to murder Gattuso. Authorities said Kirkpatrick wanted his son-in-law dead because he didn’t like the way he was raising Kirkpatrick’s grandchild.
Nakvinda, a handyman by trade, drove his pick-up truck and trailer to a lot near Gattuso’s home, parked and walked the short distance to the scene of the crime. After bludgeoning Gattuso repeatedly with a hammer, Nakvinda packed up a number of expensive electronics from the home, placed them into the victim’s ’99 Porsche Boxster and drove back to his waiting truck and trailer.
The arrest warrant goes on to document the investigative techniques and information used by police to bring charges against Nakvinda and link him with the crime. Police were able to string together information from eye-witnesses, video surveillance and U-haul receipts that positively showed Gattuso’s Boxster being towed away from the crime scene by Nakvinda.
I’ll let you read the police report and arrest warrant for yourself, but apparently, the silver 1999 Porsche Boxster in question was one of only two registered in the county and was the subject of a massive multi-state search until being found this Monday. Inside the Porsche were some of the missing items from Gattuso’s home and presumably other physical evidence linking Nakvinda to the crime.
When traveling for business, I like to travel light. The bare essentials are all I need. If it can’t fit into my wheeled carry-on or soft-sided suit carrier then there’s no reason to bring it along. In fact, I once managed a three week trip to Singapore out of a soft-sided suit carrier and a brief-case (thank God for hotel dry cleaners, overnight tailors and strong deodorant). Given my extensive travel history, it should come as no surprise that I really don’t stress when it comes to packing for a trip. That all changed a few weeks ago.
My wife and I were planning a trip to California to drive a 2009 Porsche Boxster S along the Pacific Coast Highway (that’s it above). California, beautiful scenery, a Porsche cabriolet, where’s the stress? While traveling light is great for business, it’s not necessarily great when you’re on vacation. You need clothes for different activities, different types of dining, different temperatures, etc. etc. Combine these facts that it’s now two people traveling vs. one and the need for more luggage, lots more luggage, becomes necessary very quickly. Where’s it all going to fit? Even with the limited trunk space in my 993 I know I can fit any overflow into the back seat. Not so with the Boxster. As a true roadster, with only two seats and no back seats to speak of, if you can’t get the luggage in the trunk space…
How Much Luggage Fits in a Porsche Boxster?
As we packed for the trip I researched to see if I could get more information as to what we could fit for luggage. While it was easy to find that the Boxster has just shy of 10 cubic feet worth of luggage capacity (a minimum of 50% more than any of its competitors and over twice as much as a 911) I couldn’t get anything solid about what that equates to in terms of actual luggage. I had some tell me you could fit multiple carry-on pieces in each storage area (as the Boxster is mid-engined there’s luggage space in the front and back) and others suggest that anything other than a duffel would be difficult to transport. About the only thing that everyone seemed to agree upon was the need to pack soft-sided luggage. This way if something didn’t fit perfect you could still move or massage it into place.
Without any hard information to go on, and taking my life into my own hands, I did the unthinkable and told my wife she couldn’t take that fifth pair of heels. Fortunately, she was very understanding and we both packed more conservatively than usual. Our luggage consisted of one full-sized, wheeled carry-on, a soft-sided suit carrier, an expandable gym duffel bag and two back pack. The picture below shows the actual bags we took with us.
As it turned out, I risked life, limb and a possible night on the couch for no reason at all. The advice to take soft-side luggage is worth listening to, but not all your luggage need be put in duffels. The cargo and luggage space in a Boxster is massive! Granted, it’s no Cayenne, but the front luggage area is deep enough easily store two full-size, wheeled carry on bags, plus a back-pack and a number of other objects packed around them. As the picture below shows, I could have easily taken a second wheeled carry-on vs. the blue duffel and still had additional space.
The rear luggage space, while not as deep as the front, is much wider and accommodated the suit-carrier and larger back pack with room to spare.
What these pictures don’t show is that even with all these bags, there was still much more room to fit plenty more. In fact, we could easily have taken another soft-side bag in the front and even then still have space left over for purchases along the way.
If you’re thinking about purchasing a Boxster and are at all concerned about the lack of storage and luggage space, don’t be. Even the biggest clothes horse could comfortably live out of the Boxster for a two or three week trip with no problem what so ever.
As a side note, and something you don’t want to learn the hard way, be sure to pack anything that could possibly melt (make-up, perishable food, coolers, etc.) in the front space. While I don’t know that exact temperatures reached in the rear trunk space, with the mid-engine resting again the trunk wall, I do know it could easily double as a food warmer in a jiffy. More on the rest of the trip and the 1200 miles we spent getting to know the Porsche Boxster S later.
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.
A nice selection of Porsches to choose from
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.
A few years ago, my wife worked at a small company in southern Connecticut. Her boss commuted in from New York City by train, but at his office he kept a triple black 1998 Porsche Boxster. No cover on it, it just sat, day after day in an open garage. As a car guy, and Porsche enthusiast, it broke my heart.
He knew I was a car guy from the few times we’d met. Before leaving on vacation with his girlfriend, he asked my wife if I would mind taking care of his Boxster while he was away. When my wife called me with the news, I could hardly believe it. This guy who barely knew me was just going to let me use his Boxster? Yes! Of course I said yes.
I hopped the Metro North train to my wife’s office at the end of my work day. I walked up the flight of stairs to her office, where the keys awaited me. I was jittery-I hadn’t driven a Boxster for a few years. It was dark. It was rush hour on I-95. But I had to drive this car.
I unlocked the door and settled into the low, supportive leather bucket seat. I noticed the wood accents on the steering wheel and emergency brake warmed up the stark black interior. Some people say there’s no reason for wood in a Porsche, but it looked great here. I was hoping for some music for the commute home. Checking the CD’s, I settled on “The Pretenders”. I turn on the car-she fires right up, and settled into a near silent idle. I load the CD, cue up “Middle of the Road”, blip the throttle, click into reverse and I’m off.
Nervous that this is a used car, and one that is not used often, I’m suspicious of everything-the steering seems nervous, or am I not used to the car? I get the car home, and I’m relieved. No problems.
The next day, I get the car cleaned. I feel better looking at it, getting to know her in the daylight. She is a joy, and is everything wonderful I recalled from my last drive of a Boxster. Tight. Focused. Lively when you want her to be. Just a real, docile, friendly sports car that isn’t scary, but oh, the sound she makes when the tach sweeps up!
Falling in Love with a Porsche Boxster
I visited all my favorite local driving roads with my wife in the week we had the car to ourselves. Any excuse to get out and drive was good enough for me. I had gotten used to the car as the week wore on, and yes, I was falling in love with it. It was with a heavy heart when the time came to put the Porsche back into its lonely parking spot back at the office building, where I knew it would just sit and collect dust.
Yes, the owner maintained the car, but my wife informed me his mechanics always complained he just had to drive the car more. I was asked to look after his Boxster each time he went on vacation-it was the only time the car got any real use. He knew I’d have the car cleaned and returned with a full tank of premium, and that I didn’t abuse her. I felt like I had assumed the role of caretaker, but only temporarily. I actually felt bad for the car. I enjoyed the Boxster immensely when I had it, but when the time was up, I knew she was relegated to the role of a dust magnet.
Eventually, I bought my own 911. I continued to get offers to look after the Boxster, but my wife finally told her boss that when I had the time I preferred to drive my own Porsche, which was true. Any Porsche is a pleasure to drive, but you cannot deny the connection between you and YOUR own Porsche.
With a weakening business, my wife’s boss decided to close his office about three and a half years ago. I’m guessing he sold that Boxster, and I hope that car is enjoyed on a far more regular basis than before.
As for me, I’m still happy with my ’76 911S Targa. But I will always have a soft spot for the Boxster. Should I ever buy one, you better believe the first song I’ll listen to is The Pretenders “Middle of the Road”.
Today’s post come courtesy of Tom Williams from Milford, CT. Tom, a member of the International Motoring Press Association, provides automotive news, reviews, commentary and editorials for The Garage (thegarageblog.com) and Car Keys (www.carkeys.ca). Tom first joined PCA as a member of the Central Pennsylvania Region in 1994 when he bought a 1987 924S. He rejoined PCA, this time with the Connecticut Valley Region in 2004 after he acquired his 1976 911S Targa.
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Fortunately, she was very understanding and we both packed more conservatively than usual. Our luggage consisted of one full-sized, wheeled carry-on, a soft-sided suit carrier, an expandable gym duffel bag and two back pack. The picture below shows the actual bags we took with us.
