So its been an interesting day today.......
A few months ago the rear view mirror fell off......doh! So I arranged for my local OPC to inspect the car for a warranty claim for a new mirror and took it in the following week. They rejected the claim for a new mirror ........... it needed a new windscreen !!!!! It was a 2 day job, sigh......
They could fit me in the following week but no courtesy car (which I don't really need). I asked how long I would have to wait to arrange a 718 as a courtesy car..... about 6 weeks. Now given I could secure the rear view mirror OK with car reg tape and it would give me the chance to really try the 718 I thought why not wait.....
So this morning I dropped my car off and took possession for 2 days of a 17 plate, 5k miler fully loaded (well almost) 718 Boxster S in ............ yellow.
Now I have driven a 718 boxster before, a none S when they first launched, for 30 min. At the time I had never driven a 981. So my intention was to really try and do an unbiased / honest comparison from a 981 GTS owner to as near as dammit similar spec 718 S. What an ideal opportunity for me to have my own very direct comparison / view. Obviously I am very conscious of all the controversy over the engine change but am very sensitive to 718 owners who have spent their hard earned cash on their pride and joy.
Having set that scene / intent I think I am obliged to point out at this point that 718 owners should probably stop reading this now. That statement alone was far from my intent / expectation but in summary before I get into the detail as why, there is simly no real comparison between the two. I find myself rather than being the expected position of giving pro's and cons and the differences not being as great as the press / bandwagon has made out based on my recollection of a brief test drive pre 981, rather more shocked at the differences than I ever imagined. If anything the differences really have been played down by the press.
Anyway with that out of the way, lets get onto some details for the 981 owners still obviously reading this...........
The 718 spec (from what I can see, I don't have the build sheet):
- S
- did I mention its yellow (love it)
- PDK
- Black Full Leather with Alu trim
- base seats (whatever they are called)
- BOSE
- auto dim / fold mirrors
- PASM
- PSE
- Sport Chrono
- heated seats
- NO climate (WTF, even OPC's can't spec it right!)
In other words probably about as close as possible as you can get to my spec 981 GTS, the ideal comparison.
First Impressions:
So on walking up to the car, it looks great. The colour and styling are spot on. to me the front end does not look as good / aggressive as the GTS but the rear end is great/clean/powerful lines. The colour just enhances the supercar feel.
On sitting in the car, its grubby, I have to look past that, its a demo, unvaleted, still warm from being returned by the previous user, my cars are always immaculate inside, nott he cars fault, its what I was expecting. Straight away the seats are not as comfortable / supportive as the sport plus seats in my GTS. The steering wheel looks aweful, fussy multifunction buttons, not as clean / sculptured as the GTS wheel. Its weird feeling leather, I've got so used to the alcantara in a boxster now. I can take it or leave it on the wheel but overall the fit / trim even with full leather does not feel as high quality as the GTS. The grain of the leather is cheaper, the alu trim, the leather stitching, none of it adds to the experience like the full GTS interior of my car.
Now for the big moment, the engine start. First a recap of what I love about my 981. first button I press is Sport on startup (this also turns on PSE), second is flick over to manual and I drive the car 95% of the time in manual using the flappy paddles now. The induction noise in 1st/2nd gear in ANY environment is simply the best I have every experienced short of a M3 CSL (it is actually probably better but its a while since I've driven one for direct comparison) or Ferrari, 430, 488 in race mode......
I startup the 718........WTF !!!! OMG !!!! ........ I hate myself for this but I can only repeat what I've read on forums, Subaru. now that shocked me. I have driven one before, at launch and I simply do not remember thinking that.....but that was pre 981. Now again to put into perspective I was a big jap fan back in the day. I had scoobies before they where playstation pin up cars, my last was a new import WRX on an S plate so when was that, back in '98 ? This thing sounded just like I remember a scooby with an aftermarket exhaust. I sat there in shock gripping the wheel.
I repeat again I sat there in shock, noooooooooo.
Then I remember I had not put into sport mode or switched on PSE. I went to press the sport button, doh! its not there, dial on the wheel, oh yeh I forgot. I turn the wheel, the dash display tells me I'm on sport mode, where is the mode light on the wheel..... its not there, gone. not functional at all but I love the fact the wheel on mine lights up in sport / sport plus. No great shakes but first impression is step backward. what was wrong with the button(s), easier to use whilst driving etc..... ? but mostly the car just has more blanks down there now, sad I know.
I press the PSE button...... nothing. The car by now just has this uncomfortable grumble...... I turn off and back on again, is it working ?
At this point the sales rep comes over and I wind the widow down, have I been sat there for ages in a time warp of shock looking stupid ? ...... no he is there to check there is enough petrol in it, with parting words of don't worry about filling it back up, cool. At that point I remember that the car has probably been fed standard unleaded and not high octance ? remember to bear that in mind I tell myself......
So that has broken the shock I was still in....... I'm off. I drive the car in manual, its what I'm used to now and by far the most fun way to drive a PDK.
The next thing that hits me is how light the steering is, no feel, artificial. I can only assume this car has power steering plus, mine does not. I hope it has as its simply aweful. If you have power steering plus on your 718/918 get it turned off (its a software switch an OPC can do). I'll give the car credit and assume its power steering plus. Again I can't remember my previous test drive being so light.
No my drive to where I was going of about 30 miles was 90% motorway from the OPC and I had pre decided to take a different route, 50:50 a road / B road. In the end I did double that as I simply could not believe the difference to my 981 and I wanted to try every type of driving I could. so there is more....
Out on the Road...
The first, most important and most obvious thing I can state is simply how boring I found the car to drive compared to my 981. Shocking. Now again to put this in context I'm lucky enough to drive so very nice metal at the extreme end of the scales, from Phantom luxury to Lambo mentalness. When I say boring I'm not on about speed. It is no doubt a faster / more capable car than my GTS, but so is the 991 GT3 I've been driving recently, etc... etc... No when I say boring I mean boring in the sense, or lack of, driving experience it gives you. This was actually the most shocking thing about the car, it is boring to drive. Yes the noise is a massive part of that, vastly underestimated by many but the power delivery is just as important. Put them both together as a package compared to the 981 GTS and the gulf in driving sensation is massive, not even close, shockingly wide. In fact it beggers believe.
I've stated before that to most buyers of a boxster, the 4FI v 6NA debate is meaningless. My recollection of the 718 I test drove was that to most it would sound / drive like a sports car ie what they have paid good money for and expect, they will be happy. But now I have a real, indepth knowledge of what Porsche achieved with the 981 I was simply left with a feeling of sadness, the step backwards in the driver experience is simply massive. i found myself contemplating, is this just simply more a GT car but the answer is no. It is no more comfortable in the real world than the 981, in fact compared to the GTS interior its a step back, yes the drive is "easier" to exploit but there is an underlying rumble/undertone to the engine which to be frank was simply unpleasant. I was constantly turning PSE on / off but it made as near as damn it no difference. In my car swithc PSE off and you know its off.
The only comparable I could find on my car was that the kick down / engine braking backfire, snare/crackle of the exhaust was comparable to the 981. Great fun, embarrasing at times. But the comparable up the rev range of induction noise was not only not comparable, its does not exist. The most fun part of driving the GTS is the feeling and noise up the gears in manual mode, it is simply sublime, addictive, organismic..... the same experience in the 718 is lame, a massive disappointment.... boring apart from the sensation of raw speed. I have no doubt I was going faster quicker in the 718 but it simply did not feel like it due to the massively subdued way you get there.
I expected to then go on about turbo lag etc... etc.... but to be honest its simply not relevent, it does not matter, I had lost interest in the car after 1 hour of driving it !
This honestly was not what I was expecting to write. Yes I was expecting to be naturally biased (as I always am now FI v a good NA package) but I cannot get past what a backward step Porsche have taken. I kept on thinking wow for all the wrong reasons, wow how can it sound so bad, wow how can it feel so different, even how can I be going so fast and not enjoying it, sad, sad sad.
I will be driving the 718 for the next day and half, I've got a good run planned tomorrow but I know already all it is doing is proving how good a 981 is, the 718 is dead to me and that is very sad indeed.
ps to put things in perspective the Macan GTS is simply more fun to drive, that can't be right, can it ?