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My 2014 981 Boxster GTS

Interesting reading, are we starting to see the VAG influence in Porsche sports cars.
 
Very in-depth write up! I own neither a 981 or a 718 but made it to the end. I feel all these 4 cylinder FI engines are detracting from the Porsche essence, sad times indeed.

As car people know, the reg plate means nothing as to how good the car is.

One point though, whilst organismic theory is interesting, it's is hard to see the context when talking about cars! :lol:
 
The return of Marty Wild said:
.........

One point though, whilst organismic theory is interesting, it's is hard to see the context when talking about cars! :lol:

Ah, but you have not driven a GTS :hand:

As a final update......the 718 was returned today after about as mixed a day driving as you could get (short of getting it on track)...... 50 mile motorway commute, 50 A/B road in the wet, followed by 25 mile motorway with roof down.

I would imagine (cough) that the car is only in its comfort zone going in a straight line on the motorway, the faster the more it comes into its own as you go up and down the gears. It is faster, more responsive than the 981 without a shadow of a doubt. There is no "event" to this other than the raw shove in the back from the turbo. Do the same in the 981 and its slower but that only gives you more time to appreciate the experience it gives you. The shove in the back is not as great but the feeling of wanting to do it again and again is much greater.

Here is the rub, get off the motorway and the 718 is truly an awful drive. All that I hate in FI cars as their worst and it really does sound terrible. Now I'm a bit weird, I enjoy driving in the wet. The 718 is typical turbo power delivery in the wet, slightly scary, unpredictable and therefore unpleasant, you have to drive well within your ability as you feel it may bite you at any time. That all or nothing digital power delivery of a turbo I moved away from a long time ago when I realized driving pleaseure is not about straight line speed. If I'd done the same B roads in the wet in the 981 I know I would have enjoyed the drive so much more. The power delivery is just so much more analogue, linear and therefore predicatable. I will happily get the rear end to squirm in the 981 with full confidence it will fall into line with slight adjustments of throttle, engine braking into deep pends to carry the revs through with a balance and smoothness that is rewarding and enjoyable i.e. Fun. It is simply not possible to get the same experience in the 718. The car feels unsettled, the auto box gets confused, the power delivery is uncertain. It was clear I would never have a 718 in PDK. A manual box would make it more controllable but I fear at the expense of exaggerating the turbo lag the PDK tries to hide. The arguments that the 718 is a better handling car are totally irrelevent, any difference being ruined, masked by the engine.
There is turbo lag and don't let anyone tell you there is not. The PDK box is definately compromised in trying to mask it, but by example I did an overtake today, dropping the gears in preparation when I had to hesitate before committing, that slight hesitation took the turbo off boost and when committed there was that classic turbo "nothing" before all hell broke lose and the shove in the back. No doubt there are those who love that classic turbo experience, fine when in a straight line and in the dry but I would much much rather have the smooth predicatable, controllable power delivery of a great NA engine. Yes I may be a tenth slower but boy does it feel safer and more enjoyable getting there.

So finally it was time to hand the car back. To be fair I was asked did I like it. We had an honest chat about why I did not. The only real response was "the GTS is a great car". It is and I appreciate it even more now. The drive home in heavy rain was sublime, fun, rewarding everything the 718 was not.

Ps I did like the color though ;-)
 
Good write up Jonttt :thumbs:
 
Job well done, very interesting read.

Sorry, Jonttt I was being an ar$e. You mean orgasmic and undoubtedly your GTS is :thumb:
 
Very interesting comments
just my 2 peneth worth,

But i v always thought that turbo cars and auto boxes didn't work as the car couldn't decide whether to turbo or kick down so to speak.

I ve had a couple of 997 Turbo tips and thought the 5speed tiptronic would work better than a pdk as 4 &5 were all the gears you need with so much power, plus i think the variable vane turbo seemed to give a very linear response, with an easy to predict when the turbo will cut i sensation

I had a passenger ride to the station last week in a 981 basic boxster pdk, about 20 miles in town and dual carriage way arriving

To be fair it seemed better than i expected, personally i ve never loved small engined 987 & 981, they ve always seemed adequate rather than exciting to drive, i think the 981 S models, especially a Cayman make you wonder is a 911 really worth the extra £30,000?
I thought the 2.0 Ft wasn't as bad as expected compared to a 2.7 981, the engine sound was as expected,- just like every other modern engine, to me i ve always thought the catalytic converters seemed to make all engines feel chocked and horrible, it just never sounded like a Porsche and the glorious induction how was gone.



as a final comment its just remind me as to how fabulous the old alfa romeo 2.5 / 3.0 V6 sounded, like the back box was a bugle , which makes me wonder if anyone will ever make an engine sound so fabulous in a modern production car ever again
 
taking all this on board - this w/e shall be normally aspirated from end to end :thumbs:
 
Jon,
Currently in Majorca suffering the heatwave :lol: but what a first class right up.
I'm so glad I opted for the Macan as a loaner the other week.
I can't wait to get home and get my 981 out for a spin now!
Must meet up soon again.
:thumb:
 
Well the boxster in now on SORN for the winter.

What a great experience it has been this summer. Its last run was a weekend of golf and driving around the Welsh mountains.

I've done about 3.5k miles in it this summer which for a 3rd car is much more than I expected and on more than one occasion I found myself walking back in the house to change keys to take the boxster out for an unplanned run.

I reckon over 80% of those miles where roof down including several in the early hours of the morning in the dark :thumb:

So the car is tucked up, under a cover, in underground secure storage until next April. I can't wait already, it will be like buying a new car again :bandit:

In summary it has probably been overall the most fun car I have had given its role it plays in my garage and the package it delivers (and this is compared to some much more expensive metal)
 
Enjoyed the thread, until the Spring, good Sir.
 
Hopefully I can start posting up pictures by then with direct links to my Dropbox files (i.e. When the forum software is updated :thumb: )
 
We all like a good picture!
 
I plan to drive mine throughout the winter. Nothing i like better than top down and heated seats on a cold winters day. I'll probably avoid when the salt is down and really wet weather, but otherwise she needs to be driven :thumbs:
 
Well the first early reviews are out for the 718 GTS.....

Top Gear : 'A new exhaust that claims to offer a more 'distinctive, emotional sound". In practice it makes an already unpleasant noise more unpleasant by making it louder, cracklier and more bassy. TG Law says wherever an adaptive exhaust fitted, you must always drive with it in its loudest, most antisocial mode. The 718 is an exception".

'And before the Cayman and Boxster had two cylinders cruelly but necessarily liberated from their engines, transmogrifying them into 718s, it was the Cayman or Boxster GTS that we recommended. And, as a matter of fact, continue to over any brand new 718, if you can find a nice second-hand one with six cylinders"

:bandit:
 
Glad I got my 981 fully loaded :worship:
 

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