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Fairwell Boxster S - Hello Boxster S

abcarrera

Well-known member
Joined
14 Apr 2018
Messages
131
I think my wife had been getting a little fed up with my recent antics that have seen me end up with a lovely gen 2 996 in addition to the gen 1 996 I already had. I really must pull my finger out and sell the early car :hand:

Anyway I think my activities took there toll and she announced that after 10 years of ownership with her 987 Boxster S it was about time she had a new car that had all that modern connectivity etc, (she does love tech and likes the idea of all mod-cons)

I was suitably tasked with finding a suitable replacement, her 987 has been such a great car and a tough act to follow, especially as hers was high with options when new. Anyway sorted the transfer of the plate off the car as a starting point, the Michelin's although only having covered relatively low mileage 7-8k they were showing signs of age related cracks around the sidewall/tread interface, apparently according to our man that has looked after the tyres for us for many years he advised that it is a trait with that brand? 4 yrs old? So goes to show age takes its toll (just like life lol)
Thought would put a new MOT on her as it only had 3 months to run. Thankfully zero advisories. I just happened to be talking to an old friend of mine about cars etc and talked about the Boxster and he said his son had always wanted a Porsche. To cut a long story short. Deal done, asking price achieved both sides happy -Result!

Now the hard part, finding the replacement. Choice between a late model 981 S or an early 718 standard. But had to be red. OPC Colchester tried every avenue in the dealer network for us but couldn't find one that was suitable. Luckily I had a bit more success. So now she is very happy!
Bright red 981 Boxster S, PDK with sport chrono with sport & sport plus, switchable dampers, PSE, PCM, Carbon interior trim, Alcantara steering wheel,
20" Black gloss wheels. A very handsome car!
The one thing that is very addictive is the lovely noise the car makes in sport when in manual/paddle shift mode, the noise/auto blip when downshifting and the snap/crackle & pops on the overrun is great fun. The car has 2 distinct characters, firstly very comfortable daily driver with zero fuss and secondly cross country B road hooligan :wink:
The noise is so different to the previous car, we had the original Carnewal GT exhaust on our car as we helped Gert with the testing of that exhaust, which had such a lovely howl at high revs. The 981 with the slightly larger engine and factory PSE is a far deeper growl, they totally different but both wonderful in their own ways, I can't say which is best in terms of aural satisfaction as that is so subjective to the individual. We have some short term plans for,the car to maintain its perfect bodywork, the car literally has only one stone chip on the front PU. So the car will receive a full paint correction and detail prior to PPF fitment to PU, bonnet, wings, mirrors, screen surround, sills/intake area up to body line and some protection to the leading edge of rear bumper. The parts not PPF'd will be ceramic coated along with the wheels. Zunnsport grills to try and stop it being a leaf / fag butt collector! Then a good liberal dose of underbody protection to try and keep the shiny bits shiny!

Any pointers on things to keep an eye on with the 981? The 987 had done 61k when we sold her, had fsh and only failures were 2 rear springs that broke and a snapped gear linkage cable/connector nipple apart from that she had run faultlessly over the time owned, the new one will do relatively low miles 3-4K a year. So if she is kept for 10 years will be very similar to the 987 in terms of end mileage.

I have included some photos of the new arrival and some of old faithful :worship: :worship:
 
I concur, the red car is just lovely - but so is the Spyder-esque white on!! I can't agree with same for aural presentation though...
May I suggest though, without prejucing myself, that you may have swapped electronic connectivity for connectivity to the road?? :sad:
 
Agree!

I am really enjoying my Boxster S too - that exhaust noise is addictive!
 
doulas bader said:
I concur, the red car is just lovely - but so is the Spyder-esque white on!! I can't agree with same for aural presentation though...
May I suggest though, without prejucing myself, that you may have swapped electronic connectivity for connectivity to the road?? :sad:

I know what you mean, the 981 is more clinical in its approach in a direct back to back comparison, but I guess this has been the case over the last 70 years with our beloved marque, evolution of design is the brands core value and as a package each successive car is always better. There will always be elements of a package which may seem less so good compared to a previous iteration but it's always the bigger picture of costs of production and component utilisation across the company that is the driving force.

As a package the 981 S is a massive leap in so many different areas, the driving position for me being just over 6' is definitely a big improvement, you sit lower in the car and I don't have to have the seat all the way back so a big plus. The PDK is a fantastic g/box and works as intended, I agree the loss of stiring the stick does lose something in the experience, but equally you gain in a different way. The quantum leap I think is in ride quality, the 987 chassis seems so stiff in comparison to the 981 yet the 981 inspires a lot more confidence in the corners, I sure the fact it's all still pretty new and it all adjustable is a big factor, if I set the dampers to hard/sport then it can be very hard on the spine! Overall I think it's operating window is wider, it can be more things to more people, but that is just my opinion compared directly with its predecessor. One thing is for sure compared to both the gen 1 and gen 2 996's it very different!
 
abcarrera said:
doulas bader said:
I concur, the red car is just lovely - but so is the Spyder-esque white on!! I can't agree with same for aural presentation though...
May I suggest though, without prejucing myself, that you may have swapped electronic connectivity for connectivity to the road?? :sad:

I know what you mean, the 981 is more clinical in its approach in a direct back to back comparison, but I guess this has been the case over the last 70 years with our beloved marque, evolution of design is the brands core value and as a package each successive car is always better. There will always be elements of a package which may seem less so good compared to a previous iteration but it's always the bigger picture of costs of production and component utilisation across the company that is the driving force.

As a package the 981 S is a massive leap in so many different areas, the driving position for me being just over 6' is definitely a big improvement, you sit lower in the car and I don't have to have the seat all the way back so a big plus. The PDK is a fantastic g/box and works as intended, I agree the loss of stiring the stick does lose something in the experience, but equally you gain in a different way. The quantum leap I think is in ride quality, the 987 chassis seems so stiff in comparison to the 981 yet the 981 inspires a lot more confidence in the corners, I sure the fact it's all still pretty new and it all adjustable is a big factor, if I set the dampers to hard/sport then it can be very hard on the spine! Overall I think it's operating window is wider, it can be more things to more people, but that is just my opinion compared directly with its predecessor. One thing is for sure compared to both the gen 1 and gen 2 996's it very different!

I have just gone through the process of buying a Boxster, budget was not so much an issue but I was balancing losing less in the car at disposal time and driving pleasure. I have had a gen I Boxster S, a 3.4 996 and a 3.6 996 Anniversary... the 981 looks truly delicious however a test ride was very disappointing. I know the newer S is faster in acceleration than the gen II boxster but if you want outright speed just nip out and buy the Datsun Skylark, as I drove I liked things like the overrun cackle of the pse and the interior was a delight - however the turbo flat 4 was... well,... boring and disconnected, sounded like a bloody Imprezza! & needing wound up to get decent propulsion rather than on tap immediate response of the far better sounding flat 6. And the steering? Didn't notice it, I realised that was a big issue, no feedback, no nice weighting, nothing but video-game turn to turn. Not what I understand and like about the marque. When I gave my mostly negative feedback to the sales lady she fessed up that those having had previous older porkers tended to dislike the new gen 4 cylinder/turbo/electric pas whilst those new to the marque absolutely love it... what a similar propelled 911 will do to the brand is beyong me! I like the pdk btw so maybe an not total ludite?
 
doulas bader said:
abcarrera said:
doulas bader said:
I concur, the red car is just lovely - but so is the Spyder-esque white on!! I can't agree with same for aural presentation though...
May I suggest though, without prejucing myself, that you may have swapped electronic connectivity for connectivity to the road?? :sad:

I know what you mean, the 981 is more clinical in its approach in a direct back to back comparison, but I guess this has been the case over the last 70 years with our beloved marque, evolution of design is the brands core value and as a package each successive car is always better. There will always be elements of a package which may seem less so good compared to a previous iteration but it's always the bigger picture of costs of production and component utilisation across the company that is the driving force.

As a package the 981 S is a massive leap in so many different areas, the driving position for me being just over 6' is definitely a big improvement, you sit lower in the car and I don't have to have the seat all the way back so a big plus. The PDK is a fantastic g/box and works as intended, I agree the loss of stiring the stick does lose something in the experience, but equally you gain in a different way. The quantum leap I think is in ride quality, the 987 chassis seems so stiff in comparison to the 981 yet the 981 inspires a lot more confidence in the corners, I sure the fact it's all still pretty new and it all adjustable is a big factor, if I set the dampers to hard/sport then it can be very hard on the spine! Overall I think it's operating window is wider, it can be more things to more people, but that is just my opinion compared directly with its predecessor. One thing is for sure compared to both the gen 1 and gen 2 996's it very different!

I have just gone through the process of buying a Boxster, budget was not so much an issue but I was balancing losing less in the car at disposal time and driving pleasure. I have had a gen I Boxster S, a 3.4 996 and a 3.6 996 Anniversary... the 981 looks truly delicious however a test ride was very disappointing. I know the newer S is faster in acceleration than the gen II boxster but if you want outright speed just nip out and buy the Datsun Skylark, as I drove I liked things like the overrun cackle of the pse and the interior was a delight - however the turbo flat 4 was... well,... boring and disconnected, sounded like a bloody Imprezza! & needing wound up to get decent propulsion rather than on tap immediate response of the far better sounding flat 6. And the steering? Didn't notice it, I realised that was a big issue, no feedback, no nice weighting, nothing but video-game turn to turn. Not what I understand and like about the marque. When I gave my mostly negative feedback to the sales lady she fessed up that those having had previous older porkers tended to dislike the new gen 4 cylinder/turbo/electric pas whilst those new to the marque absolutely love it... what a similar propelled 911 will do to the brand is beyong me! I like the pdk btw so maybe an not total ludite?

We were not sold on the 718 with the 4 cylinder engine, the 981 being the last of the 6 pot Boxsters felt like where we wanted to be (well my wife did as it her car!) maybe in years to come if she goes for another Boxster then they will probably be a hybrid or electric God forbid and we will be dreaming of 'if only we could still buy the 4 pot" :floor: only time will tell what will be powering these cars. In the mean time will make the most of the 'snap crackle and pop")!
 
doulas bader said:
I concur, the red car is just lovely - but so is the Spyder-esque white on!! I can't agree with same for aural presentation though...
May I suggest though, without prejucing myself, that you may have swapped electronic connectivity for connectivity to the road?? :sad:

He has bought a 981 not a 718 :grin:
 
To the OP, great choice and great spec, they are addictive to drive aren't they :thumb:
 
tasty red motor! I'm currently looking for a 981. That would have been right up my street.
 
jonttt said:
To the OP, great choice and great spec, they are addictive to drive aren't they :thumb:

Absolutely, I know I said about the back to back comparison previously, but the advancement in technology, feel and outright pace of the 981 over the previous car is light years apart.
I been lucky to have several cars over the years and this is right up there for being one of the best I have driven. They definitely upped the quality of the finish too on the 981. Lots of extended leather rather than painted plastic that scratches off over time. Nice touches like alloy door handles rather than painted ones. Little things, but they all add up to one great car!
 
isysman said:
tasty red motor! I'm currently looking for a 981. That would have been right up my street.

We took a while to find a red S, probably like buses tho 2 will come along now lol!
OPC couldn't find one for love or money. Ended up buying from a specialist. Really pleased with all the options, cabin is a nice place!
 
isysman said:
tasty red motor! I'm currently looking for a 981. That would have been right up my street.

My old GR 981 is up for sale at OPC Reading. Its got some tasty options too. :thumbs:
 
tim993 said:
isysman said:
tasty red motor! I'm currently looking for a 981. That would have been right up my street.

My old GR 981 is up for sale at OPC Reading. Its got some tasty options too. :thumbs:

Always the way, we looked for over a month to find one with the right colour and options. OPC just couldn't find one, even thier buyers were tasked finding one and couldn't.
 

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