Project 2000 Porsche Boxster - SOLD and GONE! 😥

[loserone]

I was wondering what the smell was

[Peter C]

Is it one of these?

 

[loserone]

Phwaorrr

[purplebargeken]

This will be ace, I know what it is.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

I think I know too.... if so then very well bought.

 

On the other hand.... 1 collection per weekend..... PAH! Easy - and more effort required, says I.

[Tickman]

Are we nearly there yet?

[SiC]

Yes nearly! About 10mins off.

[SiC]

I'm here!

[Tickman]

Good effort

[stuboy]

I'm here!

bet u want the suv really

[Jim Bell]

Is that PeterCs boxter ?

 

Mega.

[SiC]

[Jim Bell]

What a buy tho!

[Peter C]

Deal done, thank you Simon for a quick and painless transaction. I hope you enjoy the car as much as I did over the past four years.

 

Objective achieved, garage space has been liberated and the 200E is now safe and sound under lock and key.

 

 

[SiC]

Pit stop at the in-laws. Full write up later but this car is everything I wanted and far more.

 

In the meantime lets have another picture.

[The Moog]

Well bought - looks a cracking car

[somewhatfoolish]

[stereotype]

Haz IMS bearing fearz.

[/stereotype]

[djb222]

Wow... great car, lovely colour..  The MOT history is faultless, obviously a well looked after car.  Congrats

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Very many likes for these. I'd actually prefer a boxster to a 996!

 

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

[Broadsword]

That looks so very, very nice and must feel awesome to drive. Top buying there!

[Peter C]

[stereotype]Haz IMS bearing fearz.[/stereotype]

All sorted, no need to panic.

[Cavcraft]

Oh, that's lovely. Well bought.

[SiC]

That looks so very, very nice and must feel awesome to drive. Top buying there!

Top selling/seller too!

 

 

Back home now, just off to drop the TT off to new owner and then go for another drive! Maybe if I get time I'll get around to doing a write up today...

[LightBulbFun]

Boxer engine like an Invacar? 

 

time for a sig update?

 

looking forward to seeing the write up on this, while I will admit its not my cup of tea (read: I know very little about it LOL), your posts are always worth reading regardless of the subject matter

[Asimo]

Good colour, especially with real orange indicators. Positive vibes!

[Kiltox]

Gingercators ftw

[dome]

Well bought!

[Brodders]

I genuinely thought it was either going to be Kiltox's X5 or this.

 

Well bought, they do sound like great fun to blast about in, and the colour combination on this is absolutely superb. Looking forward to seeing more of it on here.

[SiC]

So I sold my TT and got a Boxster.

 

Firstly a bit of a back story.

 

When I was a child I had a small interest in car but my main fascination was aircraft. Around the age of 13-14 this gradually changed. I'm not exactly sure or why but I suspect that my mum's influence helped. She has always been interested in cars, not obsessed like I am now, but interested. My uncle on that side has the obsessed gene.

 

Anyway when we got into our teenage years, my mum wanted a sports car. Cutting a long story short she got a Boxster.

 

This one in-fact. A 2001 Zanzibar Red with the 2.7 lump.

 

Growing up, this had a lot of influence on me and I remember that car well, especially it being my mum's special car. About 6 years later she chopped it in for a Cayman that she still owns. Of course being too young to drive I only at most sat in the drivers seat. When I got old enough to drive, there was no chance of me being allowed to drive the Cayman either. Not least I wouldn't want to be responsible for damaging or breaking it!

 

However there is something about these sort of cars that is hard to explain in words but only really make sense when sat in one. They just feel special compared to most mainstream cars. I knew I had to have one sometime.

 

The TT MK2 I had is a great car. Comfortable, quick, good handling and easy to drive. As my wife put it earlier, it's a great car to wizz around in and do errands & shopping. However I never did properly gel with it. To me it felt too engineered as a general sports car. Like a team had some tick boxes and tried to make sure all are ticked.

 

Why is the Boxster so me? Well it's exactly what I expect a sports car to be. For example:

 

Steering

Boxster - heavy. Every bump and lump in the road is transmitted through that wheel.

TT - feather light. Great for manoeuvring around. Virtually no feedback through the wheel.

 

If you're doing a long commute then the TT will be far superior. However it just is not engaging to drive if you want to have fun.

 

Engine

Boxster - smooth naturally aspirated.

TT - kick in the back turbo.

 

TT has more wow factor as you get the surge of power that impresses passengers. Boxster has predicable power delivery and instant response. Admittedly the TT setup has very minimal lag but it's still not likely the instant response of the Boxster.

 

Let's not forget the engine is directly behind you on the Boxster. Even though it's well insulated, you get all the noises and theatre right next to you in the cockpit.

 

 

Brakes

Boxster - heavy but progressive

TT - feather light and sharp

 

This one is big thing for me. Modern car brakes are way too over assisted. They do this to give a very sharp action at the top of the travel which breathing on the pedal causes them to jab on. However it gives very little progressive feel. Why is it done? Sharp brakes makes the average person think the brakes are "really effective". However any modern brake system is capable of locking the tyres up and engaging the ABS.

 

The TT brakes are like this. Boxster however they are heavy. Top of the pedal travel doesn't do a lot. By three quarters of the way it's locking them up. Vs quarter to half way on the TT and other modern stuff. You get so much more control on that braking force having that extra travel.

 

 

Noise

Boxster - flat 6.

TT - inline 4.

 

Boxster is very muted for a 6 cyl but once you get the revs up it really sings. Aftermarket exhaust really extract that noise. TT just sounds boring. Yes it has the farting on gear changes (Google DSG Fart - you won't unhear that noise), crackle on deacceleration and other such tricks. Aftermarket exhaust just sound crap. It just can't beat a naturally aspirated 6 cyl with no turbo muffling it.

 

 

Cockpit

Boxster - one of the last of the mostly cobbled together stuff before Porsche had the budget to go all civilised.

TT - VAG parts bin special. You'll recognise bits from Audi A3, Audi R8, Golfs, etc.

 

Most contemporary reviewers complain about the interior of the 986 Boxster and 996 911. I agree, it's flimsy, cheap looking in places and doesn't age well. However that's what I love about it. Those dainty stalks you can bend about, crap radio, and gauge fonts from MS Office 1997. Porsche spent all the money on making the car drive great, leaving the remaining to a functional interior.

 

 

Driving position/Ergonomics

Boxster - old school sports car

TT - wrapped around cocoon

 

One big thing I love on the Boxster is that it feels proper classic. You sit low down in a hugging sports seat. Can't be too fat or too tall otherwise you won't fit it. Yet you get nice big windows to let light in. The dash is in-front of you as a single piece. Where as the TT wraps around from the dash to the door cards.

 

I'm lucky (?) that I'm short enough and narrow enough I fit into most cars. The Boxster fits me perfectly without huge excess of room. TT mean while has massive seats that will fit fat arses, but means I slide around. Also the TT you kind of sit into the dash. Where as the Boxster kind of feels that the dash is in front. The best I can describe the positioning is like an old VW Beetle.

 

 

Really hard to explain exactly all this and summing up. But the Boxster feels much more minimalist and more like a classic car, with an element of modern chucked in (climate control, abs, etc). Still not modern enough to have traction control standard, so you have no computer to fall back on when you run out of talent. Hence you have to be much more careful.

 

TL;DR

TT = great daily driver and general all-rounder that gets you from A-to-B efficiently.

Boxster = great drivers car and a driving experience that you will remember.

 

Imagine an equivalent aged MX5 but make it better in every way you can think (apart from ease of maintenance). That is the Boxster.

[cort16]

This one you got was a good opportunity to get a really well looked after one off here. The interiors on them aren't the best looking but still fine (unless you want to charge your phone).