Gadgetory

it's Porsches least expensive model but it's not their best-selling kind of an odd conundrum so what do you do about that first of all you make it look a lot more macho let's drive the 2013 Porsche Boxster and check the tech now some perspective for you non Porsche files the Boxster and its cousin the Cayman are the only mid-engine cars in the Porsche production line and arguably therefore they have the best crash mid-engine cars are the ones that always tend to handle the best and yet the boxers always kind of gotten that little pat on the head like Oh aren't you cute Porsche remains the oddball among German cars with a touchscreen and a little small controller compared to outtie BMW and Mercedes who have non touchscreens and elaborate control knobs Porsche then hampers themselves by having one of the more non intuitive user interfaces it almost feels like it was designed to be tidy more than useable not awful just a bit opaque and it's in a foot race with Honda for most years since he needed overhaul this round dial screen on the right side is one of my favourites a lot can go on in there and it's always well laid out all the modern inputs are here am/fm satellite radio discs bluetooth streaming audio USB as well for your iPod when that iPods connected the scrolling and navigation are quick and clean sport modal sharpen up your powertrain responsiveness suspension button here will firm things up underneath the Porsche active suspension is a full adaptive rig if you option that missing in our card is the Sport Chrono Package you can always spot it by the analog chronograph in the dash the auto start/stop defeat button didn't get much use from me I left auto start/stop engaged and I don't think it's set the car down more than twice in a day so fine by me cup holders were a big leave out in the original Boxster now Porsche seems to be compensating with these elaborately designed swing arm units that can actually be dressed with the aluminum cover when deployed Wow okay so this 2013 Boxster as you can see has a lot in common with its siblings in terms of the cabin tech and even the cabin design but things are very different back here or should I say about here tucked in the middle where you can't see it is the Boxster engine 2.7 liter direct injection flat six dry sump design that means the oil doesn't just drip down to some belly pan it's pumped in under pressure from an offshore reservoir that allows the engine to be less high and sit lower that drops the cars center of gravity the numbers 265 horsepower a rather slim 206 foot-pounds of torque rev this guy zero to sixty five and a half seconds while doing 20 30 mpg now those numbers are for our car a six-speed manual also available is a 7-speed dual-clutch they call it a PDK that'll reduce your 0 to 60 time by 3 tenths and raise your mpg by 2 miles so it's a win/win but it does add 3,200 bucks and the beginning of a Boxster is it's very pure and it's mid-engine it's their simplest car yes but it's one of the most fun to drive there's not too much power it's not a ponderous machine the handling is really tremendous even though it does get sneered at a bit now we're driving a standard Boxster not an ass or anything hotter and I like that because you can and will use all of what this car can do you can't say that for most Porsches they have too much on tap you aren't able to drive all of it in this case you can it's really exhilarating the fit and finish on this car has always been good but in this generation they've really stepped up the sophistication this is no longer a raw kind of car in terms of cabin comfort totally dialed in very quiet when the tops up very well behaved now with the top down and of course the big different series you've got this new very grown-up Porsche cabin now that's taken DNA from modern 911s and really from the Panamera is where this whole design look got started it's a real sybaritic type of Boxster even though it's meant to be there you know leanest experience all the controls are very direct and fairly heavy on this car another Boxster trait it's a great clutch and gearbox not my favorite in the Porsche line but given the price I guess that's okay steering response is very direct and clean I'm fine without it being in sport mode there's not that much more to be dug out with sport mode on and the rides plenty firm without getting into the sport chassis but you've got those available if you get into a really great road or if you drag this thing the auto start-stop with a manual is a real messy affair I don't like auto start-stop on manual gearboxes I think it's OK on automatics it was very uneven and unpredictable on this car overall I'd say this ignore the sneers that are attendant with a Boxster just get it in drive one and enjoy the experience and don't worry about what everyone's saying or thinking about you this is a great driving car and obviously it's your best bargain in the Porsche world you can configure any Porsche a thousand ways but to make it easy let's go CNET style by spending fifty five five and here's how we do it fifty thousand four fifty is the base car plus destination add the infotainment system with bose option that package is forty five sixty four touch screen LCD navigation head unit Bose audio satellite radio and HD radio to add voice control of nav phone and radio functions is a paltry but ala carte five hundred and twenty bucks and if you want the PDK gearbox that's thirty two hundred as I mentioned there is no rear camera available on a Boxster and when the tops up you'll wish there was you