2019 Porsche 718 Boxster Review, Test Drive
Porsche鈥檚 dynamically gifted mid-engined convertible gets a big update - a smaller engine. The glorious naturally aspirated flat-sixes of the earlier Boxster have made way for turbocharged flat-fours. This dramatic change of heart is all part of Porsche鈥檚 grand drive towards better emissions and efficiency. India only gets the 鈥榮tandard鈥?Boxster with a 2.0-litre engine; the Boxster S with the larger and more powerful 2.5-litre engine is not on sale here. But before you go up in arms, have a look at the numbers. What鈥檚 it like on the inside? You sit low in a Boxster but outside visibility is surprisingly good making it easy to place the car. The cabin on the 718 has been updated but it doesn鈥檛 give the same feeling of newness as you get in an Audi TT. The air-con vents are slightly different, the steering wheel is from the 918 supercar and there鈥檚 a nice-to-use, new touchscreen that鈥檚 thankfully part of standard equipment. You will have to spend big for a better sound system or sportier seats but that鈥檚 just the sad reality of doing up your Porsche. The stock seats hold you well but only the driver鈥檚 perch gets electric adjust.
Porsche will have to rethink the spare wheel position too. The space saver is oddly positioned just behind the passenger seat, to accommodate which the backrest can鈥檛 be fully reclined nor can the seat be taken back. Frankly, the passenger seat is all but unusable with the spare in place. Perhaps the front luggage compartment (there鈥檚 another one aft the engine) under the bonnet could host the spare but would Porsche want to compromise the Boxster鈥檚 delicate weight balance? What鈥檚 it like to drive? First impressions of the small new engine aren鈥檛 particularly positive. Idle is a bit gruff and the engine sounds mechanical and borderline clattery at low speeds. But these lesser points become inconsequential the moment you drive the Boxster as a Boxster. The first bootful of throttle will push you hard into the seat; the 718鈥檚 4.9sec 0-100kph time makes it over half a second quicker than the 981 S to the ton, and it鈥檚 faster than its predecessor until 200kph too. As you鈥檇 have guessed, it鈥檚 the turbo and the thick band of max torque available from under 2,000rpm that makes all the difference.
Power doesn鈥檛 build in a crescendo-like manner as it did in the old car. What hasn鈥檛 changed, though, is the Boxster鈥檚 handling. The 718 is just sublime around corners. There鈥檚 a brilliant sense of connection with the car through the steering, pedals and paddles (or gear lever), the front wheels do exactly as commanded and the overall sensation is of being in a car that pivots around the driver. Seriously few sportcars on sale in India put the driver in the heart of the action like a Boxster does. And because you are such an integral part of the experience, the Boxster doesn鈥檛 intimidate even at the silly speeds it can hold through corners. Grip levels are amazing, there are no exaggerated movements from the body and even the brakes are beautifully calibrated. Importantly, the Boxster doesn鈥檛 get unsettled by mid-corner bumps, and ride quality and ground clearance are fairly good for what is a stiff sportscar.
The Boxster is a razor-sharp precision tool you can use every day. As ever, the brilliant seven-speed dual-clutch PDK gearbox is a key part of the package and ensures you are always where you want to be in the powerband. It鈥檚 super quick in shifts, ultra responsive to manual inputs and very lenient in how it lets you downshift to the limiter. Should I buy one? There will be many to whom the new 718 Boxster鈥檚 four-cylinder engine will be a deal breaker. Our advice to this lot would be to think of the 718 Boxster as an exceptional sportscar that just happens to be powered by a small engine. Because that鈥檚 exactly what it is. It鈥檚 as quick and as sharp as you鈥檇 expect a Boxster to be. Sure, the 718 is a smidgen less evocative than its naturally aspirated predecessor but buy one and you鈥檙e sure to love it to bits. What鈥檚 more, thanks to the smaller engine, the 718 Boxster has qualified for tax breaks on imported cars with engines smaller than 3,000cc, and the net result is that Porsche has been able to price it more aggressively. Yes, at Rs 85.53 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), the 718 Boxster is expensive in absolute terms but the price still makes it a good Rs 25 lakh cheaper than the last Boxster S! In short, if you can, you must.