2019 Porsche 718 Review, Ratings, Specs, Prices, And Photos
A run through the available options on a 2019 Porsche 718 can be dizzying. The small, two-seat convertible or coupe can add tens of thousands to the bottom line but there鈥檚 good news. What comes standard is still impressive鈥攁nd plenty quick. 56,000 to start and the bottom line can swell to more than six figures for more performance and luxury items. Base cars are well-equipped with 18-inch wheels, a 7.0-inch touchscreen for infotainment with Bluetooth and USB connectivity, sport seats with leather accents, six-speaker audio, and a power-folding soft top for Boxster models. A sport exhaust system is new to all 718 models, although blacked-out exhaust ports are exclusive to 718 GTS versions. We give the 718 points above average for its infotainment system and customizability. It misses out on an additional point because it lacks standard automatic emergency braking. It gets a 7 for features. Like last year, the 718 is available in three variants that mostly relate to performance: 718, 718 S, and 718 GTS. Boxster S and Cayman S models are similarly equipped to base versions but add 19-inch wheels, uprated audio, and increased performance that includes a steering wheel-mounted sport button. The Boxster GTS and Cayman GTS models go further with 20-inch wheels, synthetic suede or real leather upholstery, active suspension, and a thick-rimmed steering wheel borrowed from the 918 Spyder supercar. From there, the choices can be nearly infinite. Paint-to-match colors inside and out, leather everywhere, and myriad customization options define Porsche鈥攂ring an iron stomach. In manual-equipped cars, Sport Chrono adds rev-matching downshifts; automatics get launch control. From there, most of the 718鈥檚 options are split between luxury or performance. High-end Burmester sound systems, leather and wood (or carbon-fiber) trim accents are all available.
I had 48 hours to explore England, so long as I could make my next appointment at Rolls-Royce in West Sussex. The weather was right out of Chaucer. As I was sitting in the car deciding which way to go, the BBC Two presenters brought Sting on to play madrigal odes to spring on his lute. I dialed the navigation for the seaside town of Brighton, immortalized by the stoner-film 鈥淨uadrophenia鈥?(1979), inspired by The Who album of the same name, and featuring Sting as a cruel, disaffected gang tough, albeit dreamy. With the canvas top stowed and the Bang & Olufsen hollering 鈥淟ove, Reign O鈥檈r Me,鈥?I throttled up to join the M1鈥攔um rum rum-RHAHHHH, BWAAHHHH, LOOVVEEE! 鈥攖he cars ahead giving way long before I reached them. Readers sometimes express common-sense exasperation at a six-figure price tag. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a car! 鈥?goes this refrain, 鈥淚t gets you from A to B.鈥?I agree, especially when it comes to exotic cars whose performance is utterly inaccessible on the street.
But truly beautiful street-legal cars are rare. As evidence I give you the Aston鈥檚 competitive set, including the Mercedes-AMG S63 Cabriolet, Ferrari California T, Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet and Bentley Continental GT Speed. These are all highly accomplished, desirable automobiles, and I reckon each would be a step quicker than the Aston as getaway car in any theoretical heist of the Crown Jewels. But parked next to the Aston, they look like Soviet farm equipment. You want to impress friends and neighbors? Beauty is performance you can use. Volante is what Aston Martin calls its convertibles. Roughly translated as 鈥渇lier,鈥?it鈥檚 also the Spanish word for 鈥渟teering wheel鈥?or 鈥渟huttlecock,鈥?which sounds right. Built on the same rock-solid aluminum space frame as the DB11 coupe, the Volante weighs 253 pounds more than the coupe with same engine, due to the elaborate roof mechanism and added structural bracing. The way it works at Aston these days is that the company buys engines from Mercedes-AMG, built to its specs; Aston also avails itself to Daimler鈥檚 fairly flawless cabin electronics, including touch-sensitive rotary controller and infotainment display.
Both of these partnerships, let鈥檚 call them, has resulted a much better Aston Martin product while freeing its designers to focus on gorgeousness. The Volante鈥檚 navigation system was easy to use, with intuitive menu structure and bright, clear graphics. None of which was remotely true of the previous system. There鈥檚 nothing wrong with the German-built engine, either: a warmly resonant, mad-with-torque twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 (503 hp and 513 lb-ft 2,000-5,000 rpm) winding the works of an eight-speed automatic transmission and limited-slip rear differential with torque vectoring. Unlike the coupe, the Volante will not be made available with the 600-hp V12鈥攏ot yet. But with 0-100 mph acceleration in 8.8 seconds and a top speed, top-down, of 187 mph, the V8-powered Volante has plenty of force majeure, Major. Is the Mazda3 Hatchback the Best Car of 2019? The powertrain and vehicle dynamics (steering, braking, stability control) also get feistier on demand. The standard 20-inch alloy wheels and sport tires stick like crazy.