Test Drive: 2013 Porsche Boxster

2013 Porsche Boxster. Click image to enlarge

Under that gorgeous skin resides the 2.7L engine providing more than enough grunt for the 1,340 kg roadster. Porsche claims the PDK Boxster will achieve 0–100 km/h in 5.7 seconds, which I would say is quite conservative. The PDK transmission is actually faster than a manually equipped Boxster and faster still when the Chrono package is installed, as it was on my test vehicle. Not only is it powerful, but the engine sounds great. It is easily the best sounding engine under 3.0L of displacement on the market today.

The PDK is also a terrific bit of engineering. Many write it off for not being a true manual, but that is a bit unfair. Sure, I would prefer a regular manual, but the PDK fires off ludicrously fast shifts in Sport Plus, but then becomes as seamless as a regular automatic transmission in normal mode. A nice touch are the real metal paddle shifters attached to the button-less steering wheel.

Now, mentioning fuel consumption in a sports car may seem pointless, but it is important to note the Boxster’s consumption as it is a pleasant surprise for a purpose-built roadster. Officially rated at 10.1 L/100 km city and 6.7 L/100 km highway, I was able to average 10.5 L/100 km during a twelve-day stint with the Boxster. This was done during winter, on snow tires and with a heavy foot. It may have been even better, but during a two day loan to Senior Editor Jonathan Yarkony the average efficiency rose a half litre. [What can I say? I have a magic foot! –Ed.]

As I mentioned earlier, this review was performed during the winter. My test vehicle still had the upgraded Boxster S rims installed, which meant I was running 235/40R19 winter tires up front and 265/40R19 winter in the rear. This may not sound like the best setup, but even after 18 cm of fresh snow, the Boxster behaved flawlessly in the white stuff and refused to get stuck on lightly travelled, unplowed roads. Even when snow was over the lip of the front bumper, the Boxster just continued to plow on through it. I was worried the 265-width rear tires would prove to be too big, but they were not an issue. With PSM disabled, the Boxster becomes a willing, controllable sliding machine that had me feeling like a 20-km/h version of Colin McRae rallying through an empty industrial park.

2013 Porsche Boxster. Click image to enlarge

But before the first serious dumping of snow befouled our roads, I did get to test the Boxster out on dry pavement. The rear tires, despite being snow tires, still gripped hard in the dry. Aggressive acceleration starts did not spin the wheels, but rather had the car biting into the pavement and launching with great haste. Lateral grip levels were obviously reduced thanks to the winter rubber, but combined with low torque of the base engine, it became much easier to explore the limits of the vehicle. I really appreciate just how neutral the Boxster handles and how intuitive all the mechanical controls, like steering, throttle input and brake modulation are for the driver. I can only imagine the fun a Boxster S with a sticky set of summer rubber would be on an open racetrack.

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