Inside Story: 2009 Porsche Boxster PDK

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September 24, 2009

2009 Porsche Boxster PDK. Click image to enlarge

Manufacturer’s web site
Porsche Canada

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Inside Story is a review of interior comfort features, cabin controls, storage options, trunk space and under-hood accessibility based on a seven-day evaluation.

Review and photos by Michael Clark

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2009 Porsche Boxster

Oh great; another Porsche Boxster.

To the untrained eye, annual updates and tweaks to the Porsche line seem nano-minimal at best. Then you sift through the press information, and start to notice the new curve of the headlamps, the LED daytime running lights, those dead-cool steering wheel-mounted paddles for the PDK, and so on. To find out if it all works, I embarked on a 2,600-plus kilometre journey from Vancouver to the home office in Winnipeg, in an ’09 Boxster PDK. Its MSRP rolls in at $69,580. (Prices shown do not include freight, taxes, regional or promotional incentives.)

The Cockpit/Centre Stack

I couldn’t get enough of this benchmark-savvy three-spoke wheel. The shifter tabs for the seven-speed PDK operate in the push-upshift/pull-downshift configuration, and while PDK actually stands for Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (AKA double-clutch gearbox), I preferred Pretty Darn Kwik for the paddle transitions. Actually, there are no transitions; it’s smarter than you and a manual box could ever be, even when you opt for the floor-mount shifter manu-gate mode.

2009 Porsche Boxster PDK. Click image to enlarge

Of note, the manual mode of the PDK allows the highest gear range to be chosen and held during cruise control use, which was particularly handy near Strathmore, Alberta, when a 43-kilometre side trip was required. This distance was also the remaining fuel range posted by the driver information centre. (Premium isn’t that easy to find in rural AB.) The right-hand gauge face houses the gear indicator display while the centre tachometer face houses the driver information display, accessed by the usual Porsche column stalk control. The digital speedometer read-out will be your primary speed reference for your non-track driving periods.

The column provides manual tilt and telescope, with stalk control for cruise control and delay wipers. The larger screen face for the CDR-30 single-CD head unit seems to be screaming “Where’s my navi?” Note the phone actuation keys on the head unit. The tester was equipped with the optional $950 Bluetooth interface. (Note; works best with top up.) In these harsh economic times, you’ll be pleased to know that the head unit will play MP3 CD’s, culled from your questionable-origin downloads. If you feel the need, the rear spoiler can be raised by the centre stack-mounted switch. The driver’s door houses full-auto window lifts, plus the power controls for the exterior spring-loaded mirrors.

Cubbies!

2009 Porsche Boxster PDK. Click image to enlarge

Note to the automotive world at large; STOP WASTING DOOR PANEL SPACE! Do like the Porsche camp, and provide the ever-nifty flip-top units, with ample storage within. Even with the owner’s lit, the locking glovebox still provides respectable space for a roadster. Beneath it, on the inboard passenger footwell wall, is a 12-volt DC plug-in. The second powerpoint is the cigarette lighter/ashtray combo. (Who has time to smoke while PDK-ing?) The convertible top switches take out the guesswork for the action that they perform.