Test Drive: 2015 Porsche Boxster GTS

It was going to be cold week, and I made the off-hand comment to the Porsche fleet manager, “Probably not the best time to be picking up a Boxster GTS.”

I didn’t really mean it.

Any week is good in a Boxster. Especially this 2015 GTS version that for $83,900 bestows more than its $11,700 premium over the “regular” Boxster S in optional goodies. Stuff you’ll probably want anyway, like adaptive suspension (PASM), Sport Chrono Package, Sport Seats Plus, bi-xenon peepers, 20-inch wheels, Sport Exhaust system and an Alcantara-trimmed SportDesign steering wheel. Then there are the things you can’t spec in the S model – the GTS’s unique front and rear fascias, smoked out headlights, red tachometer, a 10 mm lower ride height and the all-important 15 horse bump to 330 hp along with a torque increase from 266 lb-ft to 273 lb-ft.

It’s been said a million times, and I’ll say it again – the mid-engine Boxster is poetry on the road.In Porsche’s world, the Boxster GTS could be considered a value proposition. Although with a few options this one kissed 100 grand. Porsche world, indeed.

Being long past Halloween, the silver GTS’s sexy 20-inch Carrera alloys were AWOL, replaced with 18-inchers shod in winter wear. So the Porker’s street cred was down a few notches.

Easily made up for, however, with a simple press of the Sport Exhaust button that unleashes the most evil set of lungs ever bestowed upon a Boxster. I applaud the engineers their efforts. You will be seeking tunnels and underpasses.

Not to mention onramps and winding rural roads. It’s been said a million times, and I’ll say it again – the mid-engine Boxster is poetry on the road.

Problem is, every time I drive Porsche’s little roadster I suffer from a pathetic delusion that Porsche actually made this car just for me. It fits perfectly. It delivers a driving experience that, were I to imagine what the perfect sports car could give, this is it. It engages, it handles, it is fast, its outer limits are easily exploitable and it doesn’t beat you up in the process.

So I’m off for another dose of affirmation.

The ambient temperature is hovering around the zero mark, but no worries – the $1,030 Convenience Package bestows dual-zone climate control and heated seats. I know what you’re thinking. I have to pay extra for this stuff in an $84,000 car? Porsche world, remember.

2015 Porsche Boxster GTS, dashboard, shifter. Click image to enlarge

The top is down, the heater’s blowing hot air, the bum warmer is on sear and I’m sporting a furry hat with goofy ear flaps.

Refreshingly, this GTS is equipped with the default six-speed manual transmission. As spectacular as the optional seven-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission is, Porsche’s stir-your-own box gives an intimate connection to the car that puts you right at the pointy end of the driving experience. The short-throw shifter slots home with delightful mechanical precision and its weighting is perfectly judged with that of the firmish clutch and steering. If you’re into heel-and-toe rev matching the pedals are ideally placed. When in Sport or Sport Plus mode the throttle sensitivity is bloody perfect. Just tickle the gas pedal and the revs blip like they’re reading your mind.