NEW 2013 PORSCHE BOXSTER BREAKS COVER!

Porsche’s all-new Boxster roadster has broken cover. Born in 1996, the Boxster was meant to increase Porsche sales by “dumming” the brand down a little, while maintain acceptable performance levels and expected quality. It did well yes, but not enough to for best-seller status. That accolade belongs to the Cayenne.

Nevertheless the new car should do much better. The reason is that well-heeled customers are also buying down at the moment. They want to pay less but still feel they’ve received a high-quality, posh car with a strong status-pull. And this car has to absolutely deliver because we’ve been hearing rumours of something that will fall below it, undercut in price too. Speculation is it will be Porsche’s new entry-level car.

A lot of things have been done to make this happen. A new and completely revised chassis was developed in order to make the car handle even better than before. Aluminium was used extensively to build the body, crucially taking performance-sapping fat off. Total kerb weight is 1 385kg from a 4.4 metre long, 1.8m wide, 1.3m high body.

For the Boxster, a new 2.7-litre 6-cylinder boxer engine with natural aspiration has been installed to replace the old 2.9-litre. Maximum power, instead of also being cut, has actually increased to 195kW, made at 6700rpm. Torque is a rather disappointing 280Nm between 4500rpm and 6500rpm. We say disappointing because and engine making that kind of power should at least be on 300Nm. Nevertheless a 0 -100km/h sprint time of 5.7 seconds is claimed.

The Boxster S though, keeps the same 3.4-litre boxer but makes a bit more power. With 232kW on tap the car accelerates from 0 – 100km/h in just 5 seconds. Both Boxster and Boxster S are fitted standard with a 6-speed manual gearbox and optionally the 7-speed PDK double-clutch. All power is sent to the rear wheels. Porsche says the 64 litre fuel tank returns 8.2 litres per 100km for the manual Boxster and 7.7 for the PDK. S model returns 8 litres per 100km.

Some features available include the soft-top electronically operated roof, a Carrera GT-like centre console and the optional Sport Chrono Package that features dynamic transmission mounts. The Porsche Torque Vectoring system with a mechanical rear axle differential lock (diff lock) is included. It enhances handling apparently.

Porsche South Africa will tell us how this car is priced as soon as they can.