Boxster S 981 Test Drive
Discussion
Just been down to the local OPC and taken out their demo Boxster S 981 for a test drive, just over two hours in total. Weather was foul but it gave a good first idea of how the car drives and the interior feel, and we still got the roof down for a while. Not sure if it was a great idea as my car is due in only 2-3 weeks, but at least I've now driven one and I'm not worrying that I've made a mistake as I did very much like the car (phew)!
The demo car was GT Silver with a red full leather interior and red roof, and had 20" Carerra S wheels, PASM, SC, PDK with MF wheel, PCM, Phone Module, Sound System Plus, 14-way electrical seats, seat heating, rear park, auto aircon and wind deflector.
No Power Steering Plus so steering felt quite heavy as we set off but lighter than I remembered the 991 steering and I quite like the steering as it feels like a "Sports Car". The interior is really quite nice, remeniscent of my 987 but nicer. The ride immediately felt more composed than the non-PASM in my old car, but still quite stiffly sprung, just less chrashes and thumps over poor road surfaces. The PDK was great, the main reason for my changing, although the buttons are not to my liking and I look forward to getting mine with the paddles. Surprisingly, my friend and I both quite liked the red interior, it grows on you and is "fun". It is a little more subtle than it appears in some pictures, but I am still happy to have ordered a black interior. Not so sure about the red roof, in weather as poor as it was today a black one might need less looking after.
The first thing I noticed, with the roof up, was the rearward visibility was quite poor. The rear view mirror gives a very letter box view and with the wind deflector in place this is through quite a thick mesh. It was a little better with the deflector removed. The door mirrors are also not that large. With the roof down the rear visibility was obviously improved. I guess most of the time I will have the roof down, but remembering to take out the deflector before setting off on a long drive with the roof up will be a problem.
The noise of the engine was great, without a sports exhaust, quite enough for me. On the dual carriageway the main noise was the engine, road noise was quite subdued unless on a section with a very noisy surface and the roof was really very good. The front section was solid and the sound proofing was very good and there was very little wind noise at 70 mph. Chatting was quite easy at motorway speeds and I would guess listening to the radio or a podcast would also be fine. The 981 is definitely a better prospect for a long boring motorway drive than the 987, from a comfort, noise and economy point of view. Opening and closing the roof was quick and also worked well from the key fob. The rear boot definitely seemed to have lost a little depth to the roof, but I expect will still get golf clubs in, I understand that the front has gained a little space.
Quick video of roof closing, click to play ...
I left the car in normal and played with the coasting function a little but found it would not coast for long without slowing unless on quite a steep decline, however once forgotten about I did not notice it much and it would coast a little and kick back in to gear without too much drama. We reset the fuel computer and cruised with the traffic (in very heavy rain) and just about got 30 mpg, not bad on such a new car, I assume this would improve with more miles on the engine.
As soon as we pulled off onto the back roads and used a few more revs the economy noticeably declined and we ended up around 24mpg average, so I guess driven enthusiastically it will be around 20 mpg, perhaps 10-20% better than my 987.1. Putting the car in sport and giving it a bit more revs certainly made a nice noise and the car remains very composed even on very wet roads. We couldn't really open it up, partly as it was new but mainly because of the danger of coming round a corner and finding a flooded road. Tried putting the PASM in sport but it just semmed a little too hard and it was fine in normal. The auto PDK was quite clever and especially in Sport mode it would hold a gear longer if you were driving more aggressively but it did still sometimes seem I was waiting for it to move to the gear I wanted when it would be easy to just put it there, so I preferred fully manual mode, even with the counter intuitive buttons. When driving in traffic it was very nice to just put it in auto and forget about it, and since the main reason for me to change cars was to get rid of the clutch I have no regrets in ordering the PDK and paddles.
While my friend had a drive I had a play with the PCM and pairing my iPhone was a 2 minute job, it transferred the phonebook quickly amd the whole process was painless. It did show that the phone had the A2DP profile but I couldn't figure out the process to stream music from the iPhone, although I now understand that you have to go to the DISC screen for some counter intuitive reason. The whole PCM system is much nicer than the Gen 1 version and seemed quite easy to use, although it took a while to find stuff like average fuel consumption (CAR button). The display next to the Rev counter would show much the same screens and was controlled from the MF wheel, although the backward and forward wheel was awkward as it was not easy to rotate a single click without it skipping a screen or more. The separate stalk on the non MF wheel might actually be easier, as back and forward will be single pushes. The Sound System Plus sounded as buzzy and soft as it did in a 991, so I still think the BOSE is a worthwhile upgrade for anyone wanting to listen to the stereo much.
Sitting in the passenger seat driving back on the dual carriageway was quite a pleasant and comfortable place to be, perhaps not quite as roomy or comfortable as the 991 cab, which would perhaps make a better GT car, but certainly close enough for the £30K difference in price. If money were no object I guess I would choose a 991 cab for the roomier feel and the small back seats, even if only because it is easier to chuck your coat in the back than put it in the boot. The 991 S certainly felt faster when revved but for me the 981 S may have more accessible performance on public roads. Being used to a Boxster I found the 981 felt smaller and more composed on the windy country roads, with perhaps a small amount less presence. But there was no doubt that the 981 is a fabulous car, good looking, well built and equipped, it felt and sounded great and promises to be a fast and fine handling car any owner can be proud of.
Got a few more pictures so if anyone wants to see them all they are here ...
http://s1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg557/gbrownze...
The demo car was GT Silver with a red full leather interior and red roof, and had 20" Carerra S wheels, PASM, SC, PDK with MF wheel, PCM, Phone Module, Sound System Plus, 14-way electrical seats, seat heating, rear park, auto aircon and wind deflector.
No Power Steering Plus so steering felt quite heavy as we set off but lighter than I remembered the 991 steering and I quite like the steering as it feels like a "Sports Car". The interior is really quite nice, remeniscent of my 987 but nicer. The ride immediately felt more composed than the non-PASM in my old car, but still quite stiffly sprung, just less chrashes and thumps over poor road surfaces. The PDK was great, the main reason for my changing, although the buttons are not to my liking and I look forward to getting mine with the paddles. Surprisingly, my friend and I both quite liked the red interior, it grows on you and is "fun". It is a little more subtle than it appears in some pictures, but I am still happy to have ordered a black interior. Not so sure about the red roof, in weather as poor as it was today a black one might need less looking after.
The first thing I noticed, with the roof up, was the rearward visibility was quite poor. The rear view mirror gives a very letter box view and with the wind deflector in place this is through quite a thick mesh. It was a little better with the deflector removed. The door mirrors are also not that large. With the roof down the rear visibility was obviously improved. I guess most of the time I will have the roof down, but remembering to take out the deflector before setting off on a long drive with the roof up will be a problem.
The noise of the engine was great, without a sports exhaust, quite enough for me. On the dual carriageway the main noise was the engine, road noise was quite subdued unless on a section with a very noisy surface and the roof was really very good. The front section was solid and the sound proofing was very good and there was very little wind noise at 70 mph. Chatting was quite easy at motorway speeds and I would guess listening to the radio or a podcast would also be fine. The 981 is definitely a better prospect for a long boring motorway drive than the 987, from a comfort, noise and economy point of view. Opening and closing the roof was quick and also worked well from the key fob. The rear boot definitely seemed to have lost a little depth to the roof, but I expect will still get golf clubs in, I understand that the front has gained a little space.
Quick video of roof closing, click to play ...
I left the car in normal and played with the coasting function a little but found it would not coast for long without slowing unless on quite a steep decline, however once forgotten about I did not notice it much and it would coast a little and kick back in to gear without too much drama. We reset the fuel computer and cruised with the traffic (in very heavy rain) and just about got 30 mpg, not bad on such a new car, I assume this would improve with more miles on the engine.
As soon as we pulled off onto the back roads and used a few more revs the economy noticeably declined and we ended up around 24mpg average, so I guess driven enthusiastically it will be around 20 mpg, perhaps 10-20% better than my 987.1. Putting the car in sport and giving it a bit more revs certainly made a nice noise and the car remains very composed even on very wet roads. We couldn't really open it up, partly as it was new but mainly because of the danger of coming round a corner and finding a flooded road. Tried putting the PASM in sport but it just semmed a little too hard and it was fine in normal. The auto PDK was quite clever and especially in Sport mode it would hold a gear longer if you were driving more aggressively but it did still sometimes seem I was waiting for it to move to the gear I wanted when it would be easy to just put it there, so I preferred fully manual mode, even with the counter intuitive buttons. When driving in traffic it was very nice to just put it in auto and forget about it, and since the main reason for me to change cars was to get rid of the clutch I have no regrets in ordering the PDK and paddles.
While my friend had a drive I had a play with the PCM and pairing my iPhone was a 2 minute job, it transferred the phonebook quickly amd the whole process was painless. It did show that the phone had the A2DP profile but I couldn't figure out the process to stream music from the iPhone, although I now understand that you have to go to the DISC screen for some counter intuitive reason. The whole PCM system is much nicer than the Gen 1 version and seemed quite easy to use, although it took a while to find stuff like average fuel consumption (CAR button). The display next to the Rev counter would show much the same screens and was controlled from the MF wheel, although the backward and forward wheel was awkward as it was not easy to rotate a single click without it skipping a screen or more. The separate stalk on the non MF wheel might actually be easier, as back and forward will be single pushes. The Sound System Plus sounded as buzzy and soft as it did in a 991, so I still think the BOSE is a worthwhile upgrade for anyone wanting to listen to the stereo much.
Sitting in the passenger seat driving back on the dual carriageway was quite a pleasant and comfortable place to be, perhaps not quite as roomy or comfortable as the 991 cab, which would perhaps make a better GT car, but certainly close enough for the £30K difference in price. If money were no object I guess I would choose a 991 cab for the roomier feel and the small back seats, even if only because it is easier to chuck your coat in the back than put it in the boot. The 991 S certainly felt faster when revved but for me the 981 S may have more accessible performance on public roads. Being used to a Boxster I found the 981 felt smaller and more composed on the windy country roads, with perhaps a small amount less presence. But there was no doubt that the 981 is a fabulous car, good looking, well built and equipped, it felt and sounded great and promises to be a fast and fine handling car any owner can be proud of.
Got a few more pictures so if anyone wants to see them all they are here ...
http://s1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg557/gbrownze...
Edited by gbrownzen on Wednesday 9th May 18:30
Edited by gbrownzen on Thursday 10th May 15:36
OPC also had an Agate Grey car with Black roof and Luxor Beige interior sitting in the showroom. Very shiny and clean and the Agate Grey looked great under the showroom lights, a very nice colour. However when I looked at the photo's most of them showed how much brown is in the colour. I've posted a few here for those of you interested in the colour.
I was not fond of the beige interior but one of the guys looking at it was very keen, much preferring it to a black interior. Obviously a subjective thing, the beige seemed more likely to provoke a reaction either of like or dislike.
This car was much less well specced than the demo car, in fact it had very little on it. PDK but just the default steering wheel without MF or paddles, no Sport Chrono, no PCM, and only partial leather. It did have the 20" Carerra S wheels and PASM, and the Sport button was there as expected, without the Sport Chrono. I kind of missed the SC clock from the dash, even though it is a pointless thing. It also had the 14 way electric seats. Porsche seem very fond of these seats and the Carerra S wheels and appear to spec most of their cars with them.
I was quite interested in the partial leather (as I have gone for a partial black leather interior) as all the launch cars had full leather. The "plastic" dash looked fine to me, even in the light beige colour and I would guess it would be better in black. I would say as good as the materials used in other expensive cars I have experienced, so I don't have too many regrets at passing up the full leather. There is no denying that the full leather is very nice, especially on the doors, but it is also quite expensive.
The lower spec car was still a very nice looking motor, and probably at least £6K cheaper, but I'd still go for the better specced car if you can afford it, the difference is around 10%.
More pictures of the Agate Grey car here ...
http://s1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg557/gbrownze...
All in all, a fun morning on a grey miserable day!
Cheers,
Geoff
I was not fond of the beige interior but one of the guys looking at it was very keen, much preferring it to a black interior. Obviously a subjective thing, the beige seemed more likely to provoke a reaction either of like or dislike.
This car was much less well specced than the demo car, in fact it had very little on it. PDK but just the default steering wheel without MF or paddles, no Sport Chrono, no PCM, and only partial leather. It did have the 20" Carerra S wheels and PASM, and the Sport button was there as expected, without the Sport Chrono. I kind of missed the SC clock from the dash, even though it is a pointless thing. It also had the 14 way electric seats. Porsche seem very fond of these seats and the Carerra S wheels and appear to spec most of their cars with them.
I was quite interested in the partial leather (as I have gone for a partial black leather interior) as all the launch cars had full leather. The "plastic" dash looked fine to me, even in the light beige colour and I would guess it would be better in black. I would say as good as the materials used in other expensive cars I have experienced, so I don't have too many regrets at passing up the full leather. There is no denying that the full leather is very nice, especially on the doors, but it is also quite expensive.
The lower spec car was still a very nice looking motor, and probably at least £6K cheaper, but I'd still go for the better specced car if you can afford it, the difference is around 10%.
More pictures of the Agate Grey car here ...
http://s1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg557/gbrownze...
All in all, a fun morning on a grey miserable day!
Cheers,
Geoff
Tks , very comprehensive. Have to spec my car by end of week so reading every review ,article etc in order to make my mind up. I tested a 991 on the same day as the Boxter and thought the interior of the Boxter was better , especially the way the dash curves. I think the space is the same in the front of the Boxter you just feel more cocooned because there is no open space behind you. Also thought the Boxter steering was way better than the 991. Was quite prepared to swap my Boxter order for a 991 order but in the end felt the Boxter was the nicer car.
Did your test car have the tourque vectoring or did salesman make any comment about whether it was a worthwhile option ?
Did your test car have the tourque vectoring or did salesman make any comment about whether it was a worthwhile option ?
nsm3 said:
Does it actually stop with those tiny brakes at the back?
Looks nice, though I'm not sure I would go for the red interior either - I think you did right going black?
Seemed to stop OK, would need to give it a dry road and a few more miles on it to really try it.Looks nice, though I'm not sure I would go for the red interior either - I think you did right going black?
I forgot to mention, the auto stop/start was a pain and I suspect I will quickly turn it off. In stop start traffic it was forever stopping just as I wanted to go again. In stopped traffic it was OK, especially as it was easy to restart just by relaxing the brake in preparation for pulling away. However, the restart was better than a couple of BMW X3's I drove last week, which took a little too long to restart, making a louder and longer starting noise. The Porsche auto stop start was quicker and quieter and a little less intrusive, it is just that you often slow in traffic and just stop for a split second before wanting to pull away again, just as the damn thing turns off.
Perhaps we'll get used to it?
Also, I hated the electric parking brake. I kept looking for the handbrake before getting out of the car, and it felt wrong just leaving it without a reassuring tug on the usual lever. Another thing to get used to, I expect.
The one thing I didn't really notice was the electric steering. Just seemed fine!
Geoff
Advan said:
Tks , very comprehensive. Have to spec my car by end of week so reading every review ,article etc in order to make my mind up. I tested a 991 on the same day as the Boxter and thought the interior of the Boxter was better , especially the way the dash curves. I think the space is the same in the front of the Boxter you just feel more cocooned because there is no open space behind you. Also thought the Boxter steering was way better than the 991. Was quite prepared to swap my Boxter order for a 991 order but in the end felt the Boxter was the nicer car.
Did your test car have the tourque vectoring or did salesman make any comment about whether it was a worthwhile option ?
I also prefer the dash in the Boxster, it curves the right way!Did your test car have the tourque vectoring or did salesman make any comment about whether it was a worthwhile option ?
The best thing about the 991 Cab was the electric wind deflector, perhaps a little trivial but being able to raise and lower it so easily was great and would help with rear visibility, as it would fold down automatically as the roof was raised. Unfortunately on the Boxster it is necessary to remove it manually, although this can be done with the roof up. I suspect I will try and drive without it to improve rear visibility unless on a long drive with the roof down.
The sales guy said he didn't think the car had PTV, it is one of the few options you can't really see any evidence of, but I doubt it did. Certainly, I didn't have a chance to try really agressive cornering or acceleration out of corners to see what happened. As I have chosen PTV I would really like to compare with and without to see what I got for my money, but I have to say moderate driving in an unfamiliar car and poor weather I didn't miss it.
Cheers,
Geoff
rear discs are the same size as 987.
front discs are 12mm bigger than 987 (330 v 318).
981 also 35kgs lighter than 987.
therefore, braking performance should be better.
driving in the rain is the best way to clean the red roof .. that's what I did on my RS60's red roof. In 29k miles, I cleaned it once. However, it was garaged.
electric parking brake is easy .. just drive off, it automatically releases.
front discs are 12mm bigger than 987 (330 v 318).
981 also 35kgs lighter than 987.
therefore, braking performance should be better.
driving in the rain is the best way to clean the red roof .. that's what I did on my RS60's red roof. In 29k miles, I cleaned it once. However, it was garaged.
electric parking brake is easy .. just drive off, it automatically releases.
SFO said:
driving in the rain is the best way to clean the red roof .. that's what I did on my RS60's red roof. In 29k miles, I cleaned it once. However, it was garaged.
electric parking brake is easy .. just drive off, it automatically releases.
Yes, that did seem to work well, when we got back the roof was cleaner than when we swapped over half way.electric parking brake is easy .. just drive off, it automatically releases.
The parking brake did release as I pulled away, and also the hill hold worked well, it just lit up HOLD on the dash when stopped on a hill and did not roll back when the brake was deliberately release, just pulling away up hill without fuss.
One thing I would advise anyone is to get the front parking sensor, as I nearly caved in the front of the demo car turning out of a drive, got within a few inches of the wall opposite as I find it very hard to judge where the fron bumper is. Luckily my freind was guiding me and yelled stop. I have form here, as I damaged the front bumper on my 987 about a week after I got it new, so front parking sensors were the first thing on my spec!
Cheers,
Geoff
535dBoy said:
I still can't get a demo.........
I guess if they have your money, they might be less inclined. I suggest a strop with your supplying dealer. Like I said, I've been to three dealers now and there were demo 981s lying around at two of them (Hatfield and Guildford).ETA: Having said that I have been chasing the salesman today and yesterday to put down the bloody deposit. They must be selling loads!
Mutt said:
I guess if they have your money, they might be less inclined. I suggest a strop with your supplying dealer. Like I said, I've been to three dealers now and there were demo 981s lying around at two of them (Hatfield and Guildford).
ETA: Having said that I have been chasing the salesman today and yesterday to put down the bloody deposit. They must be selling loads!
I went to Guildford today to look at the grey one. They had two demos sat there, both the black one and the blue one in my pics posted on separate threadETA: Having said that I have been chasing the salesman today and yesterday to put down the bloody deposit. They must be selling loads!
I know mid Sussex car was out at some event today which probably also accounts for you not getting anybody too!
Mutt said:
I guess if they have your money, they might be less inclined. I suggest a strop with your supplying dealer. Like I said, I've been to three dealers now and there were demo 981s lying around at two of them (Hatfield and Guildford).
ETA: Having said that I have been chasing the salesman today and yesterday to put down the bloody deposit. They must be selling loads!
I went to Guildford today to look at the grey one. They had two demos sat there, both the black one and the blue one in my pics posted on separate threadETA: Having said that I have been chasing the salesman today and yesterday to put down the bloody deposit. They must be selling loads!
I know mid Sussex car was out at some event today which probably also accounts for you not getting anybody too!
I took a Demo out yesterday for an hour and a half - Agate grey - It looked mean. Salesman said it didnt have PTV but when I quizzed him about it when I got back he checked the chassis number and it did have it. I didnt really notice it on the normal left right corners but around 90 degrees and roundabouts especially it held like a dream. Chris harris was right about the front wheels sprooling up on the old 987 but with the PTV it just seemed as tho it wanted to go around and around the corner and that you had to pull it away from the cornering as the tyres were planted firmly on the tarmac. I noticed the car was inside braking Immediately on the bigger corners which is why i questioned the Sales man. Steering was absolutely precise in wet and dry as it lashed it down for 10 minutes while I was out - No problems there at all.
Gassing Station | Boxster/Cayman | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff