Comparable 0-60s Boxster S vs 996. Boxster faster?
Discussion
sorry - typo in title. I meant 996, not 964!
Hi,
I know that in normal cases a tenth of a second doesn't make much difference. However, I do hillclimbs and sprints in my cars where a couple of tenths of a second is a huge difference. Quite a lot of the courses involve acceleration from very slow corners, and of course all are from a standing start. I was thinking of replacing my 986 Boxster S with a 3.4 996 but, to my surprise, Autotrader lists the Boxster's 0-60 as 5.9, and 996 as 6.0. I was surprised as the 996 has more power and better traction and only slightly more weight. Also, I would be surprised if Porsche allowed the Boxster to out perform the contemporary 911. Does anybody have figures that are definitive?
Thanks
Hi,
I know that in normal cases a tenth of a second doesn't make much difference. However, I do hillclimbs and sprints in my cars where a couple of tenths of a second is a huge difference. Quite a lot of the courses involve acceleration from very slow corners, and of course all are from a standing start. I was thinking of replacing my 986 Boxster S with a 3.4 996 but, to my surprise, Autotrader lists the Boxster's 0-60 as 5.9, and 996 as 6.0. I was surprised as the 996 has more power and better traction and only slightly more weight. Also, I would be surprised if Porsche allowed the Boxster to out perform the contemporary 911. Does anybody have figures that are definitive?
Thanks
For a road car, I would agree but I do do full bore launches for each run and try and get as close as possible to the maximum. And there are suffieciently slow corners for wheelspin to be a significant problem as I exit. "Mid range" is interesting - of course I need to punch out of slow corners but these cars have tallish lower gears so I would generally exit a corner do so in the last 2000rpm of a gear so I would generally change down to first if required (though this can lead to excessive wheel spin it still seems to be faster than waiting for it to get going in second). I've only ever used 4th a few times but often get to the top of third, about 100mph in my car.
I bought a Boxster becuase I like them, and was hillclimbing an MG Midget. Becuase the MG was unreliable I ended up using the Boxster a few times and really enjoyed it, mostly becuase I drive to and from the events and its much better than the MG and is more reliable. Sooner or later I'm going to need some rear seats and will probably replace the Boxster with etiher a 996 or an E46 M3 or similar so I was working out how much faster I'd be with the new car. The BMW is faster but the traction of a 911 should really help. For a long time poeple built Skoda Estelle and Imp specials, with spaceframe chassis, differnt engine and fibreglass body because it allowed a rear engine. Anyway, if Autotrader is right the 996 is slower than the Boxster so I can't have that!
Shoestringracer said:
I think you could be right about these being tiptronic figures. I keep reading 5.1s for a 996 3.4. I suppose there aren't any figures that aren't at least slightly contestable.
My friend has a e46 smg m3, and my 3.6 c2 996 is a little quicker in most situations.F3RNANDO said:
Never seen a test with a 996 at 0-60 in 6 seconds.
Best tested was by Autocar in 1997 which was 4.6 seconds.
See here
Ok great, thanks for all the replies - this one makes interesting reading. If a course has one 0-60 and two 10-60s, which is fairly typical, then I ought to be gettting on for 2 seconds faster! Well worth having! Best tested was by Autocar in 1997 which was 4.6 seconds.
See here
If you wanted to drag race a Porsche then 0-60 may be more important but sprinting one, 0-60 times would not be high on my list of things to consider first. Most sprints I have done a nimble handling car is far important than a good 0-60 time. Take a look at a lot of the kit cars that attend sprints and hill climbs and you will see with lower power to weight ratios than some of the high powered stuff the set faster times.
Matt Seabrook said:
If you wanted to drag race a Porsche then 0-60 may be more important but sprinting one, 0-60 times would not be high on my list of things to consider first. Most sprints I have done a nimble handling car is far important than a good 0-60 time. Take a look at a lot of the kit cars that attend sprints and hill climbs and you will see with lower power to weight ratios than some of the high powered stuff the set faster times.
I agree, but they are in a different class ("Specialist") from me ("Production") and are uncomfortable to use the rest of the time. I was comparing the Boxster becasue I currently have one with the 996 because I might get one. Not trying to find the best car for hillclimbing. I do think acceleration is very imprortant. If you have 5 short straights and you do each one a second quicker its going to be quite difficult to make that up cornering faster. You spend a higher percentage of each run accelerating than cornering so if you accelerated 10% faster or cornered 10% faster the acceleration would have a bigger impact. I think. Of course if you could exit each corner faster, you wouldn't need to gain so much speed on the straight so they are both important. Shoestringracer said:
I agree, but they are in a different class ("Specialist") from me ("Production") and are uncomfortable to use the rest of the time. I was comparing the Boxster becasue I currently have one with the 996 because I might get one. Not trying to find the best car for hillclimbing. I do think acceleration is very imprortant. If you have 5 short straights and you do each one a second quicker its going to be quite difficult to make that up cornering faster. You spend a higher percentage of each run accelerating than cornering so if you accelerated 10% faster or cornered 10% faster the acceleration would have a bigger impact. I think. Of course if you could exit each corner faster, you wouldn't need to gain so much speed on the straight so they are both important.
I think you are confusing the time it takes to get to a speed and the time it takes to cover a distance. You would think it should be like for like but it isn't. I had a sprint car that would do a standing 1/4 mile in 12.2 seconds crossing the line at 125mph yet a car that I competed against would cross the line at 117mph and did 11.8 seconds. Better 0-60 times do not always me a car will be faster from point to point than car with a slower 0-60 times. Corner exit speed on a sprint is more important than a couple of tenths off an acceleration time.That said if you fancy a 996 then go for it. It's a great car and will bring many smiles per mile.
Edited by Matt Seabrook on Thursday 8th March 08:43
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