Boxster 987 S to 981 2.7 - Will I Miss the Power?

[stevevp]

I've had a 987 S PDK for the past 18 months, purchased with low mileage when it was 18 months old. The car's never really "done it" for me in terms of comfort or drivability. I've just had an extended test drive of a 981 S PDK. I found the numerous differences quite subtle but combined to make it a far more enjoyable experience and put a smile on my face that my 987 has rarely managed.

It is unlikely that I can currently stretch to a 981 S PDK, new or used, but wondered if anyone has gone from a 987 S to a 981 2.7 and whether they've missed the power? The car is mainly used for touring in the UK and Europe - where I do like to "make progress" - but it is not track tool. Grateful any thoughts.

[Ady128]

I think you'll be ok. You'll get used to it. I've always bought the "bog standard" models; 986 Tiptronic followed by 987 PDK and currently 991 Cab 3.4 PDK. I think the 2.7 981 will be quick enough especially for how you use the car. OR wait longer, save more and get the S.

[stevevp]

Many thanks. The problem in waiting is the belief that my 987 will depreciate quicker for trade-in than what I can save and I'll never make up the difference! I guess another extended test drive is called for ...

[mrdemon]

I would miss the extra BHP for sure.

[stevevp]

I'm sure I would too but I'm not sure where. 0-62 is 5.8s vs 5.1s, so fairly comparable. I suspect the torque 207 vs 288 would be a more telling factor?

(All figures from What Car?)

Edited by stevevp on Saturday 23 March 19:40

[mrdemon]

stevevp said:

I'm sure I would too but I'm not sure where. 0-62 is 5.8s vs 5.1s, so fairly comparable. I suspect the torque 207 vs 288 would be a more telling factor?

(All figures from What Car?)

Edited by stevevp on Saturday 23 March 19:40

You will miss the B road 60mph to 90 mph performance and for over talking.
80 ft/ lbs is a lot of torque to loose.

0-60 time are meaning less.

[stevevp]

Thanks for all you comments, all makes good sense. Once thing I forgot to say, the 981 S I test drove had flappy paddles and I soon found myself driving the car manually, something I never do with the buttons on mine.

[SimonOcean]

The 2.7 981 is a very high specific output engine that gives its best at high RPM. Given that, I actually think that the PDK box would be better than the manual for this engine. Why?

It is really that you have to be 100% concentrating to keep the 2.7 on the boil at high RPM and shifting frequently with the manual box Of course this is great fun and a challenge. But if you don't want to be concentrating that hard all the time you might find yourself in the wrong gear from time to time. With PDK I think that the gearbox shifting is made easy for you and it will be quicker / easier to keep on the boil if you decide to drive hard.

The 3.4 you can drive a bit more lazily: overtake something without changing down 1 or 2 gears and just use the torque of the engine to get you past slower traffic. So manual would be more day to day usable.

I am not knocking manual gearboxes at all. It is just that I think the PDK / manual trade offs are harder when looking at the 3.4, whereas I would choose a PDK unequivocally with the 2.7.

[mrdemon]

It's all about torque :-)

2nd gear out the bends you will notice at 30mph,
It's not like you are going to go into 1st gear.

Cars are more about feel for fun, more torque feels faster, also.

[SimonOcean]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Keep your toupee on: I said as much in my post.

It just depends on how much concentration you want to devote to driving the car. Not just on the perfect day that you want to drive hard, but also on the days when you are travelling from A to B. The S / manual allows you to relax a bit more. The 2.7 / manual will feel much slower unless you are driving relatively banzai all the time. I don't disagree that the manual 981 (2.7 or 3.4) is a pleasure to drive.

[Chins]

In my experience yes you will miss the power.

I've got a 981S PDK and had 987 2.9PDK and Spyder. More relevant is that when I took my 981 in for the boot release to be fixed I had. 2.7PDK as a loaner for the day. Did a lot of mixed driving. Where it really showed was cruising on the motorway. 2.7's lack of torque kept making the PDK box change down where my S would happily of stayed in 7th. Slow speed bends were also more of a pain with relaxed driving. Gave it the full beans a couple of times and it felt ok, but as a day to day cat it felt a large step backwards. Midrange overtakes also take more planning due to lack of grunt.

[stevevp]

Thanks for the ongoing debate chaps. I clearly need to have a couple more test drives, particularly a 2.7 manual. It is difficult for me not to be biased towards the 3.4 PDK despite the £10k price difference. Hmmm ....