In article ,
says...
Tom De Moor wrote:

I suppose Dan uses his CLio V6 every day too and that car (easiliy
some 20-30 others) will run circles around the Boxster. The new
2007-2008 Elise on its turn will run circles around Dan's car.

Dan may use his V6 every day, but I've met people who actually use their
boxster for repping, up and down the country, hundreds of miles per day,
with samples and overnight bags and things. Not something you can do in many
sports cars (luggage space - you gonna suggest an MX5?)

No but a BMW M3 would do that very nicely indeed ... and if you'd take a
330d idem on one tank of fuel.

What's a sportscar? Is a Subaru Impreza Turbo a sportscar? Is an Audi
(R)S4 one?



It can be
set up to be as pointy and nimble as a lotus

No, it can't.

From experience : a Boxster on *slicks* was outperformed by a 2007
Lotus Elise on road tires on a circuit. The 2007 Elise on his turn was
ridiculed by a 4-year old R340.

There are three performance definers: resistance, weight and power.
The Lotus Elise outclasses the Boxster on all three.

The lotus's lower resistance comes from its lower weight, the boxster I
drove (an early S) had that feeling of instant response that is rare in a
car, maybe it was a good one.

I presume you know what to compare it too. Can you compare the throttle
response of an M3, a Boxster, a Mercedes C with the V8-engine? Or do
you compare the Boxster to normal shopping trolley?

Resistance in my list of three is not linked to weight: it is air
resistance, drag.

There the Lotus with its completely flat undertray and *working*
diffuser is far superior to the Boxster whose aerodynamics are so bad
that the Porsche factory opted for a moving spoiler in order to keep the
car stable at speed.



yet has ABS, aircon, heated
seats etc and doesn't weigh too much.

The Boxster weighs 30% more than the Lotus Elise S2 who has also ABS,
aircon.

It has also a proper engineered roof, isn't made of plastic, and has a six
cylinder engine and an optional autobox. And I would expect it to be far
more crashworthy though I don't think either have been compared in testing.


Yep: a proper engineered roof, a six cilinder engine with autobox. I
presume you call those the sportscars ingredients? The Porsche six-
potter is indeed a work of art and very innovatif: it's been around for
how many decades?

Personaly I don't give a toss what engine is in a sportscar as long as
it delivers the power needed. Nor do I give a damn if the car is made
out of steel, wood or plastic as long as the materials choosen do the
job.

Finally the crashworthyness: both cars passed them. It should stand to
reason that the Lotus with its lesser weight and aluminium structure
(which absorbs energy more efficiently than steel) is superior to the
Boxster.

Imho you base your opinion on the dynamics of the Boxster on feelings
not on actual facts. As stated befo the Boxster is made up using
obsolete Porsche parts, it is shape before fonction and its technical
design is nowhere innovatif nor dared but that was (is) quite OK for
those people who buy it.

Lotus customers however are the exact opposite: lightweight and sporty.
They even kept up with (former Lotus) cars and their bad to worse
reliability. Go to any trackday and count the Lotusses compared to the
Boxsters...

It has been said that given the same
power as a 911 the Boxster is faster point to point.What makes it
even more special is that it'll stand daily use as well as any
german saloon would.

Claiming it is a superior car to the competition is rather funny: the
key to the Boxster is shape and desing, it's assembled out of obsolete
Porsche parts, reason number 1 why Porsche makes such interesting
profits out of it. Reason also why Porsche does not race it.


Except the shape is its worst asset, it's ugly.

So you say... but when the Boxster was presented as a prototype at the
1993 Detroit Motor Show, it caused such a enthusiastic response from the
public that it was put into production.

The Detroit proto was a mockup: it had no engine, you couldn't sit in
it. What other criteria than shape and overal appearance made around
3000 people to put an upfront payment down to have one?

Tom De Moor