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Written by Jason Barlow
Or whether it"s turbocharged. These are busy times for purists, as one by one our most cherished car companies ditch naturally aspirated engines in favour of forced induction. The Boxster has always used a sweet flat-six that burbled and warbled at low speeds and emitted a pure Porsche wail as it got on the cam above 4,000rpm and you wondered where the nearest tunnel was. The jury is out on how much tunnel action the new 718 Boxster is going to generate, but TG has sat in the car, started it up and given it a boot-full, and the signs are promising. The new entry-level Boxster ( 41,739) uses a 2.0-litre, single-turbo, flat-four-cylinder that develops 296bhp, up 33bhp from the previous base 2.7-litre"s output.More important, though, is the jump in torque, the thing that will make the biggest difference to the car"s character. There are 74 more torques to play with, a total of 280lb ft now available from 1,950 to 4,500rpm. In other words, the 718 Boxster"s mid-range is a lot punchier than before, and as much as we loved wringing the six-pot"s neck out to the red line (in a tunnel), we all know how much more useful a chunky mid-range is in the real world. The 718 Boxster S ( 50,695) is obviously beefier still. Its 2.5-litre four-cylinder produces 345bhp and 310 torques, an extra 34 and 44 respectively compared with the previous S model. It too produces more of the good stuff much lower down the rev range. Objectively, it"s difficult to grumble. Besides, the 718 S"s 7,200rpm red line is only 200rpm less than the outgoing car"s. So you"re unlikely to confuse it with a diesel.Photography: Mark RiccioniThis feature was originally published in the April 2016 issue of Top Gear magazine.
Date written: 30 Mar 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 2767
Or whether it"s turbocharged. These are busy times for purists, as one by one our most cherished car companies ditch naturally aspirated engines in favour of forced induction. The Boxster has always used a sweet flat-six that burbled and warbled at low speeds and emitted a pure Porsche wail as it got on the cam above 4,000rpm and you wondered where the nearest tunnel was. The jury is out on how much tunnel action the new 718 Boxster is going to generate, but TG has sat in the car, started it up and given it a boot-full, and the signs are promising. The new entry-level Boxster ( 41,739) uses a 2.0-litre, single-turbo, flat-four-cylinder that develops 296bhp, up 33bhp from the previous base 2.7-litre"s output.More important, though, is the jump in torque, the thing that will make the biggest difference to the car"s character. There are 74 more torques to play with, a total of 280lb ft now available from 1,950 to 4,500rpm. In other words, the 718 Boxster"s mid-range is a lot punchier than before, and as much as we loved wringing the six-pot"s neck out to the red line (in a tunnel), we all know how much more useful a chunky mid-range is in the real world. The 718 Boxster S ( 50,695) is obviously beefier still. Its 2.5-litre four-cylinder produces 345bhp and 310 torques, an extra 34 and 44 respectively compared with the previous S model. It too produces more of the good stuff much lower down the rev range. Objectively, it"s difficult to grumble. Besides, the 718 S"s 7,200rpm red line is only 200rpm less than the outgoing car"s. So you"re unlikely to confuse it with a diesel.Photography: Mark RiccioniThis feature was originally published in the April 2016 issue of Top Gear magazine.
Date written: 30 Mar 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 2767
