Instrumented Test
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A bargain exotic with a mighty fine self-shifter.
For those of you who might have been encased in amber the past 15 years or perhaps stuck in a universe of flying dirigibles, a golden Statue of Liberty, and Sony Betamax VCRs, we’d like to welcome you to the other side. The bad news: During your absence, all the ten-penny mid-engined sportsters such as the Lotus Elise and the Toyota MR2 have been superseded by exotics with entomological monikers and six-figure price tags. All, that is, but the Porsche Boxster, which launched around the time you entered hibernation.
By some strange but wonderful evolutionary process, the Boxster has survived—make that thrived—despite a major pandemic of crossover SUVs and self-parking sedans. Or maybe it was just Porsche’s single-minded determination to develop and refine a relatively affordable—emphasis on “relatively”—mid-engined sports car. We’ve recognized the car’s excellence by placing the Boxster on our 10Best Cars list 13 times since it first arrived in 1997.
For 2013, the slightly cherubic, overtly retro skin has been molted, replaced by more menacing sheetmetal that’s suggestive of supercars such as Porsche’s own upcoming 918 hybrid. When we first drove the latest Boxster S, we detailed how its innards had metamorphosed as well, with a longer wheelbase, more passenger space, a wider track for more sure-footed handling, and weight reduction in key areas. A subsequent instrumented test of a six-speed-manual ’13 Boxster S revealed more exotic tendencies—nearly 1.0 g of skidpad grip, a Ferrari 458 Italia–like 147-foot stopping distance from 70 mph, and a 911 Carrera–matching 4.4-second 0-to-60 sprint.
Shift for Brains
For this test, we scrutinized the bestselling version of the Boxster S, which means the model equipped with the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, a.k.a. the $3200 dual-clutch PDK automatic. It’s the quickest production 2013 Boxster money can buy, turning in a 4.2-second sprint to 60, 0.2 quicker than the manual car—quicker, even, than the base 911 with its fancy seven-speed manual. It comes by its quickness a couple of ways: Our car had the optional $2370 Sport Chrono Package and launch-control setup, which simply storms away more quickly—it’s like side-stepping the clutch in a manual car at 5000–6000 rpm—and more consistently. Then there are the PDK’s hyper-quick, Don-Knotts-on-Red-Bull shifts themselves. The PDK also has a wider ratio spread than does the manual, with a lower first gear for hard charges off the line.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door roadster
PRICE AS TESTED: $88,585 (base price: $61,850)
ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 210 cu in, 3436 cc
Power: 315 hp @ 6700 rpm
Torque: 266 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 97.4 in
Length: 172.2 in
Width: 70.9 in Height: 50.0 in
Curb weight: 3139 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 4.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 10.4 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 18.6 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 4.9 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 2.8 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 3.1 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 12.7 sec @ 111 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 173 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 142 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 1.0 g
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway: 21/30 mpg
C/D observed: 17 mpg
Continued…