2009 Porsche Boxster S Review (video)

From day one, the Porsche Boxster intended to bring owners a more fun-loving taste of the Porsche brand. Its standard convertible roof, snippy mid-engine handling and two-seat setup wave a bit of youthful carelessness in the face of the automaker’s more serious, grown-up models.

From day one, the Porsche Boxster intended to bring owners a more fun-loving taste of the Porsche brand.

It’s a car ready for a 'wind-in-the-hair' weekend trip to any destination you’d like—even if it’s a race track.

The Boxster S
Boxster shoppers can specify the factory-tweaked Boxster S variant to take advantage of even more fun via the addition of numerous go-fast goodies.

The ‘S’ designated version sees the standard car fed a cocktail of steroids and stimulants by the engineering team. Upgraded brakes, wheels, and suspension hardware are applied, and the tester even got a lap-timer and shock absorbers that stiffen with the push of a button.

The optional dual-clutch transmission changes gear at lightning speeds and is available with a fantastic launch-control function as part of the Sport Chrono package. This uses some trick computer-enhanced clutching and braking to get the car clawing off the line as quickly as possible.

Porsche calls the transmission “PDK”, a German abbreviation for ‘double clutch’. It’s a powerful tool that operates flawlessly when pushed-- though it can occasionally lurch or hesitate in city traffic.

The way she moves
The sophisticated PDK gearbox is available on either standard or “S” Boxster models. The latter comes exclusively with a 3.4 litre flat-six engine that ousts the standard 2.9 litre unit-- raising power from 255 up to 310. Forward propulsion is on par with the average rocket thruster once things get moving.

Jam the throttle, and the engine glides the Boxster S off the line with a gentle intake hum that switches to a cabin-saturating wail as the tachometer sweeps upwards. Power builds in a near-linear fashion, becoming almost startling as redline approaches.

The latter comes exclusively with a 3.4 litre flat-six engine that ousts the standard 2.9 litre unit.