By Cars.com Staff
Cars.com National January 2, 2009Vehicle Overview
Porsche's more-affordable midengine roadster, the Boxster, and its coupe counterpart, the Cayman, have been upgraded for 2009 with more power, better mileage, revised suspensions and upgraded interiors. The Boxster competes with the Audi TT roadster, BMW Z4, Chevrolet Corvette convertible and Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class.
Exterior
The styling has also been tweaked, with an emphasis on the lights — headlights, taillights and side marker lights. The Boxster has rectangular fog lights. It now incorporates its turn signals into the halogen headlight clusters, and LED taillights are standard. An option package includes bi-xenon headlights, cornering lights and LED daytime running lights.
Interior
The Boxster also received some interior upgrades, including an updated PCM Communication Management option that controls the audio, communication and navigation systems. The badly needed upgrade brings a new touch-screen interface with a 6.5-inch screen. A USB jack for controlling iPods and playing music from flash drives is also available.
Optional heated seats now also include a ventilation function to cool occupants.
Under the Hood
The base Boxster's horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine has grown from 2.7 to 2.9 liters, and from 245 to 255 horsepower. The 3.4-liter in the Boxster S now generates 310 hp, up from 303 hp. Despite the higher output, Porsche says the Boxster's mileage has improved.
When a car's power and efficiency both increase, it usually means one thing: direct injection, and that's the technology that's been added. It's aided by the new seven-speed, dual-clutch automated manual called Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, or PDK, which improves efficiency over the conventional Tiptronic S it replaces. It offers an automatic mode as well as manual shifting using a lever or steering-wheel buttons — push forward to upshift, pull back to downshift. Porsche says PDK also improves 0-60 mph times over the manual: 5.2 seconds versus 5.3 seconds for the Boxster S. The manual base Boxster is claimed to hit 60 mph in less than 5.8 seconds with PDK and about a tenth of a second slower with the stick.
The Boxster also got suspension refinements and larger brakes that required the base model's 17-inch front wheels to be a half-inch wider. A limited-slip differential is optional to supplement the brake-based traction control.
Safety
In addition to frontal airbags, the Boxster has side-impact torso airbags in the seat backrests, and head-protection airbags deploy upward from the doors. Antilock brakes and an electronic stability system are standard.
Additional Reviews
Cars.com Expert Reviews
| Joe Wiesenfelder | Cars.com National | October 13, 2009 |
| Cars.com Staff | Cars.com National | January 2, 2009 |
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