NoPorscheRightNow

Greetings all:

Well, I spent the afternoon driving first a new 04 Guards 986S 6spd, followed by a Guards 987 base. Price on the two is close enough to not be an issue. The drives, courtesy of my local dealer, were limited to around town stuff, about 35 minutes each, with one long, sweeping aggressive S-shaped on-ramp that I'm very familiar with and know the limits of with my current sportscar. In other words, no chance to take them up to the mountains or to exceed maybe 7/10s driving, and that only for a half minute or less. But, to be fair, I am very interested in the car's behavior in normal suburban commuting also, and the test drive was quite useful for that.

I came away without a clear winner. Arguing for the 7 is:

exterior looks. Whether it actually looks "better" in some objective sense, or it just looks "newer" compared to an essentially unchanged 9-year-old car, the fact is I love the new look. Especially the front end. The trunk lid reminds me of a 356 for some reason, and the fenders look more 550-ish than do the 986. The air grills for the engine are larger and more aggressive, yet have none of the ridiculous self-parody of a 348 or Testarossa. One thing I did not like as well was the openings in the front bumper; the '86S has 3 smaller openings, vs. the 2 giant 911-turbo-looking grills on either side of the 7's nose, flanking a DUMMY air intake thingie with a plastic cover in the middle. I mean, is this a Mustang or what? Still, on the whole I definitely give the nod to Mr. 7.

Interior Looks A homerun here. Some Audi touches (air vents), a to-die-for chronometer on the dash that should be available as a stand-alone option just as a clock, forget the timing package. Seats seemed similar, though the 7 I drove had full power and the 6S had manual fore and aft, an amazing oversight in this price range, but not something that bothers me at all. Better cupholders (though still nothing to brag about), better looking underside of the top, overall feel just about 15 percent better in my opinion. Not a deal maker, since the 6S has a very nice inside anyway, but a nice improvement all the same.

Chassis Solidity Okay, maybe this was a function of my salesman really selling (in a good way) the 987 platform. And let's face it: design marches on. It ought to be better, and not by a little bit. So I think it was better. I forced both cars over some pretty nasty potholes (the same ones, in fact), and fancyied I could tell a small difference. But honestly, the 6S was such a nice piece that I wouldn't award a homerun to the 7. Maybe we're getting to the point where what improvements can still be made can't really be felt by the average test driver. Sure, the test instruments might register a 20percent increase in torsional rigidity, but if the original has a tiny amount of bending, then perhaps reducing that even by as much as 20 percent can't really be felt by most of us.

Colors, options, etc. What can I say? I've really wanted cobalt blue for a long time, and the only 986s left on dealer lots seem to be black, red, silver, maybe yellow, all with black interiors.

Arguing for the 6S:

S Okay, let's face it. This guy's an "S", which just means a lot in Porsche world. Look at it this way: Which would you rather have: a 1971 2.2 911S or a 1972 2.4 911T? A 98 C2S or a 99 base 996? I guess I'm just an "S" man.

Motor The 3.2. Wow! What a great motor! Yeah, it may not be objectively much stronger now than the 2.7 (260 vs 240hp), but I could feel a difference and I liked it better! Plus, I've alway's loved Porsche 3.2 liter sixes.

Brakes They're red!!! Okay, so I didn't come anywhere close to testing either set of brakes on my drive, but I could definitely see the difference in caliper color! Don't know if there's an effective difference in stopping power; the feel seemed similar, which is to say sublime. But only a trip to the mountains or the track would reveal the slim or no difference between them.

Model Type Did I mention it was an "S" ?

So, here I sit, wondering which one is right for me? The discounts on remaining 986s are staggering, but giving up color and interior choice is not too fun. If I could still pick from a large selection of 986Ss it would be a no-brainer. I had really wanted a car with a savannah or boxster red interior and everything I'm seeing locally is black inside. On the other hand, Guards over black has always been a favorite of mine, so that's hardly a hardship!

What do some of you with more Boxster experience think about this choice?

Thanks, Matt Atlanta

NetManiac

Nice writeup Matt, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I'm kind of smitten with the 987 so I would probably opt for a 987 exactly the way I want it. But I do know what you are saying about the S-factor.

schnell987

Matt,
I would go for the S. Sounds like the dealers have the Guards Red w/Black combination that you like. While the sound of the 987 is terrific, you may always miss the performance of the 3.2...and that is why you're buying a Porsche anyway, right?

Either car is terrific, so you can't go wrong either way.

Enjoy!

JFScheck

My main reson for purchasing a "Boxster" was...
1. 2004 Last year of the original
2. Primary my wife's car and she loves it
3. Gonna get a 911 in 2-3 years for myself

That being said, if I was not going to get the 911 I would have not purchased the 2004 Boxster and waited for a 2005 Boxster S. That 7K difference in my opinion is money well spent if you will use the extra power. BUT, if you just want a car that drives great and you won't be "pushing" it, wanna a great looking converatable in the "traditional sense" then go with the instant 986 classic...

JFScheck

Soooooooooooo, my answer to your question in the post (986S vs. 987) is go for the 986S if you want the performance, as the 986S will outperform the 987 (although is only .2 seconds slower than the new 987S).

If you want the "updated interior" and "exterior" and are not worried about the performance factor as much, go with the 2005 Boxster which will be fun as is and have all the little updates!!!

ettsn

Well, those are some interesting observations. First question, are you looking at Ellis or Hennessy? If you aren't tied to a salesman, I could make a reccommendation for a super salesguy that is really an enthusiast. (no affiliation, other than extremely happy customer) He could probably help you reconcile your thoughts. I know he helped guide me in the right direction.

-Paul

CharlesV

I'm kind of biased, but I'd opt for the 986S. I test drove the 987S, and I didn't feel much difference between it and my car (986S 550ed) powerwise, the engine just seemed to rev a bit smoother, but I think the cars would be neck and neck till well over 100 if you set them up next to each other at 5mph and floored both of them. I couldn't really feel any difference in handling, at lest not in how well the two cars behaved on similar turns and sections of road... I MUCH prefer the older interior. After the test drive, I felt like I had done the right thing by biting the bullet on the Anniv. Edition instaed of waiting for the new S. We'll have to see if that changes when/if they make an S-coupe though .

Buy whichever car feels more "right" to you, sitting in it and driving it. That's what a Porsche is really all about, the feeling. It wouldn't make sense for you to buy the car that's slightly faster if you liked the feeling that the slightly slower car gave you better.