Porsche Spy Photos & Gossip

[APXD 30]

987 PDK up to 310bhp w/o DFI:


2009 Boxster S first drive--PDK is pretty darn kwik


By MARK VAUGHN



2009 Porsche Boxster S
We have driven the 2009 Boxster S around a very good race track and can assure you it's everything you'd want a new Boxster S to be.It is stable, thanks to a superb Porsche MacPherson strut suspension front and rear as well as Porsche Stability Management 8.0 that electronically controls every hint of wheelspin. With a new 3.4-liter version of the 9A1 flat six engine family, it is as powerful as you will likely ever be able to use on a race track before the next curve comes and you have to start braking, with 310 hp and 265 lb-ft of torque. And it makes the most of that power with the new PDK (Pretty Damn Kwik) (okay, Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe) seven-speed automatic transmission.We took the car around Willow Springs race track in the Southern California desert about as fast as we've ever taken anything around that track. The Boxster S has lapped the Nürburgring's Nordschliefe in 8:10, among the best of the fast cars out there--only supercars get around in less than 8 minutes. We didn't time our laps around Willow Springs, but with excellent coaching from Porsche race car driver Patrick Long--who bravely sat in the passenger seat - we did about 10 laps right out of the box with nary a hiccup.The power was as much as we could imagine using on that track and with our level of talent. The PDK did all the shifting in that session and the only time we ever felt stability control intervene was when the car got light coming over the rise into Turn 6. We began to imagine that we, not the car, were stuffed with talent.That notion was cleared up when we discovered that the biggest difference about this new mid-engined sports car was when we followed those laps in the new car with a single lap in an original, unretouched 1997 Boxster. Man, that '97 felt like an empty donkey cart in comparison (apologies to everyone who owns a 1997 Boxster, but you gotta try this new one).With Long still brave enough to ride along we set out in the saddened, decade-old beast. The shocks were stiff and jarring, the steering was all over the place and the power--what happened to all that torque? The '97 Boxster had a 2.5-liter making 204 hp and no stability control. We figured we could handle all that but were sharply reminded how much difference PSM 8.0 made on the new car when the back end of that old Boxster came way out on the downhill left-hander of Turn 5. We were able to catch it and only lose a little momentum but man what a difference a decade makes!"At the time when the Boxster was first introduced it was the best you could offer," said Juergen Kapfer, project manager for mid-engine PDK drivetrain. "Now (the new car) has all the best modern technology can offer."Which is a lot. The only thing shared with the previous engine family is the bore spacing, said Kapfer. "Everything else is new."There are many similarities to the flat six in the bigger 911s, however. The outside shapes of the cylinder heads are the same, the oil pump, water pump, connecting rods and chains that drive the camshafts are the same. The engines go down the same assembly line."But the Boxster engine is mounted 180 degrees opposite the Carrera engine," said Kapfer.And the displacements are all different. For the record, the base 2009 Boxster displaces 2.9 liters, the Boxster S 3.4 liters, the Carrera 3.6 liters and Carrera S 3.8 liters. The 2.9-liter engine in the base Boxster makes 255 hp at 7,200 rpm and 214 lb-ft from 4,400 to 6,000. rpm. The Boxster S makes its 310 hp at 7,200 rpm and 265 lb-ft at 4,750 rpm. That's less than the 911s, but as we found out at Willow, about as much as most mortals can handle with any grace.The PDK helps. It's essentially the same unit as found in the Carrera but flopped over to fit the mid-engine configuration."Otherwise we'd have seven reverse gears," noted Kapfer.The shifts come in 0.4 second and there are sports and race track shift maps available at the touch of a button. Maximum speed comes in sixth gear, with seventh useful only for fuel mileage. A six-speed manual is also available.The new car also offers launch control, which we tried on the grid at Willow and liked better than other units we've used. It felt the most efficient at putting power to pavement.Other changes to the Boxster are minimal. New, larger front air intakes, rear diffuser, two tailpipes, new outside mirrors. You can see for yourself when the new Boxster and the new Cayman with the same improvements enter showrooms in March in the United States, only a couple weeks after their European launch. Prices will be announced closer to the on-sale date, but start saving now.SPECS[/b]2009 Porsche Boxster SOn sale:[/b] March 2009Drivetrain:[/b] 310-hp, 265 lb-ft 3.4-liter normally aspirated flat six; rear wheel-drive, seven-speed PDK automatic0-62 mph:[/b] 5.2 seconds (mfr.)Curb weight:[/b] 2,988 pounds 
gSiteLife.Recommend("ExternalResource","811199992");