On My Ragtops: Part 3

Now we come to the current red machine sitting in my garage.

No, wait...a bit of backtracking first...

When Andrew proposed the idea of two Porsches via European Delivery, I didn't even pause to ponder the Cayman vs. Boxster decision. I just immediately thought 'Boxster'. The open-top experience is just too deeply entrenched in me it seems (thanks to my two Hondas), despite some of the minor inconveniences (like sunscreen) it entails.

The first recce to Mark Motors Porsche on a rainy weekday afternoon had me come across a Guards Red Boxster in the parking lot there. We were test driving a Cayman that day, but just seeing the red convertible glistening there in the damp was enough to give me visions of ownership right there and then.

I mean let's face it, my first Porsche experience was in a Boxster, in the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, way back in 2000 - it, too, was Guards Red - so it seemed somewhat cosmic that here I was ogling a new version of that car, and seriously starting to consider the idea of buying one.

The fun of driving that rental in those beautiful surroundings, with the wind in my hair (I had some then), that open-air feeling of spaciousness and connection to the outdoors, and hearing the snarl of the flat-six (stark contrast to the later-discovered 4-cylinder in the S2000) - it definitely spoke to me. Andrew and I put that base Boxster through its paces there.

I think we both came away feeling a bit underwhelmed by the fit and finish of that first generation, but it did have a nice balance to it, and the engine was sweet and very different in my memory to the little screamers we became used to over the years to come.

Fast-forward from there to the summer of 2023 and experiencing the refinements of the two-seater, open-top, mid-engine concept that Porsche engineers had spent 20+ years tweaking. The roads of Europe didn't disappoint, and neither did the car.

After two summers of driving now, I'm at least partially qualified to comment on my latest foray into ragtop bliss. But only just. I've only had the brief sessions on the Nordschleife to be able to experience some track driving (but what a place to do it!), but that was such a sensory overload that I came away with only the most superficial of senses as to its abilities. As in: "Wow, this thing is just so much more capable than I am here!"

It would take many, many more laps there to get over the sense of awe that engulfed me as I drove those few laps, and to be able to focus a bit more on the car and just how it was responding to my inputs, how it was soaking up all the track surface irregularities with ease, and so on. I've not yet had the chance to take the GTS on the track here in Canada (someplace like Calabogie Motorsports Park for example), where I could be a bit more in tune with the car instead. So those appreciations will have to come later.

For now, what I can speak to are the real-world experiences: the simple daily commuter drives to work, the long road trips on winding country roads, the grocery-getting, and so forth. I've waxed poetic before, and as you may have noted, I'm a bit of a sentimentalist / romantic / softie at times, so I do tend to go on and on at times.

Oh well. Sue me. It's my blog. 

I think I said before that an all-encompassing word to describe the Boxster is 'balanced'. But I think I've got another one now: 'capable'. It doesn't seem to matter what I ask of it, what situation I'm in with it, it always handles things without a hint of uncertainty. I'm talking about everything from six bags of groceries, a cooler and a folding camping chair, to a horse saddle and all the necessary tack equipment needed for my daughter's weekend riding competition.

Or perhaps I'm talking about the need to press on home in the wee hours of the morning, in the dark, on a unknown back road in the pouring rain, with the amazing headlights cutting through like a hot knife through butter. Or maybe it's when we feel the need in the early evening to put the top down and zip up to a local ice cream shack with some great tunes playing.

Or when you get a call from a friend who is suffering from nausea and a pounding headache from carbon monoxide fumes from his old Alfa and is pulled over on the side of the road needing a lift ASAP. You jump in, no questions asked, and the GTS gets you there and back without a hint of drama. 

And then there's the saving graces. Where the monstrous grip from the sticky Michelins saves me from embarrassment (or peril) when I misjudge my entry speed into a tight, decreasing radius, off-camber off-ramp (yes there are a few here in Ottawa). Where somebody dives across three lanes of traffic and directly in front of me to grab their exit, and my big powerful brakes make it a non-event. Where careless inattention on my part demands that I flick left at the last second to avoid a massive pothole (yes there are a few here in Ottawa) and the Boxster shrugs and says "ok" without a hint of complaint. Even with traction control completely off, there's no fazing this machine. Not at the limits at which I am comfortable driving on the public roads, that's for sure.

A future post will ramble on about just how amazing this car is on the racetrack, of that I'm sure, but for now I'll wrap up my meandering prose by saying this:

It's a most capable sports car.

Lucky, lucky me. 

~ Luke