Take Your Pick
Text and images by Mike Grundon (22 Sep 06)

The first watery light of a September dawn was coming up over the horizon, more yellow and washed out than pink and blushing. I could see it way out there beyond the bonnet of the Boxster S in a split under the clouds. Although I'd been on the road since five, I smiled the smile of a man content.

Sadly, this was only 150 miles or so from where I'd be dropping off the pretty, fire-engine red roadster - the majority of my trip was behind me. Over the last few days I'd taken in over 500 miles of everything from nose-to-tailpipe crawls on choked motorways to fast, late-night sprints along empty dual-carriageways; from single-track country lanes burrowing through tunnels of trees, to quick, snaking A-roads. As ever with Porsches, I'd found nothing to worry me and everything to inspire.

Be under no illusion, the Boxster S is no budget-bucket motor. Despite being second from the bottom of the model range, it's a thoroughbred in its own right. It will mix it up with the biggest of the big boys and out in the real world it takes a hell of a lot of beating. Discount it at your peril.

I should come clean here and say that this test car had been well specced up from the standard model. The base asking price of a Boxster S is currently £39,161, but there was so much extra kit that this one tipped the scales at £54,191. The majority of that extra came from the Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes which cost a dizzying £5349 over the standard anchors. How that can be I'm not quite sure, nor how the 19" Carrera Classic alloys cost £1256 more than the standard wheels.

Anyway, the test car was so pretty, it could be considered a crime against sensitivity to get into it without standing for a moment and gazing upon it. There's no doubt it's a Porsche - simple, round lights sit high on those bulging wings, either side of a steeply raked nose below which is a bank of big air intakes. The flanks are utterly dominated by big, cleanly designed wheels under elegant wheelarches. More cooling vents are set just forward of the rear wheels to take heat away from the mid-mounted engine. Roof up or roof down, it looks purposeful and elegant.

At tickover, the six horizontally-opposed cylinders in the 3.2-litre engine give out a throaty growl. Sadly, when you're going more quickly, there's little aural delight for the driver. With the roof down the engine is drowned out by the wind rush - with the roof up, it's so well sound-proofed from the cabin that all you get is road noise, which you can easily squeeze out with help from the excellent Bose sound system (£1030 option).

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