An Oakville Beaver Automotive Feature · To advertise in this section call 9 0 5 -845-3824 or Fax 905-337-5568 BEST WHEELS Porsche Boxster S brings a ray of summer into winter There's nothing like a mid-winter storm for testing out a two-seat roadster. Now that sounds like a pretty silly thing to do. especially this year, but storms are no match for Rick The Racer' Bye, who is on some kind of mission to prove driving a Porsche in the dead of January can be as much fun In the Boxster. a buyer had " every thing" that makes a Porsche but at well under the $90,(XX) plus one has to shell out for a 911 Carrera. The 2(X)3 Boxster S builds on the Boxster foundation with a larger 3.2litre " flat six" quad cam engine produc ing 250 hp and 225 lb/ft of torque com pared to the 2.7-litre version in the Boxster making 217 hp and 192 lb/ft of torque. The magical intake sound comes from the dual-resonance intakes and the Porsche patented VariCam variable valve timing. Like a musical instru ment, you can actually change the "tone" of the intake song depending on gear selected and the amount of throttle fed in. Pull down a gear to pass and hit the pedal and the " whoooooosh" takes on an angry rasp that says the engine means business. Because of the greater power, the Boxster S gets a version of the sixspeed manual transmission used in the 911 and the same cross-drilled disc brakes that are also larger than fitted to die standard Boxster. A giveaway that this is a "S " is the third, centre-mounted air intake at the front, which is for a third radiator needed to handle the cool ing needs of the larger engine. The Boxster S can be had with the five-speed Tiptronic sequential shifter as an option. People either love these things or love to hate them. I'm in the latter group finding where the shift lever sits in relation to my hand a better indicator of what gear I'm in than a dinky little red light on the instrument panel. At a base price of S73.450. the Boxster S is truly well equipped. From partial leather seating and the way-cool speed-actuated rear spoiler, it also fea tures automatic climate control, front and side airbags.immobilizer anti-theft, truly nifty front and rear cargo areas, and a power convertible top with rear, heated glass. Now Rick likes his test cars to look good and that started with the $1,150 optional Arctic Silver metallic paint, cruise control ($790) and the Porsche Windstop wind deflector ($525) was also included. Yes, I did drive the car P o r s c h e Carrera 4 S. Now that didn't seem like much ol a challenge jjm Robinson as it came with Porsche's all-wheel-drive and four ded icated mud and snow tires. In essence, it is like the new Porsche Cayenne SU V except it is packaged as 911. But (his time Rick was suggesting a Boxstcr S. "It's a snap." he said, " you've got the engine mounted midship and there are four Pirelli Scorpions (serious snow tires) on this baby. It'll be like a drive in the park." The Boxster is, of course, the car that turned Porsche around from a 15-year drift away from what a Porsche was all about. I'm not talking about the 911 . which is still TH E Porsche. I'm talking about the "entry" level 924/944 series of front-engined, water-cooled cars that never quite manifested the kind of DNA that one looks for in a Porsche. That changed almost overnight with the reveal of the Boxster concept car. I remember being at the 1998 Detroit Auto Show and seeing people leaping up onto the stage just to get a better look. Here was a technologically leading car with state-of-the-art six-cylinder engine but with the look of a modem 550 Spyder or RS60. Not only was it a knockout visually, when driving it there was that wonderful " whooooosh" sound of the side-mounted air scoops feeding hungry intake plenums under throttle. K O A IIV V U R T IIV * The 2003 Porsche Boxstcr S is the more powerful of the two versions and can be spotted by the third, central radiator scoop needed to cool the 250 hp engine. with the top down (13 seconds max to deploy) and the deflector up. It was chilly, but hey, the sun was out and I was driving a Boxster - no wuss am I. More to the price point, my tester had the optional ($1,990) alloy wheels fitted and the Porsche Stability Management ($1,730) system that is a form of pitch and yaw control. The other option was the $1,175 digital pre mium sound system all adding up to a grand total of $82,335 including the $1,045 shipping tax. I have to admit, the weather condi tions could hardly have been more of a test - ranging from the coldest night of the year to roads awash in water/sand runoff and salt melt that made me feel kind of guilty about all that grunge being sucked into the engine. The low convertible roof and straight-ahead steering wheel position make entry and exit a challenge at first until you learn to slide your leg under the wheel and then hit the seat bum first. After a while, it becomes second nature but you always have to be mindful that the cross brace arm w ill give you a knock on the noggin if you don't remember to exit head low. With the Scorpions sticking like paint to drywall and the major weight (me and the engine) slung between the four-wheel independent suspension, the car is able to turn more easily because of the weight being more at the crux of the diagonal of the four wheels. This was aided by a lower centre of gravity thanks to the flat-six architecture of the engine. 1just romped around in the car dur ing the week 1 had it. On occasion, the traction control would make itself known at stop sings where ice was lurk ing. On the highways, however, the Boxster never seemed short of revs. This was due to having six, nicely spaced gears and the variable valve tim ing. According the Porsche, the Boxster S goes from 0-100 kph in 5.9 seconds with a top speed (governed) at 260 kph (161 mph). I'm sure it's true because at 100 kph in sixth gear, the S was only showing 2,200 rpm and maximum horsepower comes in way up at 6,500 rpm. I often use a quote from Ricky, " Porsches spoil you for everything else." He is pretty close to the mark on that. While I probably couldn't bring myself to use the Boxster S as a daily commuter, especially during a dirty Toronto winter, I would find plenty of other times to drive it. This is the kind of car the beckons you to take a lazy weekend and drive olT to visit an old friend, where the visit is only half the reason for going. FY I. I did notice Rick had a Carrera Targa tucked away, so ..... Lots of fun, and definitely a car to savour like a fine wine, the Porsche Boxster S brings a ray of summer into anyone's winter. sO PAYMENTS NO INTEREST N o p a y m e n ts 'til 2 0 0 4 O .A .C . E x a m p le : 1 9 9 8 P o n tia c S u n b ird , S a le P ric e $ 1 0 0 0 0 .0 0 -i- a d m in a n d ta x e s = $ 1 1 7 4 8 .8 5 a m o u n t fin a n c e d , S 2 3 7 .6 6 /m o . F o r 6 0 m o n th s , @ 7 .9 % A P R . T o ta l p a y m e n ts S14 2 5 9 .6 0 . C o s t o f B o rro w in g $ 2 5 1 0 .7 6 o r $ 5 0 2 .1 5 /y r. A ll p ro g ra m v e h ic le s c le a rly m a rk e d . C a ll d e a le r fo r d e ta ils . ^ omotive Pe rstore AUTOPARKI SUPERSTOR www.autoparksuperstore.com Email: info@autoparksuperstore.com 4 3 -1 5 N . S e rvic e Road n Burlington 905- 331-8500 B e t w e e n A p p l e b y a n d W a lk e r s L in e O f f t h e Q E W in B u r lin g t o n "TH E DRIVING FORCE, WHERE SELECTION IS EVERYTHING!"