Ahhhh... where to start?

To avoid sounding like a weenie wannabe I should perhaps start off by saying I currently own an Audi TT which will be traded in on one of these bad boys. My dealer has informed me that there are only 15 other people on the waiting list but not to get my hopes up - they've warned me to expect a 9-11 month wait!

That being said, I test drove two different Boxster S's which were already spoken for within the last couple of days. When I walked in to the dealership I fully expected a snotty reception of the weren't-you-looking-for-the-Hyundai-dealer sort. Yet, this was not so despite my looking way too young and under-dressed to be a serious buyer. The folks were attentive, non-pushy and down-to-earth real people. Perhaps too many young and under-dressed dot-commers had waltzed in before and management lectured the sales team on the old judging-by-the-bookcovers adage.

Anyway, after conveying my intentions to the sales person, I was given the key to a shiny black S with ~100 miles on it. The mild embarrassment of looking for the ignition on the steering column was tactfully done away with when I was shown it lay way off to the left-hand side close to the outside mirror. Once I turned it on and put it in gear I stayed with a grin on my face for the rest of the test drive.

If you've read elsewhere about this car no doubt you've been told the Boxster S is fast. And that's no hyperbole. 0-60 launch times in 5 seconds aside, getting up to speed *feels* like such a momentary flash of joy that going fast per se felt almost anticlimactic. I literally desired to slow down only so that I could speed up again and repeat over and over the way one might with a go kart. And therein lies most of the joy of this car. That five-second rush is the reason I'm spending the equivalent of 3 Toyota Camry's (or half a dozen Geo Metros). Yes, speed-induced financial insanity!

I wish I could go on about some of the other joy-giving aspects of the driving such as cornering at high speeds and braking but I felt too intimidated to do either right proper what with the dealer-appointed chaperone sitting next to me. Suffice it to say that neither will be even remotely disappointing or left wanting in any way. And those gorgeous wheels! Its naughty-looking red calipers peering through the wheel spokes as if tempting one to stroke them.

The cabin interior was considerably less awe-inspiring. It's clear to me that while interior appointments, while certainly not an afterthought, were not what Porsche engineers spent sleepless nights fussing over. Clearly, the lion's share of the 50+ grand you'll be spending on one of these machines was spent on what makes them so fast and the technology to keep that power tamed.

Although it's perhaps an unreasonably high standard to compare it to, all I have as a yardstick is my own Audi TT which is fairly well unsurpassed when it comes to artful interior design. The Boxster S controls look borderline cheesy. Taking into account general reviews congratulating the present example as being much improved over the original Boxster's I shudder to think what *those* dashboards look like. The steering wheel feels a little on the thin side and though it's wrapped in leather it is very processed and shiny-smooth which doesn't help in the grip/tactile department. A raw cowhide threaded wheel wrap would work wonders and is something I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for from the aftermarket scene.

Perhaps most unattractive on the dashboard are the shapeless hazard, power top, defroster, etc. buttons which look like stuck-on chewed licorice blobs. To really show you have lots of money but no taste you can order the $4,000 carbon fibre trim which looks outlandish but is absolutely purposeless or bedeck the interior with equally-expensive, old-fart wood trim to pretend you're driving a high-end Cadillac or Jaguar. To me either option is nothing short of defiling the car. Of course, standard disclaimers regarding beauty and beholders applies here...

Other than that there's little else to bellyache over. I could whine that there's no glove box where, apparently, there's plenty of room for one or the relatively small space one has to fit in inside but this would be unreasonable on my part. After all, I'm damn *glad* this is not a Cadillac or Jaguar!

Ultimately, the acid test of whether a reviewer likes a product or not is if they're willing to put their money where their mouth is. And in my case I'm doing just that, eagerly awaiting my own customized Boxster S.

Ras
rasiel@rasiel.com