New Porsche 718 Boxster review 2020

The Boxster is all about that sweet spot between power and fun

Words from Erin Baker, Editor-in-Chief at Auto Trader

Decades ago, Porsche was all about serious high-performance sports cars with scary handling that made it easy to lose grip and spin. Then, in the '90s, Mazda's world-record-selling MX5 came along, and Porsche thought they were going for it, so hello Boxster. Now fully dubbed the 718 Boxster, we tested the 718 Boxster T, which is a lighter version (but not as cranky as the S or GTS) for a more hardcore, sporty vibe.

style

Style is subjective, of course, but in our opinion the Boxster has always been the Porsche that pleases the eye best. It sits low on the road, without the thick body of the 911, cast in a sleek silhouette with a taut fabric roof. Its balanced proportions reflect its body – unlike the 911, whose engine wags in the rear like a twerking Miley Cyrus, the Boxster's engine sits in the middle of the cab, just behind the driver, giving everything a good weighting.

We tested the Boxster T in bright yellow, which is reflected throughout the interior, from the yellow cloth handles that replace the handles (to keep weight down in this T version) to the yellow door stitching and yellow dial . Good work.

technology

Porsche places a lot of emphasis on its sporty performance features inside, so there's no tablet-style touchscreen, partly because the Boxster is a small two-seat sports car, partly because such frills make for puristic driving fun. Instead, there is a small touchscreen and lots of small buttons. If you're looking for the latest example of connectivity, look elsewhere. You get DAB, satnav, Bluetooth phone connectivity and so on, of course, and you can pay for a great Bose surround sound system, front and rear parking sensors, heated seats, Isofix on the front passenger seat (damn right), cruise control and more, plus dual-zone climate control.

comfort

hmm Comfort isn't the main selling point of a two-seater convertible sports car...there's a lot of wind and tire noise, and then of course you drop the roof and things get stormy, but oh, so much fun on a clear, sunny day. There's a decent amount of head and legroom for two six-foot-tall adults, although my rugby-playing friend said the seating position hurt his back and he couldn't get comfortable. So I left him at home and hit the gas solo.

However, thanks to that mid-engine, you get two boots, one in the normal rear position and one in front. The front one was deep enough for my son's 50 or so school and sports bags...

power

Ah, the Boxster is all about that sweet spot between power and fun. Too much power means too many nerves in our book, but the Boxster, even in the hardcore T version, offers enough thrills, both in acceleration and in noise, to satisfy most petrolheads who like to inspect their cars more than once use on a blue moon when dry enough. We're talking 300 hp, rear-wheel drive and 0-100 km/h in five seconds. All via a snazzy six-speed manual gearbox with chunky quick-change between gears. Very satisfying stuff.

price

While the Porsche Boxster is more expensive than the Mazda MX-5 that boosted its presence, you get real performance and Porsche's renowned high-quality German engineering. The Boxster T starts at £53k, but by the time you add the options mentioned in the tech segment above and a few more fun things, you'll be approaching £60k. If you want all the fun without spending so much money, check out the base Boxster model.

By: New Porsche 718 Boxster review 2020