A Boxter, 6-speed, top down, nice day, curvy road.

Forget heel and toe vs auto rev matching, MT vs PDK, Rennlist vs 6speed. Slow down, turn off the radio, the smartphone; ahhh the scenery, the smells, the sounds, the day.

We now return you to your regular program.

 

Hahaha

You describe exactly why I still haven't ordered a 991 yet... It just doesn't add anything to that particular nice experience you describe
If it's not a daily driver, a Boxster is just as good, if not even better than a 911. The only thing it lacks is that it isn't a 911, but is that important??? I don't know....

Suzy991 (iOS app)

 

The one thing it lacks is power....in large measure. In the end, this was a deciding factor for me buying a 997 (6MT) instead of a 981. YMMV

 

Suzy, so you cancelled your C4S order a while ago. Did you end up ordering the Turbo S and then cancelling? You had a custom colour and everything ! Still on the fence?

 

For a daily driver, I would have ordered a Turbo S, but since I've decided that the car will not be my daily driver, a Boxster S does the job pretty well. It lacks power as you say, but so does a 991 Carrera S. Or to be more clear... the big thing all NA Porsches lack is torque, especially low end torque. In a daily driver I really want that. As a weekend car, it's not that important, since it will be driven inspired most of the time.
A Boxster S is equally as much fun as a base 991 and the S doesn't add much to that... At least not 70k worth of fun.

I didn"t order the Turbo S yet. I was waiting for prices for the interior and color I wanted and I would order it when I'm back in Switzerland (still in the U.S. now).
In the meantime I got those prices from Germany and I'm still recovering from the shock...
The color is 7000 euro excl. taxes, and the interior 14300 euro excl. taxes. This would bring the pricetag for the car up to 315k swiss francs ($340k) which is just too much.

I had already decided that I will not use the car as a daily driver, so 315k for a weekend car is insane. I can get a new Boxster or Cayman S with PDK and all options I can imagine and in addition, a fully optioned Audi RS5 cabriolet and still keep 55k swiss francs in my pocket. No 991 Turbo can beat that combination...

That way we would have a nicely equipped Cayman for real fun drives and as a daily driver for my GF (she only drives about 5-6000 miles a year in her own car) and the RS5 is the most beautiful modern convertible on the market and probably the last with that magnificent NA V8 and that epic sound it makes. It can be driven as a boulevard cruiser or inspired on twisty mountainroads (although not as sharp as a 981 or 991 of course).
I owned an S5 cab before we moved to Switzerland and I still miss that car a lot. An RS5 would be my ultimate canovertible (minus the Continental GTC haha).

So... I guess we are going to order that Audi anyway and keep my current Boxster untill more is announced about the upcoming 981 GTS.

Maybe I need to add that I've lived here in the U.S. for a week with a 991 C2S cab that I rented and although we've enjoyed that car very much, it also made me appreciate my Boxster more.
A 991 really does not add more fun in the driving experience as a convertible, compared to the Boxster S. The only things it adds are: It's a 911, It has 2 back seats where you can throw stuff when traveling and it has slightly better noise and wind reduction with the roof down. Other than that it 's not much difference. For me at least not worth the 65-70k price addition to a well equipped Boxster.

Suzy991 (iOS app)

 

It isn't really a debate, because there is a clear winner (regarding performance).

The manual may be more fun for those that prefer it.

It comes down to preference, and perhaps the inability to progress with the rest of the world. Like I said a while back, some still prefer carburetors, manual typewriters (the ones that don't require electricity), and hand cranking their windows.

And it isn't "double clutch" it is "dual clutch".

 

Semantics....."doppel" translates to double.

 

The boxster vs carrera is a very personal debate, depending on how you use it and what you expect from your car.
I had a boxster s. I have a carrera now. As long as I can afford it, there is NO WAY I'm trading down to a boxster. A simple C2 is sooooo much more car than than a boxster or cayman can ever be for me. YMMV

 

It really depends on how the car is used. I agree that a 991 is more car and definitely a more mature car. As a daily driver I would go for a 991 anytime, but for a weekend car to make fun trips in the mountains or weekend trips to Italy or Austria from where we live, a Boxster (or Cayman) S is equally a good if not better, especially considering the pricetag. Compared to the 991, a RS5 is also much more car. Everything is comparatively.

Just curious... Did you have a 987 or 981 Boxster? That makes a huge difference....

Suzy991 (iOS app)

 

^ It's funny how people say the 911 is a better daily driver, than the Boxter or Cayman, yet I see a heck of a lot more Boxters and Caymans being daily driven and by women on top of that.
Do we have the daily driver perception backwards or are Boxter & Cayman owners just more hard-core sports car nuts than 911 owners?

 

I can tell you from experience that the Boxster with MT is not such an ideal daily driver, at least not for me. A daily driver for me is a car that I use for everything, every day in every weather. That means, visiting my customers, travelling long distances, driving in town, use it in the winter (in Switzerland, so that means snow), etc.

It probably is a nicer DD when equipped with PDK, but still it's not as comfortable for long trips as a 991 is and it isn't available with awd, which is pretty nice to have if you live in Switzerland. The 991 is a more mature car than a 981.

The 981 is certainly very capable as a DD, but I like a slightly more luxurious and usefull car as my DD. A 991 C4S or Turbo would meet those requirements just that little bit better than a 981.
That said... Both don't really meet my requirements and that's one of the reasons why I have decided not to use the car as a DD, but as a weekend car. A 981 is more than perfect for that, so no need anymore for a 991. ....for now at least....

Suzy991 (iOS app)

 

^ I suppose Daily Driver requirements are less demanding in San Diego than Switzerland.

Suzy, you are right though, a 991 may still end up a weekend car, as so many do.
If you have a 981, you are more than covered for sporty weekend driving duties.

We are all anxious to see what you now decide to get as your daily

 

I did buy a BMW M550d Touring as my businesscar, but that car turned out to be a PITA and the dealer was even worse (first and probably last BMW ever for me).

To make a long story short... After a lot of argueing and threatening, I have my SQ5 back that I traded in for that BMW and I'm thinking about getting an Audi A6 Avant as my business car/daily driver. It's available with the same 3.0 TDI biTurbo diesel engine as the SQ5 and it's very comfortable and not one of my customers can feel offended by that car (which could have been a problem with a 911). It's stealthy (boring) but I quite like that to be honest. I always feel at home in an Audi for some unknown reason....

In terms if running costs (35-40k km/year) for my business, it's also a bit more rational than a gas guzzling 991...

Suzy991 (iOS app)

 

Gas Guzzling 991???
The 991 is my best gas mileage car

You have some incredible negotiating skills to get your trade reversed.

Nice to hear you are thinking Avant.
It's is a far better choice than an SUV.
I wish more americans understood that.
You europeans are way ahead of us.

 

Ok so here's something very ineteresting.
I checked what the 8 folks* who voted so far "NO" (meaning they want this debate continued) drive.
ALL of them drive a MANUAL Porsche!
Some are not even 991's. Deduce what you want from the finding.
So here's my advice to all who want advice about PDK vs Manual.... Don't ask anyone and go test it for yourself!

*dhill911, FullThrottle64, JohnM, LPB987S, m5_2010, nicoli, Porschejeff, SFZGT3
Fellas my flame suit is on but I'm just stating what I found. I also know that you'll claim you tested the new pdk and preferred manual and hence your choice etc. But why must you want to keep bashing away on this topic? If it's about size... The rest of us won't tell!!!