I am in the market for my first p car. This is going to be an additional car, mainly driven 1-2 times a week. No track time.

As I live no where near a dealer these days, reliability is important. Still, if it is not fun enough, I will quickly get bored. I do intend to go drive both but wanted yo see if anyone here has experience with this.

I have found a 2010 S and a 2013 base. The S has 20k miles on it and it about $10k less than the 2013. It is, however, a cpo. Both are 6 speeds.

My comparison at this point, and the reason I want a play car, it my wife's play car, an Audi TT-S roadster. Similar hp to the base boxster.

Any opinions on the 10 vs. 13? I recalled reading back some time a few people had moved from one model to the others.

Thanks for any help!

 

I have a '10 CS so I am a bit biased. I have driven '14 std C and I prefer mine based on added power. The 981 is a bit more luxurious if that is what you are looking for. I wold get bored with the smaller engine. I have my CS strictly as a track car I picked up in November.

 

Not sure if this will help but, here are some experiences on my part. I had an 08 CS 6MT, a 2012 Cayman R 6MT, I now have a 2014 Cayman 2.7L PDK. Between the CR and the 981, I owned a Golf R (essentially the VW equivalent of your wife's TT-S). Each of the Caymans was great in their own way. I am, as a DD, enjoying the 981 the most as the most balanced driver of any of them. Even the 'lowly' 2.7L is a lot more fun than the 2.0T in the TT-S.......no turbo lag and just a heck of a lot better sounding.....

 

Great information! I hate hate hate to think that my age, I am already starting to put equal, if not slightly more, value on "Cush" over power. Based on what I am hearing here and through searches, I am going to go look at a 2014 base Wednesday and likely a previous gen S for comparison.

The engine comparison between the tts and the 2.7 means something to me. The tts is soulless until the turbo kicks. It is a strange sounding engine too...from startup all through the rev spectrum. She loves it though and that is what matters. I wanted her to go for a c4s when she picked it out but this was a "whatever you want dear" purchase!

 

I have to say that the 981 Boxster has almost perfect balance in my opinion. I just traded my 981 Boxster S for a 991 C4 and a part of me wishes that I could have held on to the 981 along with the 991. I like cars that can be spirited and the 981 Boxster S with MT is a whole lot of fun. The only negative thing I can say about the Boxster is that side and rear vision is quite poor with the top up...these cars are truly intended for top-down driving.

 

On that TT-S, my Golf R improved with a Carbonio intake and magnaflow exhaust. I lessed the lag by a couple hundred RPM through faster spool up (more air and less back pressure). If you put an APR even first stage tune in it it will really wake it up . It sounded a lot better, too.

 

We all have opinions. <g> I have a 2011 Cayman base (arguably similar to the Boxster) and recently drove 2014 Cayman Base loaner car for 3 days. Though the 2014 has more punch, I am more comfortable driving the 2011. The new car is larger and feels heavier.

 

Having just replaced my 2000 Boxster S (986) with a 2013 Boxster base, the 981 does feel a bit heavier than my 2 gen ago machine but it feels more peppy (but that could also be from tiptronic in s to manual in new one). The body and interior is what sold me. Also for that $10 less with the older S, what additional options does it have (or lack) compared to the 981. If you are also looking at resell value, the latest body style tends to retain a slight higher value vs older body (in general but not always accurate).

 

I picked the 981 on looks alone. The 987 looks okay but the 981 looks like an exotic, it will continue to look modern until a few more versions. The interior which you will be most of the time is a lot better. Regardless of what the 987 owners say, the 981 is actually lighter but feels bigger b/c it's indeed roomier, not a bad thing. If you are not particular about options, you can get a used Boxster S for $57K.

 

I wanted to follow up.
I went and drove the previous S and the base 981. 981 won. I then drove the 981 base and S. For my use, the base was perfectly fine. I then did the PDK vs. traditional 6. That one was tricky. The ease of the PDK was nice, but I just had to stick with the 6 speed.

So....I ended up with a new mahogany metallic over Luxor beige base 6 speed. PCM, sport seats, 19" s wheels, bi xenon...bl bla bla. I love it!

 

Good call. I preferred the PDK gearbox in my 981BS, but if I were buying a 2.7 car I'd definitely stick with the manual.

 

Good call! The MT in the 981 is near perfection. It won't be long before you start thinking about a 991 now!

 

Congratulations, it's beautiful!

 

great choice!

 

Good choice OP. If you ever want more power, headers with high flow cats and IPD plenum will set your butt dyno on fire for about $4K. Plus it'll sweeten the noise considerably.

Great color combo.