INTERIOR & ELECTRICS
Though not a concern for buyers of PDK cars (unless they've been driven flat-out downhill), over-revving has been reported on manualequipped GTSS with overly zealous drivers at the wheel. If possible, and if buying from an independent specialist or main dealer, ask a technician to provide a readout of diagnostic data produced by the factory-developed Porsche Integrated Workshop Information System. This will provide you with details of existing and historic fault codes, as well as true mileage.
Modern Gts-badged Porsches are designed to be easier to live with on a daily basis than their more hardcore GT4 counterparts. The 718 Boxster GTS is no exception. Standard interior trim includes two-way electric Sports seats with elevated side bolsters (check for wear where previous owners may have dragged their jeans across the surface), head rests stitched with GTS script, Silver Grey backrest shells, a 360mm GT steering wheel (with optional PDK shift paddles), Sports pedals, air-conditioning, electric everything, plus the roof lining and A-pillars trimmed in black Alcantara.
Infotainment equipment includes Porsche Communication Management (PCM), 4G/LTE compatibility, eight loudspeakers (for total output of 150W), DAB radio, Carplay and Android Auto, to name but a few factory features.
Additional comfort and extra tech could be introduced with the GTS Interior Package (£2,096), the amazing Alcantara GTS Package (an extra £1,242), seat heating (£294), ISOFIX child seat mounting points (£126), aluminium pedals (£185), Parkassist front and rear cameras (£1,086), twin-zone automatic climate control (£539) and cruise control (£228). Adding a high level of extra equipment could take the base price of a 718 Boxster GTS to almost £80k, which is why you should expect to pay a premium for an example kitted-out with these desirable features. Make sure they all work before parting with your hard-earned cash.
It might only have two seats (let's face it, the 911's rear pews are pretty useless, so don't get too hung up on this aspect of Boxster ownership), but the 718 GTS is surprisingly practical. It shares the same front and rear luggage compartments, door storage pockets and elevated centre console (with closed and open cubby holes) as the rest of the 718 range. The rear offers 150 litres of space, while the front gives an impressive 275 litres to stow your shopping or holiday gear.
The standard 718 GTS interior is black, but those looking for exclusivity could option bodycolour stitching and matching seat belts when placing the order for their new Porsche.
MODEL BEHAVIOUR
The 718 GTS 4.0 Boxster/cayman twins offer a more civilised ride when compared to their Spyder and GT4 siblings. Don’t get us wrong, these normally aspirated GTS models are perfectly capable of attacking the asphalt during track days at your favourite circuit, but their wealth of creature comforts and softer-than-gt4 chassis make them far easier Porsches to live with in regular driving environments.
Of course, the GT4 is designed to be used by drivers engaged in track action on a regular basis, but we’re struggling to see why those who spend the vast majority (or all) of their driving time on the public highway would favour a GT4 over a GTS. The latter is lighter, too, by about fifteen kilograms. Those determined to buy a 718 Spyder or GT4 regardless of the fact they’re never going to hit a track are likely to be the same people guilty of dismissing the four-cylinder, turbocharged 718 GTS (Boxster or Cayman) without ever driving one. “It has to a be a normally aspirated flat-six,” they’ll say, citing rubbish about only a six-banger making for a purely Porsche sports car, failing miserably to acknowledge Porsche’s use of four-pot power from day one, long before arrival of the 911. Then they’ll reference the noise. Ah yes, the noise, undoubtedly the most talked about aspect of the fourcylinder 718 line-up, serving to overshadow just how good these cars are. Granted, a two-litre, entry-level 718 Boxster isn’t going to snarl like a cornered wolverine on a bad acid trip, but the 2.5-litre GTS? Revised airflow equipment delivers a beefier bark.
Interested? You should be — when new, the 718 Boxster GTS offered outstanding value for money when compared to the 991 Carrera, delivering 360bhp (just five ponies less than the 911), 317lb-ft torque, top speed of 180mph and the dash to 62mph from rest in 4.3 seconds. This pace is on par with the 991 Carrera, but would have relieved your purse for more than eighteen grand less, giving you plenty of spare change to plunder the irresistible individual equipment list at your chosen Porsche Centre.
In fact, you could have treated your turbocharged GTS to a trip to Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur's Paint to Sample spray booth, added lashings of Alcantara interior trim, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB), Parkassist cameras,
seat heating, a seven-speed PDK transmission, a twenty-two-millimetre drop in ride height, Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (PDLS+), gloss black painted exterior trim, automatically dimming mirrors, cruise control, twinzone automatic climate control, ISOFIX kiddie seat mounting points, aluminium pedals, painted headlight washer jets, black badges, and you'd still be quids in. Look out for these desirable options when lining up test drives.
The 718 Boxster GTS is a beautifully built machine offering an exhilarating driving experience, enhanced by a raft of excellent standard features, including Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) and Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) accompanied by a mechanically locking rear differential. There’s Sport Chrono — identified by the tell-tale dashmounted stopwatch — and the nifty Porsche Track Precision app, allowing lap times and other driving data to be recorded and managed via smartphone. As mentioned earlier in this buying guide, twenty-inch 991 Carrera S wheels are standard GTS items, as are four-piston calipers clamping 330mm discs.
A handy rotary dial fixed to the GT steering wheel allows you to select between Normal, Sport, Sport Plus and Individual driving modes, with buttons on the centre console allowing you
THE DUAL-CLUTCH PDK GEARBOX SHIFTS AS SUBLIMELY AS EVERYONE YOU’VE EVER SPOKEN TO ABOUT THE SYSTEM WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE
to override aspects of each mode’s settings, such as the annoying start-stop functionality. You can also keep the car's twin-tract sports exhaust system on full blare, should you hate your neighbours.
Ah, we’re back to that controversial sound again, aren’t we? Well, contrary to popular belief, as the GTS hammers its way through the rev range (reaching peak power at 6,500rpm and making use of maximum torque between 2,100rpm and 5,000rpm), the noise isn’t at all 'bad'. We accept the aural aspect of a sports car is a major part of the driving experience, but when it comes to the turbocharged GTS there’s really not much to complain about . It’s not necessarily a ‘worse’ sound than a flat-six at full chat, it’s just… different. Besides, there’s more than enough sensational driving experience to ensure you spend seat time grinning from ear to ear regardless of the din generating from the car's back end.
The mid-engined layout ensures the chassis reacts instantly to driver input. To this end, precise, sharp changes of direction are realised by the superb electromechanical direct steering (with variable ratio and steering pulse generator), which does a great job of making you feel like a key component of the host GTS. Too often in modern sports cars, there’s a disconnect between the driver and what the car is doing, as though he or she is simply along for the ride, rather than dictating what’s happening. Not so in a 718 Boxster (or Cayman) GTS. This car feels supremely agile, incredibly lively and desperate to please by observing every instruction
with instantaneous execution. The dual-clutch PDK gearbox in our test car shifts as seamlessly and as sublimely as everyone you’ve ever spoken to about the system would have you believe, with only a change in engine note (stand down, flat-six fans) and an altered dash display indicating you’re working your way through all seven cogs. Of course, on account of it being semi-automatic, you can override what's happening by taking control of the paddle shifters attached to the chunky 360mm steering wheel.
Alcantara covering the glovebox, the centres of the two-way electric sports seats, centre arm rest, headlining and door handles gives the cabin a luxurious feel and owes more than a passing nod to the material’s use in motorsport applications for practical purposes, including anti-glare reflection on dashboards. It would have been good to see the GTS'S dash wrapped in the synthetic suede-like material, though, especially considering the Alcantara add-on cost buyers well over a grand at the car's original point of sale.
The mix of black leather and dark Alcantara give the GTS’S cockpit a suitably moody feel, which is carried over to the car’s exterior by way of dark accents, including black casing for the headlights and smoked rear clusters. There’s black detailing on the reprofiled front and rear aprons, too. Less obvious alterations lurk within, including what
RANGE-TOPPING POKE PERFECTLY COMPLEMENTING THE BRILLIANT CHASSIS, WHICH FEELS LIGHT, BUT REASSURINGLY PLANTED
Porsche describes as an “optimised” variable turbine technology (VTG) turbocharger, though it’s worth noting that even in the 345bhp 718 Cayman S, the 2.5-litre flat-four isn’t exactly a slouch begging for extra punch.
No matter — the GTS gets rangetopping poke perfectly complementing the absolutely brilliant chassis, which feels super-light, but reassuringly planted, allowing you to hammer this ‘baby 911’ down any stretch of road you care to tackle, safe in the knowledge you’re in full control of a Porsche instantly obeying your every whim with class-leading precision.
The way this Cayman works its way toward the redline is also something to behold — the GTS is a fantastically quick car, its in-gear acceleration from 50mph to 75mph taking no more than 2.7 seconds. Its ability to dart out of a corner and immediately lunge forward, picking up speed at rapid pace, all the while remaining stuck like glue to the asphalt, should also be noted, not only for its potential for exciting B-road blasts, but for track day work in the hands of owners keen to use the aforementioned smartphone app to monitor lap times.
It would be discourteous of us to make light of the importance of Porsche’s decision to reintroduce normally aspirated six-cylinder engines to the 718 Boxster and Cayman range, but to dismiss the plus points of the turbocharged GTS would be equally churlish. We can’t think of a single reason why we wouldn’t buy one, and neither should you. Just don’t get hung up about the noise. ●