TRIED&TESTED VALUE AT A GLANCE Condition Price Performance Overall
With roving tyre kicker, Kieron Fennelly
One of the first 981s, this two-owner Boxster was registered in June 2013 and sold by Porsche Centre Reading which also carried out its three services at 14,242, 33,516, and 52,717 miles, this last invoice dated 5 October 2017. The MOT runs out on the Boxster’s fifth birthday in June. The second owner, a neighbour of vendor Ray Northway, previously ran a 997; he acquired this Boxster from Reading in October 2014 and averaged about 14,000 per annum over three years. He was clearly a careful owner: the Guards Red bodywork is largely unmarked with only the odd stone chips around the front valance and the hood is clean with no signs of wear, though there is an unsightly four inch scuff on the passenger side. The cabin is equally impressive with no discernible wear on the usual contact surfaces or accumulations of dirt in remote crannies and a tautness to everything, which really summarises the whole car. By Porsche standards this is a fairly basic specification: the driver has only a Sport button and PASM in addition to the usual functions though the seat belts are red and the wheels are 19- rather than 18 inch. These are shod with thirdworn Pirelli P Zeros at the front, and at the rear Goodyear Eagles, the left half worn, the right almost new. The noticeable, though not Mot-threatening, lip on the brake discs, is in keeping with the mileage.
Underway, the first impressions are how much the 981’s interior is improved over its predecessor. Changes are subtle and mainly concern materials as the basic ergonomics were, being Porsche, flawless. The cabin too manages to be an inch or two wider (the bigger 991 chassis) and the windscreen has slightly more rake, but the intimacy of the strictly two-seater cabin is unaffected. The gearshift combines an agreeable lightness and precision with none of the looseness which can afflict earlier cars; the clutch is light by 911 standards and bites in mid-travel. Once warmed up, the engine is a peach: Porsche’s smallest water cooled flat-six is here in its fourth incarnation and is by far the best yet. In our modern, turbo-everything world, the 2.7’s torque output is modest at 207lb ft which means it has to be revved (isn’t that one of the main reasons for buying a sports car?) and that indeed is what it wants to do. Combine the engine’s penchant for being solicited with steering reponse and especially chassis control which are measurably superior to the already outstanding 987 and you have an entry level Porsche which is an absolute joy. This ‘13’ plate example has PASM and the setting seems rather better adapted than the 987’s to our roads; the 981 also had better brakes: this car’s are well up to standard.
Offering almost everything a pure, open-top Porsche enthusiast could want this recently serviced Boxster simply feels nicely run-in: for a shade under 27K it’s a fine example of less is more. PW