QUESTION OF SPORT
Wallbank celebrates a return to open-top motoring with the purchase of new tyres for his bargain Boxster...
Allow me introduce you to the latest addition to my garage. In my opinion, it’s the best value mid-engine roadster money can buy: a 2005 Boxster 2.7. Finished in Midnight Blue and Stone Grey hide, and with options including PCM, heated seats, extended leather, eighteen-inch alloys and a premium BOSE sound system, the car was purchased back in June for a very reasonable price. You may recognise it from last month’s issue of 911 & Porsche World — I photographed my new Porsche with editor, Dan Furr, at the wheel. We paired the car with a fresh Gentian Blue 718 Boxster 2.0.
Some of you may be wondering why I decided to purchase a 987 Boxster when I already own a 981 Cayman GTS (in many respects, the best example of a mid-engined Porsche). Regular readers will recall I sold my 997 Cabriolet in favour of the Cayman. I don’t regret the decision, but I missed top-down motoring on the stunning backroads of my native Yorkshire. With many low-mileage 987s available for less than £10k, I reasoned my cash would be safe come resale — a 987 is a lot of car for your money.
The bodywork and interior were in excellent condition for a sixteen-yearold car, but there were a couple of jobs to attend to right way. The first was renewal of the tyres and an update of the geometry — the rubber on the car was past its best and the car was pulling to one side. This isn’t uncommon on 987s. After all, the suspension on Boxsters can be sensitive and often pulls itself out of alignment over the lifespan of a set of tyres. This is something I’ve learned (the expensive way) through many alignment sessions with the 987s and 997s I’ve owned in the past.
Then came the burning question: what brand of tyres should I opt for? With the car being well out of warranty, I didn’t see the need to stick with N-rated black circles, which restricts tyre choice and inevitably comes at higher cost. I wanted to try and achieve a nice balance of comfort, performance and, ideally, less road noise than the previously fitted Continentals. After a fair bit of research, Toyo’s new Proxes Sport tyre seemed to come in at a reasonable price and offers excellent ratings for performance in the wet (A) and low noise levels (71db). I’ve never actually used Toyos on any of my road cars before now, but I’ve had
excellent experience on track days with the firm’s aggressive R888R. With this in mind, I reasoned now was a good opportunity to give the company’s latest road oriented product a try.
Luckily, my local tyre garage, Bush Tyres of Goole, a brand of Elite Garages, is a Toyo Platinum Partner and was able to offer a competitive price on the sizes I needed. They threw in a free alignment check, too. Perfect! I booked the car into the Bush workshop and, on arrival, I was greeted by branch manager, Russ, who brought my blue Boxster straight into the workshop for the old tyres to come off, the Toyos to be fitted and for the wheels to be balanced. He also checked the S-spec five-spokes for any buckles or cracks, before assuring me they all looked to be in great condition. Once the wheels were back on the car, it was moved to the Bush Tyres alignment ramp to find out if my suspicions regarding altered geometry were correct. Sure enough, all four corners were way out. The rear toe was the worst offender. After a fair amount of adjustment, Russ returned the car to correct factory tolerances.
I received great service from the team at Bush Tyres and the car felt awesome on the drive home — the difference between how the car handled before and how it handles now is like night and day! As hoped, the new tyres are noticeably quieter and they’re much smoother over broken surfaces. Most importantly, they provide excellent levels of grip when pushed into Yorkshire’s B-road bends.
There are many updates to come, including an effective DIY headlight restoration. For now, however, it’s time to head out and enjoy the summer sun!