Porsche really is a drivers car!!

Evening all, i just had to come on here and share my thoughts on my recent driving experience. I purchased a Range Rover Velar for me and my missus. I took it out for a drive this evening and I was quite impressed, but it did remind me of how much I love driving my Cayman S as a daily. I was thinking about putting it in the garage for winter, but I’d miss it too much. The Velar fills that family car slot, but the Porsche fills my driving needs. Anyone else feel this way when comparing the Porsche to another car?

I compare mine to another Porsche (2011 Cayenne Turbo). The Boxster beats it for fun driving hands down. The Turbo will out-accelerate the Boxster handily (0-60MPH about 4.5 sec) but you always feel the weight, particularly after driving the Boxster which is about 60% of the weight of the turbo. I'm not familiar with the Velar (do they have these in the US?) but I imagine it's the same thing. You can't overcome the laws of physics even with the magical engineering that Porsche uses on their SUVs and EVs. Weight, its location in the car (4WD front-engine vs 2WD mid-engine = totally different weight distribution) and the inertia moving that mass and forces required to change the movement pretty much guarantees the smaller lighter car will be more nimble and involving to drive. I tried to explain this to the owner of the gym I go to - when he asked about the handling of both Porsches. Instead or talking about it I gave him an example: I handed him a 10lb dumbbell - so he held it as you normally would - using the crossbar of the dumbbell and the dumbbell horizontally. I had him hang it at his side, arm extended down. And I asked him to rotate it 90 degrees or so and note how it feels. He did that a few times. I then had him grab it by one of the ends of the dumbbell, hanging it vertically in the same place, and rotate it 90 degrees. He IMMEDIATELY got it. Weight at the ends of the vehicle = more momentum and inertia to overcome. Weight in the center greatly reduces that. If you go to a gym, give it a try.. Mid-engine = agility (the ability to quickly change direction without requiring excessive force.) Imagine a lighter weight, mid-engine - makes it even better than just lighter or distributed differently - having both makes for a marvelous handling car. That's also why there is hope that the EV replacement for the Cayman and Boxster will handle well - the intent is to have the battery pack sized about the size of the engine on the current models and located where the engine is on the current models. That will put a large portion of the car's weight right at the center of the car, it should equal good handling if they can keep the weight the same as the current ICE models.

Hi Zeus, I also have a Jaguar I-Pace which as you may know is an electric car, so it can really push me into the seat when I go from 0 - 100 (or any other range). That feeling never gets old. It also has a very luxurious feel and the handling is in my opinion better than a lot of its EV counterparts. It corners reasonably well for its momentum, but there are physical limits as mentioned here. It is very quiet, which is nice in many situations. Still, it will never be able to replace the joy of my Boxster , which is not neven an "S". It is just a completely different experience. The sound of the engine (Oh, the sound!) How it corners around tight bends How good it also feels on a fast motorway compared to smaller roadsters I have owned The PDK experience Driving top-down in the sun The looks I get from people who made boring life choices

That’s a great explanation Don. The mid engine layout in combination with light weight is a magical formula. And the steering feel one gets by not having an engine over the front axle is also something special. I will hopefully never sell my Cayman.

You’ve explained it extremely well for those who might not get my view. The Velar is available in the US and it’s Land Rover’s answer to the Macan. It’s an extremely stylish car with superb tech in a very subtle way unlike a Mercedes GLE where the inside looks OTT. I go to the gym most days and I understand your explanation regarding the weights. Driving the Range Rover Velar is a noticeable change and It’s nice to drive different types of cars depending on my driving mood.

To answer your original question -- I'm admittedly all about the drive -- admittedly so much so where I currently drive Boxsters year-round; mind you that's here in often snowy/icy New England during our winters/early spring. My 981 Outlaw 3.8L is arguably a show car, so that's my special ride during the warmer months. From December through March, I have minimal compunction driving my 987.2 with winter tires and a hardtop. My wife has a Mini Countryman S (4WD) for those genuinely perilous "We must get there" situations, but I've driven Boxsters year round even in the country and they handle brilliantly with winter tires. If you're in a position to swap cars for different moods, that's fantastic; I do the same with cars/motorcycles/scooters. Plus, I find that the 987 and the 981 are different enough (especially per hydraulic/electric steering) where it is nice to be able to swap out appreciate the differences for a spell.

For me, a 1350kg car is GT "sport tourer" vehicle. Which is what these are to me. Pretty good ones too. Under 1000kg you start getting into the more pure sporting vehicles. And for a pure sports vehicle 1500+ kg is just a ridiculous thought. In my humble outdated grumpy old guy opinion.

I traded my 981 Spyder for a 2019 Corvette Grand Sport because price of it was nose diving due to the new Spyder coming out in 2020. Plus, I wanted to get the new C8 Vette. What really made me act was a dealer about an hour plus away from had bought up most of the remaining C7 around the country. I wasn't even aware of this dealer until someone said try going to Stingray Chevy. I checked them online and they had like 250+ Vettes. Most Chevy dealers have 2-3. The real kicker was their taking $15-20k off list. I figured I'll get the C7 for now, save big on it, trade the Spyder before the market totally tanks and then trade the C7 in when the C8 is available. It was fine. I got a $70k Grand Sport for $57 and came house the same day with $14k cash. But the Porsche gods knew I left the brand after having 6 P-cars since 1995. They blew 2 engines in the Vette in 9 months. After the 2nd I told the dealer I didn't want the car back. They bought it for $50k. In the meantime, I had deposits at 2 dealers for the C8. After 2 years and no C8 I got my deposit back. Also, during about the same time, I had to off my 2018 Macan even though I loved it. My lease in NY was for only 5k miles per year. I moved to Florida and after 6 months I had 18k miles on it. Had to get out of that lease before I got killed with excess mileage fees. Macon became a GMC Denali, then a Honda CR-V until finally a German car again. A GTI. I remember driving the 100-plus miles home from the dealer and using the sport function with their version of a PDK . I said to myself, WOW I didn't realize how much I missed Germain handling and performance. That's the point of this long-winded story. You need to have a DRIVER CAR not just a nice car or at least I do and if you are on this P-9 site you are probably wired the same way. The car that brough me back to Germany.

Weight certainly matters. The three Mazda MX-5 / Miata I have owned all weighed around 1080 kg, which is still above 1000 kg but you do notice the difference. Mazda has a Japanese slogan for the design philosophy of these cars: "Jinba Ittai", or rider and horse, referring to the oneness between horse and rider during mounted archery. And you can certainly feel that tightness, these are well designed cars, highly addictive. Whilst small, light and extremely nimble, in the end I felt the Mazda MX-5 body design always seemed like a youngsters car and the engine lacked the Porsche growl that I have now come to love. If they had released a more masculine looking design and a bigger engine I suspect I would have bought another one. Top Gear lined up a whole load of light weight sports cars, you may be interested: 19 of the lightest performance cars you can buy It’s a simple recipe: less weight equals more good www.topgear.com Fun fact: Wikipedia refers to both Porsche and Maxda Mx-5 when defining "sports car": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_car

Thank you for the link. I do like the idea of buying a already sorted out seven. But. Practicality, reliability, cost, etc. wise, the Miaataa is all alone the acknowledged answer.