Porsche 718 Boxster
New from £44,813
Is the Porsche 718 Boxster Convertible a good car?
Read our expert review
Words by: Mark Nichol
"Driving a new Porsche Boxster GTS in 2024 feels like an anachronism in a couple of ways. Firstly, it’s a sports car with a massive petrol engine, and there aren’t many of those left. And secondly, the 2016-era interior is MILES behind the screen-laden cabin of a modern Porsche: tiny touchscreen, analogue dials… buttons. Remember those? But give it 100 yards. The 718 Boxster GTS is almost magical. One of the most intoxicating, pure, nuanced, soulful, tuneful and downright visceral driving experiences that money can buy. If you love to DRIVE, then DRIVING doesn’t get much more caps lock than this. This review is of the 718 Boxster GTS 4.0. For a more general review of the 718 Boxster, click here."
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Running costs for a Porsche 718 Boxster
2/5
Really? There’s a case for saying that the 718 Boxster in general is one of the best value driving experiences on the market, in the sense that a basic 2.0-litre version will cost around £60,000 and be all the sportscar you’ll ever want. Not cheap, of course, but it’s an elite badge and an elite driving experience. That said, the GTS is £80,000 before options (and you can spend into five figures on those, easily), which puts it well into the realms of a used low-mileage Audi R8 Spyder. A supercar, basically. The GTS returns 25mpg officially – you’ll get closer to 18mpg in reality – and it’ll cost you £2340 in first year VED, then £600 a year from there. Dealer servicing and repairs will be massive, too.
Reliability of a Porsche 718 Boxster
3/5
Porsches aren’t quite as bombproof as you might assume, or as they feel when you’re driving one. Porsche featured 20th of 32 car brands in a 2023 What Car? reliability survey, although the Boxster itself came joint 5th in the sportscar category of the same survey. One in five cars up to five years old suffered a fault, but these were usually covered under warranty. The 718 comes with a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty, which can be extended at extra cost.
Safety for a Porsche 718 Boxster
4/5
There’s no Euro NCAP safety rating for a Boxster because its sales are too ‘low volume’, but that’s nothing to be concerned about. As standard it comes with six airbags, rollover protection, stability control, tyre pressure monitoring and automatic emergency braking. It’s a bit irksome that some safety features are on the options list, though. A reversing camera is 500 quid, and lane-change assist costs about the same. You’ll pay extra for ISOFIX mounts too.
How comfortable is the Porsche 718 Boxster
4/5
The 718 isn’t comfortable in the sense that most people understand comfort. The seats are firm and the ride quality is rock hard - a skeleton-rattling combo on a less-than-smooth road. The fabric roof doesn't entirely lock wind noise out, you can hear the engine rumbling right behind your ears at all times, and the tyres roar more than a Slipknot pre-chorus. But complaining about that stuff is like complaining about your Double Whopper having too much burger and cheese in it. It is what it is. And in fact, as driving positions and basic ergonomics go, the 718 is nigh-on perfect. Low seating position, heaps of adjustment for seat and wheel, a surprising amount of headroom, and wonderful pedal feel. It never feels cramped like a Mazda MX-5 does, and that brings its own sort of comfort.
Features of the Porsche 718 Boxster
4/5
As standard the GTS comes with a seven-speed automatic gearbox, but the six-speed manual option is a gift… for some, anyway. The manual is wonderful to use – tight, precise, mechanical, and other gearbox-based cliches – but the gear ratios are super-long. Annoyingly long, at times. You only need the first two gears to break the national speed limit, which means you frequently find yourself shifting into second to accelerate, because the engine is out of its optimum torque range - all the way up at 5000rpm. Honestly, the PDK is so good, so quick to shift and sharp-brained, that it’s probably the better option. It leaves you more room to focus on the 718’s sublime steering, its fantastic rear-wheel drive chassis balance, and generally the sound and feel of the thing. It's fair to say that the Boxster doesn't feel very modern behind the wheel anymore, though. 'Dynamic’ features are standard in the 4.0 GTS: lowered and adaptive sports suspension, 20-inch wheel, uprated brakes. And it does get a few nice things like heated seats, single-zone aircon and Apple CarPlay. But, if you want your Boxster to feel that bit more luxurious, you’ll pay through the nose. We’ve already mentioned the parking camera, but dual-zone air con is a cost option, as is a Bose stereo, which you’ll probably need to cut through the engine and wind noise. And, most egregiously, if you want to elevate your GTS Boxster’s interior above other Boxster interiors, it’ll cost nigh-on £4000 for a full ‘GTS Package’ in red.
Power for a Porsche 718 Boxster
5/5
The star feature of the 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 is in the name. It’s the astounding 4.0-litre mid-mounted petrol engine. That’s what you’re paying for. And like the car itself, it’s fantastically old school: no turbos, no electrical assistance, no messing. The mechanically identical Cayman coupe is arguably the slightly better driving experience, but the ability to drop the roof and hear the engine as the outside world does is one of this Boxster’s most glorious features – especially these days, given a ‘basic’ Boxster has a 2.0-litre engine. The GTS isn’t too much quicker than a basic 2.0 Boxster to 62mph, but to focus on that number is to miss the point. A 718 GTS 4.0 has 400 horsepower and will hit 62mph in 4.5 seconds, topping off at 182mph. Peak torque is all the way up at 5000rpm, too – a point in the rev range where most turbo engines have long since passed their peak. That can be vexing day-to-day, but it's also a huge part of the dynamic appeal. This car is about the noise, and about keeping the engine cooking at high revs while the car feed every bit of available information from the road through your hands and backside. It’s uniquely spectacular.
Lease deals
These deals are based on terms of 8,000 miles, for a 36 month lease with a 6 months initial payment.
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Standard equipment
Expect the following equipment on your Porsche 718 Boxster Convertible. This may vary between trim levels.
Other vehicles in the 718 Boxster family
718 Spyder Convertible
Power and handling
Unique style
Investment potential
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