Porsche managed to introduce a lot of improvements with the 2017 Boxster, making a better car on paper. Yet in practice, Top Gear host Chris Harris thinks the better Boxster isn’t as good to drive anymore.
Porsche infamously dropped a naturally-aspirated six-cylinder for a new four-cylinder turbo in the 2017 Boxster. That swap resulted in a power and torque bump, resulting in quicker 0-60 and 0-100 times and a faster top speed. The new engine came with a critical flaw, though.
It doesn’t sound very good. Beyond a few nitpicks and some minor understeer here or there, the Boxster’s improved performance is muddled by a deeply disappointed emotional experience when driving it, according to Harris.
The howling sounds of the six-cylinder are gone and overall, the driver’s dynamic with the car is altered to a point where it’s lost the identity that the old Boxster had — “a personality transplant” that hasn’t gone well.
The car’s new identity now has more play and slidy fun times but, surprisingly for the an audience like Harris, he thinks the Boxster was better suited when it was accurate, perhaps a little more strict, and with a much better wail.