The new Porsche Boxster: a near-perfect sports car

It would have been hard to imagine, back in 1996 when the first Porsche Boxster was launched, that the “baby” sports car would one day pack an engine that would propel it to 400bhp, says Jonathan Burn on Auto Express. “Even harder to imagine” would be a Boxster that costs more than £66,000. Yet that is just what we have in the new 718 Boxster GTS 4.0. As roadsters go, it is difficult to fault. On the move, it feels light, nimble and beautifully balanced at any speed, “all essential sports-car traits”. Its size and power make it a “near-perfect sports car for UK roads”.

The “important” part of the car’s name is at the end: the 4.0 indicates a bigger four-litre engine and that represents more than just “an injection of extra performance” – it “completely transforms the car’s character” for the better. Enjoy it while you can: Porsche is “seriously considering” making the next generations of its Boxster and Cayman cars fully electric.

The naturally aspirated six cylinder you get here, though, is “exactly what you want and expect from a Porsche engine”, says Joel Stocksdale on Autoblog. It is “eager to rev” and rewards the driver with “more and more power the longer you stay on the throttle”. Most importantly, it sounds like a Porsche, with a thundering growl. “This engine wants to rev, you want to hear and feel it rev, yet to do so, you have to drive at speeds that’ll send you to jail… or require frequent trips to a racetrack.”

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The “getting-to-know-you phase” in this Boxster is short – within moments car and driver are well acquainted, says James Taylor in Car magazine. Twist the key and you’ll feel all six cylinders come alive at the small of your back. Handling it at road speeds “is apparently viceless” and it’s as safe and stable as it is eager. The way the GTS changes direction is “quite something… turning on its heels like an action-movie hero in a slow-motion gunfight”. Whatever nits the car does have are “barely pickable”.

It has all the right ingredients for driving perfection, agrees Ollie Marriage on TopGear, and “you won’t find much to complain about” inside either. The quality of the materials is top-notch, the driving position is comfortable and the space it offers result in a “very usable and pleasing roadster”. All in all, this is a car that would be a delight to live with.

Price: £66,340. Engine: 4.0-litre, six cylinder, petrol. Power/torque: 396bhp/400Nm. 0-62mph: 4.5 seconds. Top speed: 182mph

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Nic studied for a BA in journalism at Cardiff University, and has an MA in magazine journalism from City University. She has previously worked for MoneyWeek.