COMMENT
MY WEEK IN CARS
Steve Cropley
How will this entry-level Boxster compare with a recently sampled A110?
FRIDAY
A Porsche 718 Boxster arrives, but a different edition from the kind of road test fodder we usually see. This is a near-standard edition, powered by the ‘basic’ 296bhp 2.0-litre turbo flat four, driving through a dual-clutch gearbox. This engine has proved unpopular with some of the Porsche fraternity, chiefly it seems to me because it’s not a flat six. By any other measure, it’s great. It’s absolutely as quick as you need (0-62mph in 4.9sec; 170mph flat out), and when you give it the beans, it sounds pretty damned good. Sure, the vaunted 4.0-litre flat-six GTS is a quicker machine, but I doubt it’s significantly faster between here and Edinburgh, while being 40% more expensive. Me, I’d settle for this model and spend the rest on a new garage.