An ex-police banit porker that’s been decked, smoothed
and tuned to perfection by demon air dresser.
A ‘soft’ Porsche on air-ride? Blasphemy we hear you cry?
Surely not? What a waste? But when you think about it, the much maligned Boxster
is a performance bargain waiting to be exploited. Grab the 3.2 S manual version
and you’re looking at a 162mph motor that hits sixty in the mid 5s from the
factory. If you can keep pace with the cost of servicing and spare parts, then
it’s possible to have everything the Porsche name stands for, but for sensible
hot hatch money. Despite the mixed reviews, the mid-engined Boxster is
generally considered a more predictable and forgiving car to drive than its
macho 911 stablemate. Nonetheless, with a few well considered tweaks, it’s
entirely possible to get the best from the mid-mounted flat six and smile a smug
grin knowing that you saved a few quid for mods rather than shell out a premium
for the evolution of the VW Beetle.
Grab the 3.2 S
manual version and you’re looking at a 162mph motor that hits sixty in the mid
5s from the factory.
Start with a 986 Boxster S though, like Geoff Skinner from
Havair in Hastings, and you’re onto a winner. This one began life bouncing off
the limiter more often than not. “When we first got it and started to smooth the
front bumper we found some suspect blue lights behind the grille. As I’d bought
it off a lad called Jimmy Bond alarm bells were ringing,” Geoff revealed,
continuing, “When I returned to get it I couldn’t help busting out the, So… we
meet again Mr Bond line.” Turns out in a former life it had been deployed by
the 5-0 as an undercover bait vehicle by leaving valuables on display to catch
opportunist thieves. Nevertheless Geoff secured it for a nice price as the
alternator was on the blink and he wasted no time slapping a set of RH Turbo P
three-piece split rims in 9.5 and 11.5x19in widths. Wrapped in 215/40 and
265/40 Fulda rubber he initially applied a Candy Red finish to the wheels, while
plans formulated in the slamming department. As Havair produce bespoke airbag
struts for all manner of custom applications there was only ever one option.
We’ve featured loads of their cars (RX-8, Corsa, C2, Astra, Polo pickup) over
the years here at FC, and knew that Geoff had a special vision in mind for this
one, “I wanted to prove that air-ride really does belong on performance cars
and this one seemed like the perfect platform.”
Nevertheless Geoff
secured it for a nice price as the alternator was on the blink and he wasted no
time slapping a set of RH Turbo P three-piece split rims in 9.5 and 11.5x19in
widths.
Thanks to custom-made bag-over- shock struts, made to
Geoff’s measurements, a five gallon air tank and four way independent control
from an Accuair VU4 valve manifold, this high end kit allows for front to back,
side to side and each corner adjustment on the fly via to the Switchspeed
controller mounted in the centre console. “I’ve got the i-Level app on my phone
as well, so it’s fully controllable from my iPhone. It’s as at home on the
autobahn at 176mph as it is down a rutted British B-road,” laughs Geoff. After
a trip with him to the Ahoy Tuning show last year, we can vouch for that top
speed and the ability to drop a cog and scare anyone in any tunnel, anywhere.
That substantial top end is accounted for by a Longlife ECU remap, while the
beast within – usually strangled by the stock Porsche exhaust, is awakened by
custom made tubular manifolds with 200-cell sports cats attached to stainless
steel twin-exit tailpipes. If there’s one mod that needs doing to a Boxster
this is it. The noise as it spits, pops and crackles on the overrun and the
before and after difference needs to be heard to be believed. Thanks to some
nifty work on the flat six cylinder heads Geoff reckons it’s now putting out
somewhere in excess of 300bhp, the long gearing making it a serious weapon on
any open stretch of road, as a handful of M3s, 911s and Maseratis can testify.
Manifolds with
200-cell sports cats attached to stainless steel twin-exit tailpipes.
Naturally with such go on tap Geoff has deftly smoothed off
any badges, flushed the front and rear bumpers and also changed the shape of the
rear plate recess, not forgetting his careful massaging of the rear arches to
accommodate those fat boy rear rims. It’s a tasteful, muted affair that smacks
of OEM+ tuning and with a Neptune leather retrim from All Trims, with matching
turquoise wheel centres, all that’s left to do is monitor the pressure on the
Dakota air vent mounted digital gauge, squirt some air into the bags courtesy
of a brace of Viair 480c compressors and revel in the noise that comes out the
back of it. As tuned GT sportscars go, it’s difficult to think of another aired
out Porker that does it so effortlessly. When a car looks this cool and you’re
not sure why, you know it’s done right.
“
