2013 Porsche Boxster S – Rox Star

Yes, the 911 still reigns supreme. In this, the 50th year of the vaunted 911′s rule over all of sports-cardom, that fact is amplified, reflected upon, espoused and celebrated. And you will find no quarrel here.

We will, however, vouch for the 911′s little brother, the upstart Boxster and its more muscular counterpart, the Boxster S. The roadster is a rock star, with an undeniably addictive road manner arguably unmatched in balance by any other car on the road, inside or out of the Porsche paddock. And while its track numbers don’t come close to the 911′s for outright speed, the measure of the Boxster’s chops goes beyond the metrics. It’s a feel thing.

With that, the only disappointment, if you can call it that, is that the Boxster, like the 911, sees its hydraulic steering swapped out in favor of a similar electric setup. It erases some of the feel of the old system, but the performance – quick, accurate, smooth – leaves little want, and in just a short time behind the wheel, the complaints disappear. All the better if that time is spent hustling the two-seater around a racetrack.

During our testing, we found the Boxster S, with its 3.4-liter 315-hp boxer-six, as grin-inducing as the very first Boxster we sat our butts in, back in 1997. It has plenty of straight-line speed, with 60 mph coming up in just 4.9 seconds from a standstill, and the quarter-mile sticks fly by in 13.6 seconds at 107.4 mph. Power delivery is even across the tech, the mid-engine feeding power to the rear wheels in one long, steady stream.

The brakes are unflappable, pulling the car to a stop in just 115.1 feet, with the performance showing no sign of fade after multiple hard stops.

But the car truly shines during handling tests, rotating around cones at the merest thought, the body revealing just a bit of roll. It makes easy work, too, of rowing through the gears, the shifter falling perfectly under hand and displaying an easy action, each gear engaging with a firm snick-snick. And around the skidpad, once the nose is aimed, the steering wheel almost doesn’t come into play, the front end going exactly where the throttle pedal directs it.

Our praise of the Boxster experience on and off the track is echoed by every owner from whom we heard. “This is my eighth Porsche, having driven a 993, 996, 997, previous-generation Boxster S and a GT3,” wrote one owner, “and this car is not embarrassed by any of those.”

Most owners did gripe about price – more specifically, how quickly the options added up to a sticker far beyond the base. “The Porsche option list – and pricing – is nothing short of ridiculous,” said one owner. Our own test car carried almost $24,000 of extras, with many owners shelling out similar amounts.

Rear visibility remains a weak point, perhaps more so in this bigger third-generation than ever, though most owners didn’t so much complain as point it out. “Backing up is a white-knuckle affair with the top up,” said one owner, who pointed out the obvious fix: “Of course, it only takes nine seconds to put the top down.”