2002 Porsche Boxster 2002 Porsche Boxster S

Description

This car is like new inside and out and runs like the day it came off the lot.  I've put very few miles on this car since purchasing due to health.  The last owner put very easy miles on it commuting to work on an interstate 50 miles each way. This is a beauty with every option working including the A/C and Heated Seats.  Also a very nice Alpine Receiver including Bluetooth.  Top also looks brand new and works perfect. Drove approximately 3,000 miles in last 8 years
2000 Porsche Boxster S
VEHICLE TYPE
Mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door convertible
PRICE AS TESTED
,249 (base price: ,430)
ENGINE TYPE
DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement:
194 in
3
, 3179 cm
3
Power:
250 hp @ 6250 rpm
Torque:
225 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
6-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension (F/R):
struts/multilink
Brakes (F/R):
12.5-in vented, cross-drilled disc/11.8-in vented, cross-drilled disc
Tires:
Pirelli P Zero, F: Direzionale, 205/50ZR-17 R: Asimmetrico, 255/40ZR-17
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 95.2 in
Length: 171.0 in
Width: 70.1 in
Height: 50.8 in
Passenger volume: 47 ft3
Trunk volume: 9 ft3
Curb weight: 3018 lb
C/D
TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 5.2 sec
100 mph: 13.6 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 5.8 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 8.7 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 8.5 sec
1/4 mile: 13.8 sec @ 101 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 160 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 168 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.92 g
C/D
FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 20 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/city/highway: 20/18/26 mpg
Car and Driver Review
There's gotta be a but in this car somewhere. You know, the killer but, as in "the handling is totally bitchin' and the chicks really dig it but . . ."
Yet we're coming up empty on this
Boxster S
, which is to say it's more fun than two-steppin' with Shania Twain. When
Porsche
grafted an S onto its mid-engined droptop for the year 2000, it turned up the knob in all the right places.Okay, maybe this isn't a killer but. Some cars escape those. But you can expect to find two or three smoldering irritants in every new car.
The Boxster S follows Porsche's tradition, dating back to 1952, of topping its model lines with a muscled-up S version, which always carries a muscled-up price as well. In this case, the no-suffix Boxster costs ,195, and the S model goes to ,430.
Boxster outran the others in almost every test of speed and absolutely delighted us with the accommodations that come free with this car's clever packaging. Porsche seems to have wrung every possible benefit from the mid-engine layout. The flat-six lies low, between the back of the cockpit and the rear wheels. That opens trunk spaces both front and rear for cargo. And leaves room for the power top to stow itself over the low engine with only modest intrusion into the rear trunk.
You have all this useful space because, from above, the Boxster seems to have no engine. The fluids can all be checked and replenished through a small service corner under the rear trunklid, but to actually see the engine, or work on it, you must come up from the bottom.
The Boxster's accommodating nature continues into the cockpit, too, which is exceptionally broad of beam, no doubt because the car itself is about two inches wider, more or less, than its imported competitors. The result is wonderful elbowroom. Few will feel confined in this sportster. Six-footers slide easily into the driver's space. Taller pilots will find a bit of extra legroom by sliding the seatback tight against the roll bar, at a cost of having to listen to the upholstery scritch-scritch against metal when the structure shakes slightly over bumps.
For 2000, the no-suffix Boxster's crankshaft stroke is up 6 millimeters to 78mm, which increases displacement to 2687cc from 2480. The Boxster S maintains this increased 78mm stroke while its bore is enlarged 7.5mm to 93, thereby upping displacement to 3179cc. In the smaller engine, power rises 16 hp to 217 at 6500 rpm; the Boxster S comes in with 250 hp at 6250 rpm. Both engines gain a drive-by-wire throttle and a system of tuned intake runners to boost torque; they switch to longer runners in the 3000-to-5100 rev range. Both Boxster engines are smaller-displacement versions of the 3.4-liter six used in the 911 Carrera, and they share the variable intake-valve timing system of the larger powerplant.
Compared with last year's 2.5-liter car, the S fairly rushes forward. It has glorious torque, which makes for pushy thrust as the tach swings past 4000, swelling exuberantly on toward 6000. This midrange is so lusty, the six-speed's ratios are so perfectly spaced, and the pipe-organ music from behind is so sweet that you can happily play on the back roads without pushing to the 7200 redline., followed shortly by a 13.8-second quarter-mile at 101 mph. Who-eee, those are Porsche numbers, and a solid improvement over last year's by margins of 1.3 seconds to 60 and 1.2 seconds and 8 mph in the quarter. Top speed has leapt upward as well, to 160 mph from 147.
But don't think the Boxster S is just an engine story. A quick glance through the airy five-spoke wheels picks up glossy crimson calipers clamped over larger drilled rotors transplanted from the 911 Carrera. This hardware pays off in even mildly energetic road driving. Quite apart from their short stopping distances--168 feet from 70 mph--these are inspiring brakes for the control they bring. Do you want decel g to fold your ears forward one millimeter or two? Two-and-a-half? No problem. These brakes give you that level of precision.
Those who do their own maintenance will love that airy wheel design. Instead of crawling under the car to bleed the brakes, just reach in between the spokes.
For a sports car, the ride is fairly supple over large bumps; the wheels patter over them all without deflecting you from your chosen path. Harshness seems more troubling over the small stuff, where it brings out minor creaks and groans from the body as it flexes.This test car wears the S's standard suspension and standard 17-inch wheels and tires: 7.0-inch-wide rims in front with 205/50ZR tires, and the rears are 8.5 inches wide and wrapped in 255/40ZR rubber. Chassis upgrades include tie-rod ends of greater rigidity, revised steering geometry, and larger wheel bearings. The standard suspension on both S and non-S Boxsters has the same spring rate in front; the S gets an 11 percent increase in back. We found cornering grip to be excellent on this car at 0.92 g, up just a shade from the 0.91 g of the last Boxster we tested. That one had the benefit of the optional 18-inch wheels and tires, which are also optional on the S. The test S understeers predictably, about right for confident control on public roads.
THE VERDICT: SO MUCH FUN IT'S GOT TO BE A SIN.
Regard, too, the rich leather coverings on the shifter, brake lever, and door pulls. Porsche designers are eye guys, apparently, so they moved the seams out of sight to the back sides of the handles. Now your fingers feel a ridge every time you pull one of those handles. Is this a but?