Automobile Magazine, March 1997, Volume 11, Number 12
to subscribe: 800-289-2886 or 303-604-1465
Automobile Magazine, March 1997, Volume 11,
Number 12
to subscribe: 800-289-2886 or 303-604-1465
Showdown! Boxster vs. Z3 2.8 vs. SLK, Does the BMW, Mercedes, or Porsche build the most desirable roadster?
by Mark Gillies
The leather interior costs extra, as do traction and cruise control.
The driving position is the most intimate of the three cars. the ergonomics first-rate.
Excerpts:
You know that life for car enthusiasts is good when pillars of automotive rectitude like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche start building small sports cars that have the whiff of affordability about them...
...When someone builds a sports car, it's a given that it will look great and go fast. But we want fore that mundane, go-fast goodness -- what were looking for is automotive greatness...
...Which one of these three is the "It Car"?..
... the Porsche has clean, attractive shapes -- including the coolest door handles on the planet -- and great retro detailing, like the three-into-one gauge cluster...
...the Porsche wins on practicality because there's simply more room...
...it's possible to converse normally at 100 mph inside...
...The Porsche has its flaws too, but it is the best car here. The Boxster is It, period.
...the engine makes the kind of spine-tingling flat-six noises we have come to expect from a Porsche...
...The Boxster is so poised, it is the diplomat of the breed...
...There's huge grip and traction is brilliant...
...Strip away all the style, the badges, and the hype, and what you're looking at in the Boxster is a car that redefines the breed.