Excellence Magazine, April 1998
Subscription Inquiries: Ross Periodicals, Inc. 42 Digital Drive #5, Novato, CA 94949
(415) 382-0580, telephone
(415) 382-0587, fax

Building Boxsters - The key is how, not where.
by Jerry Sloniger

A bare unit body on the Valmet production line.

Excerpts:

What's in a name? Can a Boxster welded up exclusively by Finns in Uusikaupunki hold its own in the fast lane with a Boxster put together... in Zuffenhausen?...

...Porsche knew full well that Finland would be a tricky call...

...Returning to paint, all Porsches have three coats and each is audited separately. Porsche installed its own quality checks, incidentally, rather than using Valmet's Saab-based system. Here, as in every phase of production, Valmet falls well within Porsche tolerances... ...The Valmet clear coat, for instance, is slightly harder and thus more resistant to stone chips. In this case it didn't pay to change to the Saab coat for Porsche's own, which is very slightly "softer" and thus more resistant to the car-wash experience. Valmet gets better marks for orange peel than Zuffenhausen.

...Every Boxster is run on a rolling road in Valmet and given a tough shower bath to test top sealing. Then it is taken out for three laps of a 1.6-mile test loop on plant grounds. One car in five foes 12 more miles on open roads. However Finland has strict speed limits and its roads are not always summery. Even the test track is limited, allowing 85 mph briefly. Valmet drivers were part of the team schooled in German. Still, Porsche puts a minimum of 20 miles on every Zuffenhausen car, more if flaws are detected. A point to the home team...

...You'd be hard-pressed to tell a Uusikaupunki car from a Zuffenhausen one without a program, or at least the nameplate.

A Boxsters's First Year - An owner's detailed view.
by Andrew Potts

Proud owner Andrew Potts stands next to his third Porsche a 1997 Boxster that was the first customer delivery for his local dealer.

Visit the web site!

http://www.welding-units.co.uk/boxster/ [sadly, now gone]

Berkeley | Boxster | Mags