The home page of James R Salazar

I know what you are thinking: “What is a BMW guy doing driving a Porsche Boxster S?” The truth is I keep an open mind when it comes to cars (to a certain extent). I have owned marques other than BMW (Toyota MR-2, Mazda Miata for example) but lately all I have been driving have been BMWs. The reason was simple: they met all my requirements and those have been for a sporty, fun to drive yet practical car.

The Boxster appealed to me because I have always been a fan of old cars and it reminded me a lot of the Porsche 550. Two other things that appealed to me were the mid-engine layout and the fact that it is a convertible. When the car hit the showrooms, I was there to get a closer look. When I heard rumors of a possible ‘S’ model I decided to wait. When the Boxster first came out many writers complained that the car was lacking horsepower and this was something that was to be corrected with the Boxster S. I knew I was not going to be happy buying the standard Boxster when a better model was out so opted to wait for the new car.

When the announcement was made that the Boxster S would go into production, I rushed down to my local Porsche dealer and put my deposit down. The only stipulation was that I wanted to wait until after May of 2000 to take European delivery of my car. Sure, I had to wait over a year to pick up my car even though I could have had it in the fall of 1999 but I really wanted to take Euro delivery.

I have had the car since June 2000 and I have not made any modifications and I do not plan to. Some of the options worth mentioning:
18″ wheels- I had been worried that the ride was going to be too hard but that was not the case. It is still a much better ride than my little Miata ever could have hoped for. Definitely worth getting.

Xenon Headlights – love them! Definitely worth the price. The only problem is, when you go back to driving your old car, you will keep checking to see if you are lights are on.

Upgrade stereo – the main reason I purchased this option was because I did not want to deal with aftermarket equipment. Is the system worth the price? Not at all. The sound is awful and if you are driving with the top down it does not always have enough power. I do not know what it is with manufacturers but they always equate hi-fi with heavy bass. The sound is very distorted. For the record, while I do consider myself an audiophile and use a Linn audio system at home, you do not have to be an audiophile to recognize that this is not a hi-end system. Fortunately, I usually prefer to listen to the music produced by the Boxster’s engine.

European Delivery – on the Boxster this a $1,150 option ($1,500 for a Carrera). If you want to experience your car in the environment it was designed to perform in, this is definitely worth the price. Sure, other manufacturers don’t charge for this option and you can save enough money to purchase a ticket to Europe. But hey, consider how much it would cost to rent a Porsche to drive around Europe. And another thing, if you wanted to buy a fast car but worried about money wouldn’t you be buying an Acura/Honda NSX (I am referring to all those guys who complained about tire wear on their NSX – if I can make 12,000 miles in my daily racer I think I am doing great!).