From Minivans to...

Since late 2008, my wife has been driving minivans. Minivans are great. I love minivans. Before I became a father of three (and ultimately four, and a dog, and a couple of cats...), I was a "minivan over my dead body" type of guy. But I have to say, with over 315,000 miles across two vans since 2008, I'm completely in love with them. For transporting my family of 6, I really can't imagine a better vehicle. Modern vans are powerful, fuel-efficient, comfortable, and fantastic at hauling people.

As an aside, did I mention powerful? Our 2019 Odyssey will 0-60 in 6.7 seconds and hustle through the quarter mile, VTEC screaming, in 15.2 at more than 94 mph. For perspective, Car and Driver's test of a 1996 Ford Mustang GT shows a 0-60 of 6.6 and a quarter mile of 15.1 at 92 mph. Go further back to when I was constantly reading car magazines and fantasizing about performance cars, a Car and Driver tested a 1983 Mustang GT did 0-60 in 7 and the quarter mile at 15.4 at 90 mph. It's wild to think that my family people mover can put the Mustang GTs of my youth on a trailer.

Anyway, vans are great. I really like them. However, they're not designed to maximize driving pleasure. I've been thinking quite a bit about this, and about how Allison enjoys driving a bit more when she's driving something that's a bit more fun to drive. As we continue to take care of our aging parents and witness their cognitive decline, I had my "Steve Jobs" moment. It was time to change Allison's car, and get her something frivolous and joyous and delightful.

I went into full obsession mode. I love driving, and want others to enjoy it as much as I do! I've also always had a "convertible fantasy." There's just something magical about a top that disappears. It's a bit like riding a motorcycle, except you don't lean into corners and it's much easier to talk to the person you're traveling with.

What to do?

Anyway, my obsession quickly gained a focal point - the Porsche Boxster. It started out with a passing thought, "Oh, Allison would love driving a Boxster." I put a deposit on a Boxster S for European Delivery in May of 2000, but that didn't end up working out. I figured a Boxster would be a great car for Allison to drive around in. They're wonderful, light, reliable, and for a two-seat car, quite practical. The frunk is quite large, capable of swallowing two carryon suitcases with room to spare, and the rear trunk easily accommodates work satchels and backpacks.

So, I started hunting. While completely capable of driving a manual transmission (she learned how to drive manual on our Passat!), Allison is also more at peace driving a car with an automated transmission, so I knew whatever I was looking for had to shift itself. I really wanted a PDK instead of a Tiptronic. Being a dual-clutch design, the PDK offers faster shifts than the Tiptronic, which is a traditional automatic with a torque converter.

I discounted the original 986 as being a bit long in the tooth and not quite modern enough. Plus, it only came in manual or Tiptronic. I also wanted a glass rear window, so that ruled out the 986. That led me to start searching for 987s. The 987 had two evolutions, the 987.1 and the 987.2. After a bit of reading, I focused in on a 987.2, primarily because it was the first time the Boxster got a PDK transmission instead of a Tiptronic.

I scoured the Internet for a 987.2. I looked everywhere. And I kept reading. Which led me to the 981. The 981 incorporated some pretty significant changes. First off, the wheels got pushed further out and the overhangs were shortened. The styling, always a subjective thing, got much prettier to my eyes. The PDK was improved. It lost a little weight. And much to my delight, it was with the 981 that you can operate the top at speeds up to 30 mph. OK, that ruled out the 987.2, and I now focused in on the 981.

Friendly Advice

I searched and searched and searched. I found ones I liked and plenty that I didn't. I thought the base car would be sufficient, as it has more power than my 911. Of course, I was running my thought process past a couple of my car friends, who said things like:

"but the S looks like the way to go, you can always rationalize the extra $$ by saying it'll retain the value difference so you're not really spending that much more money, just saving it in the form of a car ... a much more enjoyable form than your average investment. I've been pretty successful using that kind of 'logic' when buying cars... :)"

and

"if you get an S, you'll never say, 'gee I wish I'd gotten the base car.'"

Everyone needs friends like these to set them straight.

What's the difference between the Boxster and the Boxster S? I suppose the "typical" Porsche S treatment: better suspension, better brakes, better engine. Most significantly, the base car gets a 2.7-liter flat-6 making 260 hp and 213 lb-ft of torque. The S gets a 3.4-liter flat-6 making 315 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque. The flat-6 has a delightfully linear power delivery, a top-end rush, and a 7,600 rpm redline. As my dad was fond of saying, "It's easy to like nice things."

After the 981 comes the 982. The 982 is a great car, with the base car making 300 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. What's up with the massive torque jump? In a word, turbocharging. The 718 has a turbocharged 2-liter flat four, while the S gets a 2.5-liter turbo making 350 hp and 309 lb-ft of torque. There's no question at all that the 718 is faster. By every stopwatch measurement, it's a better car.

Call me old, or opinionated, or both, I just can't get my head around the sound of the turbo flat four. It is definitely faster, and you really notice the extra torque, but...the sound! I love the sound of a flat six, and I love the feel of a naturally aspirated engine. This is true regardless of vehicle type. The FJR revs to 9,000 and gets progressively stronger as the revs build. I like that feeling. The 2019 Odyssey similarly gets stronger as the revs build, with a delightful VTEC scream over 5,000 RPM. The 911 gets stronger as it revs. Heck, even the 2008 Odyssey has that engine characteristic. I just enjoy the way a vehicle with that kind of powertrain responds.

The GLI has a wonderful EA888 2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder. From a drivability standpoint, it's somewhat like a 718 Boxster. Good horsepower and loads of torque. Things got even better when I did the APR Plus ECU upgrade. The difference in power and torque was very noticeable. There's no doubt that it's fast, and the torque is really fun. But because there's so much torque, there's no real need to wind the engine out to redline. Instead, you can just surf the torque and make rapid progress. I really love the GLI and enjoy driving it every time I get behind the wheel....and I just prefer the sound and feeling of a naturally aspirated engine. I like the exhilaration of the sweep of the tach corresponding to a surge in power.

I don't think I'm alone here, because Porsche also makes a GTS version of the 718 that has a 4-liter flat six, also available in the Spyder. Meanwhile, the Spyder RS gets the 4-liter engine from the 911 GT3, which revs to 9,000 on its way to almost 500 horsepower. That engine is an absolute monster and number one on my fantasy engine list. While history will be the ultimate judge, I can imagine a world where 981 values exceed their 718 counterparts. And in October 2025, the world will change when the Boxster goes EV. Porsche will still build a 2-seat roadster, and I'm sure it'll be faster than a 981, but I don't think it will be better if sound is important to you. The EV roadsters won't breathe. Think about that - they won't be alive in the same way a 981 is. What's going to happen when a kid on a corner asks an EV roadster driver to rev it up and make some noise? Nothing. While I have to believe that as a species, we'll continue to build interesting and wonderful cars, my Paleolithic brain things some of the magic dies when the cars stop breathing.

At any rate, regardless of what manufacturers are building these days, I know what I like. And I like high-revving, naturally aspirated engines. So, with my primary parameters in place, I started down the path of pursuing a 981S.

Gathering Requirements

Now that I'd made a model decision, it was time to think about other "must-haves" and "nice-to-haves." The model year didn't really matter. The 981 was built from 2013 to 2016. Instead of prioritizing a model year, I was more interested in lower mileage examples.

Color

The first consideration was exterior color. Black is a pretty common color. I like black, but somehow I don't think it fits the personality of this car. The 911 is black, which I really like and think works really well. So, black was out. There are a couple of different shades of silver, which are nice. I like dark blue, but there aren't too many of those available. The ones I did see had the beige interior, which is not my favorite. I'm not a massive white guy, but the "stormtrooper spec" white with black wheels and interior is a pretty good look. There are a few red ones out there, but red didn't fit for me.

Interior color? Black is a winner. There were a handful out there with a red interior - hats off to people who are into red, but it's not for me. Also, it was an absolute non-starter for Allison.

Steering Wheel

The standard steering wheel has thumb toggles for shifting the PDK manually:

I'm not sure why Porsche ever went with the thumb toggle design, as most manufacturers go with a paddle behind the wheel on the right side for upshifts and another paddle on the left side for downshifts. Porsche did offer a SportDesign steering wheel with more traditional paddles:

So, a sport steering wheel went on the "nice to have" list.

Suspension

I like a well-set-up passive suspension. I think with the right combination of suspension damping, wheel size, and tire choice, it's possible to design a suspension for the street that works in almost any condition. Passive suspensions reduce complexity, and can also reduce weight. In this case, I was looking to minimize complexity, so I was looking for a car that did not have Porsche Active Suspension Management.

Wheels

I also don't understand the industry trend around wheel design. Bigger wheels are not always better. In my opinion, the size of the brakes are what should dictate wheel size. Wheels should be just big enough to fit over the brakes, no need for anything bigger. One of my pet peeves is giant wheels exposing what look like little bicycle brakes. The 981S came standard with 19" wheels, with 20" wheels being a popular option.

Thinking about how the car would end up being used, I wanted 19" wheels. Generally speaking, 19" wheels weigh less than their 20" counterparts. The tires fitted to those wheels have a bit more sidewall, which should smooth out the ride. The car I was looking for will never see a race track. It will become Allison's daily driver for nine months of the year, taking kids to school, going to Whole Foods, date nights to Venturi, and generally just improving the fun of every errand. The improved turn-in of a 20" wheel will not be missed, and 19" tires are generally more economical than the corresponding 20" version.

Headlights

I love great headlights. I'll never forget the adaptive LED headlights on an S-class my brother and I drove through France - those were amazing lights. For me, headlights are a safety issue, and I really wanted a car that had Porsche Dynamic Lighting System (PDLS). Basically, PDLS swivels the headlights through corners. On a curvy road, it means the headlights shine where you're going instead of straight ahead. PDLS wasn't an absolute must have, but I really wanted it.

Miscellaneous Considerations

Porsche is well known for the ability for customers to customize its cars. You can put leather on almost any interior surface. I wasn't going to seek out a leather-clad car, but I do like leather, so if a particular car had it, that would be fine. You can also go a little crazy with deviated stitching, colored seat belts, etc. Any of those would be delighters in my mind.

The 981 has a number of seat options. Sport seats, 14-way power seats, and 18-way adaptive power seats. I don't have a strong seating preference, other than I did want seats in the car....that said, I do like heated seats quite a bit, so heated seats are kind of a must, especially considering the Boxster is a convertible that is sure to be driven top down in cooler weather.

The 981 was available with ceramic brakes. Not many cars out there have them, as they were quite the expensive option. If I came across one with ceramics, that would be great, but not a must have. During my searching, I came across precisely zero cars with ceramics.

In terms of audio, I mainly listen to the engine in sports cars. That said, it is nice to have music as a viable option in a daily-use car. The base stereo isn't that great, and Porsche did offer a Bose system that improved sound quality a bit. A car with Bose would be nice, not a deal breaker, but certainly a positive. One thing the Bose system does is add a USB-A port for an "iPod' in the glovebox. Somewhat hilariously, the display in the car shows "iPod" as an input source.

These cars were available with a navigation system from the factory, but that wasn't really a consideration for me. What I really want is CarPlay in the car. While there are aftermarket options, I'm inclined to wait for what I imagine Porsche Classic is working on - a PCCM system for their older cars. Currently, they have systems available through 987.1, and I'm optimistic that when the 981 gets old enough, they'll develop a factory developed replacement unit. Until then, a USB-A to -C cable can connect modern iPhones, and the cupholders work pretty well for holding a phone if navigation is needed.

The Hunt

I spent weeks scouring the websites, auction sites, dealer sites, the Porsche Club of America classifieds, basically any internet site that had 981Ss listed. I found a beautiful black car in New Jersey and another black car in Kansas City. The New Jersey car was super clean, the KC car had some questionable rough spots that weren't easily explained.

I looked on Bring a Trailer and thought about bidding on this car, even though I wasn't crazy about a gray interior. I created a Cars and Bids account and bid on this stormtrooper. I didn't win the auction, but that didn't prevent me from loosely making plans to fly out there with Allison and drive back together! My mania was at an all time high as I route planned to drive through Winslow and get the famous picture. All that mental energy for naught!

There was a platinum silver car in the Boston area that looked good. One downside was that it had a front license plate. I really wanted an intact front bumper since Indiana is a no-front-plate state. I know you can get bumper plugs and they do a decent job of filling the hole, but ideally any car would be intact. It pains me to see the beautiful front contours of any car scarred by drilling holes for a front plate mount. We bought both of our vans in Illinois, and it drives me a little crazy that they came with pre-drilled bumpers.

With my brother's added sleuthing skills, he turned me on to a Porsche Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) car in Wisconsin. Logistically, this was the most convenient. It could be an easy day trip from home instead of doing the fly/buy/drive thing. The prospect of having a CPO warranty was a plus, as it is a two-year, unlimited mile warranty with genuine Porsche parts and zero deductible. That adds a little peace of mind, and I think it's a testament to the quality of Porsche's products that they'll CPO cars up to 13 years old! I'm not sure how many other manufacturers do that!

Looking at the specific of this car, it looked great in rhodium silver with a black interior:

It had PDLS, the SportDesign steering wheel, Bose, and 19" wheels, all of which made me excited. It had a brand new battery, a brand new original equipment windshield, and Hankook N-spec tires in great condition. It had the 14-way heated power seats, so it had seats, which is good! It also had some "delighters," including:

Leather Package, which adds leather to the dash, arm rests, and door handles
Smoking Package, which adds a storage bin and additional 12 volt power socket
Ventilated Seats, which I have in the GLI - not a make or break feature, but nice to have
Wheel Center Caps with Painted Crest, a small nerd detail that replaces the monochrome Porsche crest in the wheel center with a version in full color. This is a tiny detail, but one I really like. The 911 had colored center caps on the stock wheels, it's a small touch, and I think it's cool.
Red seat belts, which I just think is super cool!
Clear front side marker lenses, which I think looks great with a silver car.
Stock (orange) lenses:
Clear lenses:

The bright silver with red belts made me think of 356/1, where it all started:

I think the bright sliver and red accents are a bit of an homage to 356/1:

Allison and I talked and debated and pondered. I lost plenty of sleep, while she slept like a stone. Ultimately, we decided together this was the one, so we went for it!

The salesperson was professional and wonderful and easy to work with. We were able to handle everything asynchronously and electronically. He took the paint meter readings I requested, and even waited until the car was cleaned up to do a walkaround video:

The video just hyped me up even more, it looked beautiful, and confirmed my believe that the car has no bad angles - it's gorgeous from any perspective, top down or top up:

We committed to the car and set about planning the trip to Wisconsin to retrieve the car on a Friday during spring break so two of our kids could be with us for the experience. We were super excited, and I barely slept.

The Friday before we were set to take delivery, I started thinking about grill guards to protect the front and side air intakes. My brother's car comes with them from the factory, and I'm not sure why all air-breathing Porsches don't include the mesh that protects against damage. I did some quick Internet sleuthing and came across the Radiator Grill Store, which makes protective screens for the 981.

After a quick exchange with our salesman, I ordered the grills to be drop-shipped to his Porsche dealership in Wisconsin, where a technician would install them prior to delivery. I was a little worried about the timing, as I was ordering exactly one week prior to delivery. Just one more thing to loose sleep over!

In the end, it all worked out and the guards were installed by the time we went to pick up the car: