Saturday, 5 May 2012
New Porsche Boxster S review, test drive
Inside Porsche is a conflict that’s tearing it apart. On the one hand there’s the good old rear-engined 911, the sportscar icon; a car designed with enough space to fit a set of golf clubs in; a compromise. On the other are the more purist options, the Boxster and the Cayman; both middle-of-the-road, mid-engined sportscars with their engines in the right place. Logically, it’s the 911 that should be softer and more rounded, and the mid-engined cars that should be harder and faster. But no. Legacy and some mind-bending Porsche engineering have proved that the 911 can cut it with the best, less-than-perfect rear-engined weight distribution be damned. The original Carrera RS, the first 993 Turbo and the recent GT3 RS all have that touch of pure Porsche genius, and the fact that the 911 is simply a great driver’s car is almost impossible to ignore. Question is, how much better could the 911 have been if it had its engine in the right place? Exactly the debate that must be raging inside Porsche, engineers on one side, marketeers and Porsche traditionalists on the other.
Fact File
Price Range (in lakhs)*
| Ex-showroom price | Rs 69.38 lakh (estimated, ex-Delhi) |
Engine
| Fuel | Petrol |
| Installation | Mid, longitudnal, RWD |
| Type | 6-cyls, horizontally opposed, 3436cc, naturally aspirated, petrol |
| Power | 311bhp at 6700rpm |
| Torque | 36.7kgm at 4500-5800rpm |
Transmission
| Gearbox | 7-speed dual clutch automatic |
Dimensions
| Length | 4374mm | ||||
| Width | 1801mm | ||||
| Height | 1281mm | ||||
| Wheel base | 2475mm | by autocarindia.com |
Jaguar XKR-S review
Fact File
Price Range (in lakhs)*
| Ex-showroom price | Rs 1.34 crore (pre-budget, ex-showroom, Mumbai) |
Engine
| Fuel | Petrol |
| Installation | Front, Longitudnal |
| Type | 5000cc V8 |
| Power | 542bhp at 6000rpm |
| Torque | 69.3kgm at 2500rpm |
Transmission
| Gearbox | six-speed auto |
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