718 Ways of Boxing

There are new contenders in the turbocharged flatfour market today and Porsche’s iconic convertible gets a performance bump.

- Aaron Hia

Turbochargers are quickly becoming necessary bits in today’s consumer cars and Porsche is a company that is more than keen to partake in the ‘force induction revolution’. While the company isn’t a stranger to the world of turbochargers, it is interesting to note that its other models are making the switch to join the 911 Turbo in the ranks of ‘swoosh and woosh’.

The Boxster has traditionally been the more affable model from the Stuttgart manufacturer, appealing to a wider range of audience with its two-door, drop-top friendliness without all of the the seriousness that its 911 brethren exudes. Essentially, the new Boxster still retains that friendly character of drivability while doing the good bit of reducing carbon emission. The ‘718’ moniker on the Boxster can be explained as a throwback to the successful 718 open-cockpit RSK race car that participated in the Le Mans and netted wins from the Targa Florio and 12 Hours of Sebring. Now  you can see where this is going.

While the big changes are mostly under the skin, there is hardly any significant visual change between the 718 Boxster and the outgoing model. Only a keen eye will spot several small but distinct differences; for example, the side intakes are now wider to keep the force-fed power plant happy and chirpy. Other notable differences are its headlights and tail lamps, which now incorporate more distinctive LED visuals to them.