Porsche was kind enough to lend us an all-new Porsche 718 Boxster S for a week. Here’s what we thought of it.

We picked up the flat-4 turbo powered 718 at Porsche of Minneapolis with roughly 55mi on the car. The thing was brand new! And what better way to break in a new car than with a road trip/track day? We headed 2hrs north the BIR to begin the fun.

Upon arriving at BIR, we took a moment to fill the car up with some 93oct from the newly-renovated VP fuel station. If the 718 Boxster S is like any other turbocharged car we’ve worked with, it will take all the octane it can get. We averaged 27mpg cruising at roughly the posted speed limit, which was a pleasant surprise and could easily be improved if the driver made it a point to conserve.

First things first at the track – tire pressure. The tires managed well on the drive up, providing nothing but a smooth ride regardless of their super low profile. The track is no doubt a different beast, so Ryan set the tire pressures a bit lower and went about putting the car to the test.

Weather was nearly ideal for a first evaluation – 75* and sunny.

Being the car had roughly 200mi on it by the time we got to BIR, not to mention the fact that it was on loan, we took it fairly easy on the car by only running 10 laps. But in just those 10 laps it was clear this car has serious potential. It’s very quick out of the box. Power delivery of the flat-4 turbo is smooth and the midrange is just fatty. It was fantastic to drive on track.

Just how quick was the car on track? 1:44.04 on BIR’s short course. For reference, Ryan ran only slightly quicker during the baseline test of our 991 GT3. Granted the weather we 40* cooler in March of 2015…

But even so the 718 Boxster S proved to be the real deal on track. Not to mention it was good fun!

The heart and soul of the 718 is it’s all-new turbocharged 2.5L 4-cylinder boxer engine. The turbo features VTG – variable turbine geometry which makes for a solid tractable powerband with 350hp/309tq on tap. It builds boost early and often making peak torque from 1950rpm-4500rpm yet will still rev out – making peak power at 7,000rpm.

Cobb Tuning has already baselined a 718 Boxster S and confirms what we all figured. The car make more power than advertised and with relative ease. We can’t help but imagine how potent a 718 Cayman S would be on track. And we haven’t even mentioned how improved the chassis is with PTV!

Thanks again to Porsche and Izea for the opportunity, we had a great time.

Images courtesy of Peter Lapinski