Let me take you back to the early days of Porsche.
In the fifties and sixties there was the very first Porsche,
actually a sportier VW Beetle: the 356.
A very low, lightweigth and pure car,
and still one of the most beautiful cars ever made.
The Porsche 550 Spyder was a race version of the 356,
and has a very interesting history.
In 1955, a movie star was killed in a crash with his 550.
He drove right into an approaching vehicle,
and James Dean didn't make it to the hospital.
The Porsche suited Dean very well, even though he died in it.
It was very pure, hardcore and raw, James Dean on wheels.
8 years after Dean died, Porsche introduced another street racer.
The 904, a.k.a. Carrera GTS.
Less than 120 were made, but it was very successful in races.
Today, this is Boxster GTS is the car closest to Deans 550.
Both cars are mid-engined, low, light and very tough.
Porsche used the 'GTS'-nameplate a lot since the sixties.
On the 944, 928, 911, and even the Cayenne and Panamera.
From now on, there's also a Cayman GTS and Boxster GTS.
The Boxster and Cayman have one big problem: the 911.
They can't be as fast and powerful as the Porsche-icon 911.
This GTS offers 15 PS and 10 Nm more than the Boxster S.
It now has 330 PS, the Cayman 340 PS.
So none of the both reaches the 350 PS of a 911 Carrera.
Besides the extra power, it has adaptive suspension,
the Sport Chrono Package, and it's 10 mm lower.
The adaptive suspension makes it multidimensional.
While driving relaxed, it's the most comfortable Boxster ever.
But when driving on the limit, it becomes very precise and sporty.
It has the Torque Vectoring System on the rear axle,
This means the outer wheel gets the most torque in corners.
This makes it almost too neutral: it's nearly impossible to make it drift.
But for really, really fast cornering, this car is perfect.
and until now, I didn't even mention the engine.
The n/a engine is fantastic, and has a very linear power curve.
In 'Sport +'-mode, it becomes a beast.
An unbelievable trottle response, and it revs until 7500 tpm,
After which it shifts gear in a way you might get a hernia.
When doing so, the sound is amazing.
Now I'll show you how to strip the stucco of a tunnel in 20 seconds.
The PDK is more fuel efficient than the manual gearbox.
This means less tax in Holland, so the PDK is the cheapest version.
Probably, no one will buy a manual in our country,
and I think that's a shame.
The PDK is fantastic, but a manual would fit the car very well.
So what's my conclusion?
Well, the Boxster was already my favourite Porsche.
This GTS makes it more powerful and spectacular than ever.
If James Dean was still alive, he would have bought a Boxster GTS.
+ Linear power curve; Sound!
- Manual will be very rare option; Expensive.