By the way, here's the original Porsche 550 Spyder that spawned the modern Boxster... same basic treatment of the rear panels (...actually the whole car...)

2004 G35C 6MT + Nav, Silverstone



246505-550_3.jpg

 

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Haha. ^ that post above mine is exactly what I was thinking. Those cars are like cheap Benz C-classes or cheap BMW 3-series. People just buy them to say they drive a __________. I tell ppl I drive a 350GT and they go .. o_O*

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Thats a pretty dumb comment considering the G is a bottom of the line Infiniti. A BMW is a BMW no matter how much it cost, and a Porsche is a Porsche no matter how much it cost.

I recently test drove the 2004 Boxster S and I was impressed. The whole driving experience is just great. Gets your blood flowing. I love all Porsches. It is my favorite car company. My next car will be either a Boxster Coupe, a 911 or a M series Bimmer.

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03 CB Coupe 6MT
www.itclan.com/g35

 

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performance i would expect the boxter to edge it out, drag and curcuit, but damn ure spending 20 more grand!!!

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The Boxster S is a fine car. Until you look at the price, then its like WTF!?!? [img]/w3timages/icons/shocked.gif[/img] That car should be priced at about $30k, not $57k. It is a total waste of money for that price, and there are quite a few performance cars out there that cost less and will embarrass a Boxster S.

It's another Porsche poser car, IMO.

2003 G35C, 6MT, DG/G, Aero/Nav/Premium
2002 Corvette Z06, Electron Blue/Black

 

They thought you meant a Lamborgini 350GT.

 

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-Altima (no, I'm not kidding - a great exterior design IMO, even though it's on a mass market vehicle)

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I know what you mean. Mass-market or not, it's a good-looking car in an unassuming way -- nice stance, proportions etc. but modest about it.

For mass-market cars I also like the new little Mazda 3 -- especially the rear panels. Also the new Acura TL.

But for pure style, unless you spend a lot more, not much out there can hold a candle to the G coupe...[img]/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/img]



2004 G35C 6MT + Nav, Silverstone

 

That is so right. I have said in the past that the G35 sedan rear looks a lot like an Altima and G35Sedanman got all up in the butt about it. But I like the Altima's ***. No mass produced care come close in the looks department in my opinion.

 

Hi Z06,
yeah, the Boxster isn't great bang for the buck if you only count performance as your main criterion, so horsepowers per dollar I'd definitely agree with you. But not everyone values those things the same way we do... otherwise they'd all have bought G coupes, right? Don't forget, the Porsches handle beautifully, and some people value that over straight-line acceleration. If they want open-top driving and only needs two seats, then we probably shouldn't judge them using our own particular biases. To each their own...
but I know what you're saying! ;-)


2004 G35C 6MT + Nav, Silverstone

 

i don't think it's a right assessment to say that the g35 coupe is the cheapest infiniti model and should be considered the same as the cheapest bmw (318i) or cheapest benz (C230). this is due to the fact that all of infiniti's vehicles are within a price range of what....$30k to $60k and is considered the luxury line for nissan. bmw's price range is between $27k to $100k+ and benz's are between $30k to even $400k (new slr). so, considering that infiniti's line-up only consist of a few cars and the others a big line-up, it's unfair to compare.

and you also have to admit that porsche's goal in introducing the boxster was to enter the convertible roadster market which was the rage a few years back--i.e. the miatas and z3 when they first came out-- and to compete in that same market, which admittedly was on the lower scale price-wise. so, it's an easy assessment to say that the boxster is a "cheap" porsche for the masses. me, personally, i would never own a boxster but rather a 911 if i wanted to get a porsche. likewise, i would never be caught dead in a 318i or c230--very ugly cars. but that's just me, to each their own.

on a side note, i think that the boxster are ok cars looks-wise but just not my cup of tea for that price.

 

the g is a better value, more practical, and people don't look at the g looking to see if it's a woman driving as much as the boxster. imo the g looks better than the porsche. price is just not worth it. performance is awful for its price range--how would you feel losing to cars on a regular basis that cost 20k less?

but then, it is a convertible. i don't know, if you want a status marker, get the porsche. if you want a great car for a good price, get the g.

 

[qoute]In terms of styling, I too like the lines of the Boxster -- particularly from the rear. The front end is pretty generic Porsche (which is not necessarily a bad thing). However the way the trunk meets the raised rear quarter panels is aesthetically a strong point on that car, IMO. No other car treats the sheetmetal in that area quite the same way, which makes it totally unique.

In fact the only other car that did it that way was the Porsche 550 Spyder ...and that's the other reason that I like the Boxster: it's a direct descendant of the Spyder, and the styling is in keeping with a long history of Porsche open-top roadsters -- people who know the 550 tend to appreciate the Boxster's DNA even more.

I respect a company that can produce a thoroughly modern high-performance car while maintaining a strong reference to a historical lineage like that.

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Assuming we're not talking about different things here, the raised rear fender look (sometimes compared to the rear "haunches" of an animal like a tiger or a horse) on the Boxster is characteristic of many other classic sports cars as well, such as the Jaguar XKE and XK120/140, MGA, AC Cobra, '56-'60 Corvettes (and in a more angular way, the Sting Ray series). Several 60's era Ferraris and numerous race cars of the time also sported that look.

Porsche brought it back in the Boxster in a particularly graceful way, IMO. Even the front end works much better on the car as a whole to my eye than it does on the 911, which appears to be identical forward of the A pillar.

 

i dun think i ever looked at a boxster and says.."man..its a woman's car"...i would to a z3 or miata...or mustang now days.....and i don't really think the look has anything to do with it since everyone's taste is different..i used to like civic's when i was 5...and guess what? it changed... some people...just dun care about the things that we care about (bangs for bucks to be exact)...ya..they probably thought of it before..."oh..i could've got a g35..or s2000...which is faster...but you know what..i want a PORSCHE...cuz its PRESTIGIOUS" its kinda like...i dun care if you have a rocket fast geo...i have an infiniti..so..you know what...i don't care... =) personally i do not think the boxster s is "awful performance for its price range" performance is kinda opinionated as well..since maybe its bad 0-60...but the boxster is famous for its handling and stuff...you just have to look into that...to be honest...if i am rich..i have 60 grand for no better use...i would get the porsche...maybe an M3..but i will NEVER get a japanese car and fix it up so that it has better performance.... what can i say...japanese cars just don't have that kinda...power...as it comes to status of a person..its kinda like...its so different when you say..."i drive a porsche/mercedez"...than..."i drive an infiniti" i am not hating on japanese car(i have 4 and getting the g in a month)...but..its true...some people just don't care...

 

.boxster is to porsche as andro is to steroids.

anyways

how about a real competition.....Transformers vs. Thundercats

I got my money on Lionell and crew!

OG 03.5

 

no more cobra kai

OG 03.5

 

The Boxster is a nice sporty car for your wife or girlfriend.

'04 G35 Coupe
'98 Viper GTS (760 RWHP / 865 RWTQ)

 

Hi BMWtoG35,

Well.. I don't want to quibble but I don't agree with you that any other car did the rear end quite like the 550 Spyder. It's considered a look that was/ is uniquely Porsche.

I'm not talking about mere haunches (i.e. the rear fenders alone) but rather how they relate to the rear deck. The rear fenders of the 550 extend much farther back than is commonly seen, and they do so on a seperate plane than the rear deck, which steeply slopes downward between the fenders. The net effect is that you could put headlights where the taillights were and you've got a similar morphology to the front of the car. You don't see this kind of back to front symmetry to this degree in any other car.

As I said, that is what I find unique about the rear quarter panel design of the current Boxster -- this same relationship between it and the rear deck. It has the same downward slope between the fenders which emphasizes the extension of the latter. Put headlights where the tailights are... squint your eyes and there's perhaps a plausible front end there.

In contrast, the XKE and XK140 have the classic Jag haunches which don't extend far back, they simply wrap the rear wheels and slope downward along with the rear deck. Same with the Cobra, MGA, etc. etc. Either the fenders slope with the deck, or the deck stays high with the fenders (as seen in the Vettes).

There are many more cars than the Ferraris and Vettes that you've mentioned that have simple fender haunches -- those haunches have been a part of automotive design vocabulary since the first sheetmetal cars of the prewar era.

A few other modern examples of simple haunches that come to mind include the old Alfa Romeos and Fiat Spyders. Many of the muscle cars that came out of Detroit in the late 60's had them as well.
But that's not what I was referring to exactly ;-)


2004 G35C 6MT + Nav, Silverstone