Techart 718 Boxster S: Bring Me The Horizon
TECHART 718 BOXSTER S
BRING ME THE HORIZON
Words: Alessandro Marrone
Photography: Giorgia Rossi
The last test driving day in Leonberg arrives and brings with it the sorrowful feeling that is about to close a beautiful chapter lived in the sunny town at the gates of Stuttgart. We left the 718 Boxster S as last, to close the curtain as it should be, or it would be better saying to open it in beauty, since from our arrival the weather has improved steadily and today a hot sun shines in the sky above us. The 718 cabrio, which shares a lot with the Cayman, is specced with the same care and looks forward to shuffling Porsche’s entry level two-seater.
That passed under the hands of Techart does it from the very first moment you see it: white and with much more accentuated shapes thanks to the improved front splitter, side skirts and the fixed spoiler at the back. The black rims are “in house” products and are 21 inches with fluorescent green trim that resumes the details you also find inside the passenger compartment. The suspensions have been lowered by 35mm compared to the traditional 718 S (25mm compared to the models equipped with PASM), the exhaust has only titanium tailpipes and in this case are also finished with carbon fiber tips. Aware that it dynamically differs under some shades compared to the rigid roof counterpart, I jump aboard and after turning the key and giving birth to the small but prominent 2.5 4-cylinder turbocharged, I open the roof and enjoy the sun’s rays. Driving with the open roof is the best way to eliminate any barrier with the outside world – the sound of the exhaust, not so much increased in volume but rather lowered in tone, enters more freely in my ears, the frustration of the air becomes more insistent when I leave the town behind me, with the consequent approval of all five of my senses, now on alert to capture every little signal I am offered this day of driving in the German countryside. The engine warms up quickly, selecting Sports mode and then Sport + finally going to call into question the upgraded performance available, which equals to 50 hp and 60Nm more – just like on the 718 Cayman S. What’s changing in this case is the lack (on the test model) of a self-locking differential and a deeper perception of speed, once launched on the same roads as my previous test (see Auto Class #58).
The 400 horses are easily added by Techart’s specialists, which in this case can achieve a significant increase in power for working on a turbocharged engine, continuing to offer the official guarantee on the various components. The 2.5 pushes hard regardless of the engine revs, I decide to sink the right foot on the throttle – it can take a fraction of a second or even less and then I throw myself into the dense woods of Renningen, which once again delights me as the most exclusive natural harmonic case in the world. Suspensions are more rigid – you feel that no matter the speed – but the Boxster’s behavior is never scorbutic and while I am comfortably seated on the sporty alcantara seats, I keep the steering wheel firmly, varying corners’ entry at each time and exploiting the total lack of traffic to forget half-measures and go full throttle In the same way, next to some harder bend, I literally throw myself on the brake pedal, sometimes even slightly unbalancing the rigid body of the 718, a simple movement on the steering wheel, and it does everything else, mumbling from the double exhaust with what is becoming the next-generation Porsche soundtrack. Like it or not, downsizing is no longer a news, and luckily brings with it many positive aspects, first of all an overall boost in performance. The ease with which the turbo-Boxster gains speed is disarming – it limits fuel consumption when it is not necessary to take advantage of all of its power (and in this case the 400hp go back to the standard 350) and allows you to drive in perfect ease.
A look in the rearview mirror, I downshift two gears and drag me along the perfect asphalt strip that winds in a hilly area not far from where we left a few inches of tires the day before. My eyes are fixed forward and always focus on the next corner, almost as if trying to reach the perfect horizontal line called horizon. Without even noticing it seems that all the relaxation and the feeling of harmony with the outside world that a roadster can offer you has turned into an alternative way to rattle like a maniac in the passenger compartment as if I had been bitten by a tarantula. The speed drops dramatically, engine revs increase, and in this moment the maximum torque and turbo thrust show once again that the new generation of Boxster (and Cayman) are meant to be driven in a completely different way from the flat-6 that we love so much. More responsive, but not too far from what I enjoyed with the standard 718. Techart succeeds in characterizing Stuttgart’s entry level models with a meticulous search for the ultimate and finest materials, noble colors and a more convincing sound that does not distort the starting tone at all.
The sun begins to fall and shadows stretch. The air that enters the uncovered cockpit is no longer boiling like a few hours ago and I keep unwilling to spin in that crowd of tall trees that point to a blue sky that minute after minute gets darker. Time is passing by and I try to get everything I can, as if I never had such an occasion, but in reality the real drive is already over – I am now living a personal moment, a relationship of mutual trust that man and machine can share even in the simplest of contexts, seeing the world around as a landscape, a container that is there and waiting, enjoying the show of pure driving pleasure. Said by me which I’m not a huge fan of convertibles, the 718 Boxster S from Techart has probably been the test drive that gave me more and still today I can experience that deep sense of satisfaction, as if I still was there. It was probably the same horizon for which I am so fond of, which has returned the same sensations and tried to reach me and the Boxster.
TECHART 718 BOXSTER S (2017-)
Layout – mid-rear engine, rear wheel drive
Power – 4 cylinder 2.5cc – turbo
Transmission – 7-speed automatic gearbox
Power – 400 hp / 480Nm
Weight – 1.460 kg ca.
Acceleration – 4,0 sec.
Top Speed – 296 kph