Chris Harris Tells Us How He Really Feels About The 718 Boxster S
The Top Gear host recently got his hands on a gorgeous silver Boxster with a red interior that has me all aquiver. A gorgeous car, shame about the sound though?
Harris is brilliant, and his videos are always gorgeous. Unfortunately they are not available on YouTube until a few weeks after they launch on TopGear.com. For the time being, you'll need to click here to watch this video on their proprietary video player.
Chris Harris and I feel quite similarly about this car. Complaining of the noise while the car is so engaging and delightful to drive feels a bit like "a kid in a sweet shop who is complaining of a tummyache after the event". So many folks, especially states-based journalists, are making the new 4-cylinder sound better than it actually is. The engine makes more power, but it's so much worse to listen to that it definitely makes the old car better than the new one. "They have made the Boxster worse, but it is still rather brilliant".
As usual, Harris is right on the nose with this review, and manages to do so in a succinct 5 minute film. I've written thousands of words on the new 718, and all of them basically add up to the same point he's making here. The new engine Harris describes as being disappointing and falsified. The outgoing car evoked more emotion, and the sonorous wail behind your head imbued a sense of occasion that you don't get in the 718. If numbers on the page were all that mattered in the automotive landscape, the world would be apathetic toward classic motoring. A car like this is supposed to make you feel something, stir your soul. The only thing driving the 718 made me feel was a longing to be at the controls of a 981.
[Source: TopGear.com]