| Week at the Wheel | Porsche Boxster |

Inside & Out:

The push-me-pull-me Boxster has grown into its looks. The smooth and relatively unremarkable lines of Porsche's entry-level roadster are timeless and classy compared to the overt and sometime brash styling of some of its drop-top rivals. There's a solidity, familiarity and understatement to its looks, though that effect is somewhat blown away by Porsche's choice of Rivera Blue on this example. Eye-catching? Certainly. To our taste? Definitely not. We love the black wheels though, but then black wheels look pretty cool on anything remotely sporty.

After the exterior's hue-enhanced boldness the interior is a demonstration of restraint. It's easy to criticise the Boxster's interior for being rather dull, but like the exterior it'll age well while others won't. Absolutely everything works with that typically Porsche precise feel.

Engine & Transmission:

The Boxster's 2.9-litre flat-six might not be pushing out a surfeit of ponies, but the 255bhp it musters is plenty to be getting on with. The engine isn't brutal in its delivery, its power more a building force that efficiently gains plentiful pace. Sixty-two mph arrives in 5.9 seconds if you're trying, but it's not the Boxster's step-off pace that impresses; instead it's the mid- and upper-range flexibility - and the soundtrack that comes with it. That's enhanced here with an optional sports exhaust system (a £1,434 must-tick option), the flat-six's tremendous aural accompaniment becoming richer and more exotic thanks to the more tuneful pipes.

The engine impresses, but it's the means of orchestrating it that really defines the Boxster. The six-speed manual and the perfectly weighted clutch makes changing gears in the Boxster a real delight. You'll not even mind slipping through gears in traffic, especially if you can flare the throttle a bit and hear that pipe doing its thing and adding some assertive resonance to the flat-six sound. Up the pace and it's just as precise, the Boxster's engine and transmission combination among the very best out there.

Ride & Handling:

Coming with conventional dampers and springs as standard, the Boxster demonstrates ably that you don't need trick PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) for an incisive driving experience. Coping with the worst surfaces with ease all while retaining fine poise, a flat cornering stance and tidy body control makes the Boxster a treat on a winding road. Thank the mid-mounted engine and the inherent balance brought about by the near perfect weight distribution. Make no mistake, if Porsche could start with a clean sheet design with its 911 it'd follow the Boxster's mid- rather than the 911's rear-engined layout - rear seats aside.

Poise is impeccable and grip levels high, the Boxster letting you know exactly what's going on between it and the road through information-rich controls. The weighting of the steering is just right, while the information coming through the rim makes you realise just how muted its competition is for feedback.

Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:

That the £35,510 list price of this entry-level car is bolstered by over £11,000 of options underlines that the Boxster perhaps isn't the best equipped car in standard guise. Look through those options though and you'll quickly realise that, resale considerations aside, you could do without most of them. We'd want that sports exhaust, while the iPod connector, wind deflector and limited slip differential would be things we'd also like, but really if it came to a choice of having a Boxster with nothing, or no Boxster at all then we wouldn't feel too short changed.

Overall:

Porsche's Boxster is often disregarded as a second-fiddle choice to the 911, an understudy to the main act. That does it a huge disservice, as the Boxster is a brilliant sports car in its own right. Indeed, this side of a 911 GT3 there's little in the Porsche range that delivers quite the same pure driving experience of the standard Boxster. It's quick enough for our speed restricted roads, its performance, precision and intimate feedback combining to create a very special driving experience indeed.