'05 Boxster S and '05 Audi S4 Test drive reports

2005 Porsche Boxster S ------------
This car was a six speed with the optional 19" Carrera S wheels. I drove the new '05 911 (non-S) about a month ago, and I was expecting this car to feel almost as fast as that car. It did not feel as fast (perhaps it was the 10% larger 911 engine contributing to torque), but it was still a great car. The handling was wonderful, I was surprised at the somewhat flatulent sounding exhaust note on the interstate at about 70mph in sixth gear.
The new interior is a revelation compared to the old one. The interior of my Honda Accord is easily better than the old Boxsters I drove, but this one's interior is much better.
One really cool feature is that you can lower or raise the convertible top at speeds up to 30 mph. I was riding next to a Z3, and the driver was enthused to see the new Boxster, so I dropped my speed down to 29mph and raised the top while driving next to him. I'm not sure if he thought I was retarded for destroying the car's top, or if he just thought it was cool. In any case, it was very nice not to have to pull into a parking lot, set the parking brake, and wait forever while the top raises. It did take about 30 sec to raise, but who cares? I didn't have to stop to do it.

2005 Audi S4--------
I hopped out of the Boxster and directly into this. After driving the Boxster, this car felt OMNIPOTENT! The power at any RPM is AWESOME for an otherwise docile four-door sedan. Also, I really liked the intuitive controls and interior design.
Did I mention the engine is awesome? SO MUCH POWER! The model I test-drove was a six-speed AUTO, and I generally either left it in S-auto mode, or shifted manually. It would have been a perfect auto except it does not store gear change requests. For instance, I was coming off a 50 mph speed limit road and turning onto a curvy access road, so I pulled down on the level 3 times in quick succession. Instead of getting 2nd gear, I got 4th, because I had to wait until it shifted into 4th to select 3rd, then after it shifted into 3rd I could select 2nd. I'm sure I would adjust to it, but I would prefer that it just store my requests.
I was really impressed with the level of grip this car had when taking cloverleafs, etc, but it could not approach the lithe feel of the Boxster S. I liked the weight of the steering on this car a lot, as well.

 

That sums it up pretty succinctly. I got out of a $62k Boxster and into a $51k Audi S4 that I liked better. I test drove an S2000 that is a legit competitor to that Boxster S, but at literally HALF the price of the Boxster S, it is difficult to justify the Boxster.

That kind of price puts a new Boxster into the "emotional rationale" category of cars for me. For instance, no one can justify the price differential of a Z06 Vette and a 360 Modena based on performance, or even equipment level and features. It is an irrational, emotional decision.

I don't think a 911 requires this same emotional decision, or at least a 911 Turbo doesn't. For very low 100's, that car can eat those same 360's at $160k.

 

I asked the salesman about that. *HE* claims that it really was nothing but a concept and it won't be built, but I'm inclined to think that I know more about it than he does. I think there will be be one, but I've been wrong before.

my $.02