Porsche 718 Boxster interior

From £44,7589

Engine downsized, turbo added and chassis tuned. Has Porsche made all the right moves, or is the 718 Boxter a worthy soft-top successor?

Matt Saunders Autocar
Matt Saunders

Published:

16 June 2016

A smaller steering wheel, some reshaped air vents, new leather colours and treatments and a new infotainment system are the sum total of the changes to report here.

In the main, Porsche has left well enough alone in the cabin, and it can’t be faulted for that, because the car’s interior is comfortable, pleasant and well constructed and, now, can be well provided for gadget connectivity and multimedia systems, if you’re prepared to splash out a bit on options.

Optional Sports Seats Plus are supportive without being restrictively narrow, and a smaller steering wheel is part of the dynamic update
Nic Cackett
Road tester

Not content with making the steering gear quicker, Porsche has also cut the diameter of the standard steering wheel to 375mm, or further still to 360mm if you plump for our test car’s GT Sport steering wheel (£186), which looks and feels superbly purposeful.

There isn’t a single button, dial or knob anywhere on it – and if you like your steering wheels mainly to steer with, as we do, you’ll wholeheartedly approve of it.

The 718’s seats are comfortable, wide and backside-securingly cosy, positioning the driver in a perfect location in front of the controls.

If you don’t habitually heel-and-toe on your downshifts, there’s a chance you’ll find the relative proximity of the brake and accelerator pedals occasionally troubling but, frankly, we’re glad Porsche configures its manual cars for those who do.

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For its material quality and design sophistication, this isn’t a stand-out interior by class standards; the Audi TT Roadster’s looks and feels much more modern and expensive.

However, the Boxster’s long-established usability trump card still serves it brilliantly, because rather than having to shoehorn a long weekend’s luggage into one small boot, you can split it between two.

Porsche 718 Boxster news

Porsche firms up production plans for new Boxster and Cayman EVs
Porsche firms up production plans for new Boxster and Cayman EVs
Porsche revives Rubystone Red with 718 Style Edition
Porsche revives Rubystone Red with 718 Style Edition
Nearly new buying guide: Porsche 718 Boxster
Nearly new buying guide: Porsche 718 Boxster
Under the skin: How Porsche revived flat-six engines for the 718
Under the skin: How Porsche revived flat-six engines for the 718

With 275 litres of combined storage, this car will hold more than twice as many of your bags, shopping and sports gear than a Mazda MX-5 and more overall than a Mercedes-Benz SLC.

The 718 Boxster comes with Porsche Communication Management as standard, bringing with it mobile phone preparation and an audio interface, as well as Porsche’s Sound Package Plus, which means a sound system of six speakers and 110 watts of power.

It isn’t a desperately generous standard equipment offering, because Porsche isn’t accustomed to being generous with its kit, but at least the system sounds strong enough.

Porsche’s new touchscreen interface, meanwhile, is fine-looking and very navigable.

Our test car needed a cumulative £2137 of extra outlay to upgrade that standard set-up to one with navigation, DAB radio, Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring and in-car wi-fi — all features that other manufacturers might consider throwing in for free on a £40,000 car.

The top-level audio set-up is by Burmester and offers surround sound, 821 watts of power and a 300-watt subwoofer integrated into the vehicle body. It costs a cool £2663. Expect the cheaper Bose audio set-up to be the most popular.

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