Hi Everyone,
I bought a 718 Boxster off the lot a couple weeks ago. My first Porsche and I love it. I was ready to order an S with a manual and some other options, but after test driving the base with PDK, it's so quick and the PDK is so good that I pulled the trigger. I'm coming from an Audi S5 Convertible supercharged V6 with DSG. It's Jet Black Metallic with beige interior, premium plus, sport seats, Bose, nav, connect plus, 20" wheels. Personally, I think the engine sounds great, though admittedly I have no experience with the previous flat 6. I like the growl of the turbo 4 and it really pulls over 2000 rpm. When driving around town, I can almost never wind out the gears, so I really like having an engine that delivers lots of torque. In sport mode, the engine really begs you to push it hard and basically won't shift if it's not going to keep you in the power band. IMO turbo lag is virtually non-existent. There are times when you can feel it, but it's really not a problem. My only issue with the power delivery is that sometimes if you're in slow-moving traffic and not in sport mode and you want to quickly accelerate and change lanes, it lags a bit when you step on the gas, which can be a little disconcerting. I just quickly hit the sport button before making such maneuvers and the problem goes away. The S5 is fast, but doesn't feel nearly as quick or agile even in dynamic mode. You put your foot down and your at 100mph before you know it. I'm excited to get it on a race track.
My biggest complaint is that the PCM software doesn't seem completely finished. The iPod interface basically doesn't work. It will only play whatever was playing on the iPod before plugging it in. The navigation UI never comes up with my iPod classic or iPod touch. My car didn't have the $0 voice control option, which is a bummer. I know voice control is mostly terrible in all cars, but I can usually get it to call my wife, which is mostly what I'd use it for anyway. Also, because no voice control, the voice control button doesn't activate Siri either via CarPlay or bluetooth, which is also a real bummer. After using CarPlay, it feels a little odd to use the 8 mode buttons below the display. The touchscreen is so good, the PCM should all be done on the touchscreen IMO.
So far I haven't been super impressed by the Connect Plus features. Google search works well, and I suppose Google earth & street view could be useful, but the rest of it, not so much. The only 2 streaming music apps are radio.net and napster. I suppose some people use them, but it would be nice to have Apple Music, Spotify and Pandora. It's also weird that I have to connect my phone to the car using wifi in order to get Porsche Connect apps even though there's already a bluetooth connection, though I suppose it's not too different from requiring a wired connection to use CarPlay. Hopefully we'll get wireless CarPlay at some point. Also w.r.t. Porsche Car Connect, locking and unlocking doors is fine, but I want to be able to control the windows and top in case of unexpected weather changes.
I had a SmartTOP controller for my Audi, which worked pretty well. I'm thinking about getting one for my Boxster also. I don't really have a problem holding the switch while the top goes up or down, but it's weird that the windows go half way down, then back up after the top is down. I almost never want that and I think the SmartTOP can be programmed to behave differently. The user should just be able to configure the windows up or down when putting the top down. And the SmartTOP will allow putting the top up/down from the remote.
Rumor has it there's going to be a PCM software update in October that will hopefully fix some of these issues. And maybe someone will figure out how to fix the rest of them via coding (like the disabled voice control). The annoyances are really minor and have nothing to do with the driving experience, but I am hoping to see the infotainment tech improve.
Anyway, I love the car. It's so much fun to drive and I'm excited chat with fellow enthusiasts.