[Newbie718guy]

Hi,

I'm the proud new owner of a Boxster 718 S with PDK and Sport Chrono package.

While Porsche.com says my 0-60 is 4.2, Car & Driver is claiming my ride can do it in 3.6 using Launch Control which puts it neck and neck with the Dodge Challenger Hellcat.

I would love to know your thoughts on how legit this is. It seems too good to be true but I'm kinda glad I got these options.

Half the cylinders, 1500 pounds lighter and WAY better milage.

Has anyone done a side by side of these 2 cars? I always felt the Hellcat was a remarkable car at 707HP but my little 350HP bug doesn't seem too anemic after all!

 

[Nithros]

Congratulations! I know at least a little bit how you feel since I am the proud (I should say thankful) owner of a new Cayman S.

Here are my thoughts... You are talking in theory. Continuing that - you have 33% less weight but 50% less horsepower so guess what is going to happen. My friend J (speedysgarage website) has a 2016 Hellcat Challenger which will run a sub 11 second quarter mile stock with drag radials. Even without them, it would probably put almost two seconds on your car in a quarter mile. Said differently, you might hang with him for a bit but when that huge car finally gets moving by the end you won’t be close. I raced him from a dig in my 700 hp modified C7 Z06 (@ 850 pounds lighter) and put only a couple of car lengths on him through a couple of gears. You make some good points about your car so I would focus on that and forget about comparing It to a Hellcat which is a purpose built car that does one thing well - goes fast in a straight line. Don’t read anything into that - I have always loved Mopars - especially the Cuba’s and Challengers). In this case, you have a different kind of car that does many things well.

 

[Ian718]

Here is a youtube video of a drag race between 718 Cayman (Base model as brakes are not red) and a Hellcat *snigger*

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.

I hope I didn't get your hopes up too much before watching that

 

[Viffermike]

@Newbie718guy : Fast is relative and subject to interpretation. Look at it this way: Would you drive a Funny Car on a twisty mountain road, or a circuit track, or a rally course? Shoot: Would you drive a NASCAR racer in any of those situations?

If you're interested in straight-line acceleration only (i.e., the typical American definition of speed), the Hellcat will likely be your choice.

If you're interested in any other possible objective measure of speed (i.e., the typical definition of speed pretty much everywhere else on the planet), the 718 will certainly be your choice.

>

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Black718]

Hi,

I'm the proud new owner of a Boxster 718 S with PDK and Sport Chrono package.

While Porsche.com says my 0-60 is 4.2, Car & Driver is claiming my ride can do it in 3.6 using Launch Control which puts it neck and neck with the Dodge Challenger Hellcat.

I would love to know your thoughts on how legit this is. It seems too good to be true but I'm kinda glad I got these options.

Half the cylinders, 1500 pounds lighter and WAY better milage.

Has anyone done a side by side of these 2 cars? I always felt the Hellcat was a remarkable car at 707HP but my little 350HP bug doesn't seem too anemic after all!

I'll weigh in here since I'm probably one of the few who has actually lined up at a real dragstrip with a Hellcat in the other lane. I've lost some races, and won some races. It comes down to the skill of the Hellcat driver, the Hellcat's transmission and how "stock" the Hellcat is.

If the Hellcat is 100% stock on stock tires with a manual transmission, put your money on the 718 S to win.

If the Hellcat is 100% stock on stock tires with the automatic transmission, it will be a race that will depend on the skill of the Hellcat driver. The Hellcat is tough to launch with stock tires.

A 100% stock Hellcat with drag radials and a good driver should win, but it will be a closer race than the Hellcat was expecting.

 

[RussellHodgson]

The hellcat driver gives the 718 about a second head start before he even starts to move.

 

[TheLip]

Not to be "that guy", but this is kind of a ridiculous discussion. The 718 is a not a dragster. Maximum acceleration in a straight line is not its forte nor its intention. It is a quick car, that's true, but where it excels is the balance between speed and sublime handling, everyday usability and track-worthy athleticism, the smile that it puts on your face when you nail an apex and come out of a corner carrying more speed than you thought you could. Sure there are faster cars 0-60 or in the 1/4 mile, but so what. If you want a dragster, get a Hellcat or a Demon and run them on racing slicks. If you want a sports car, get a 718, find a twisty road and prepare to fall in love.

End of rant.

 

[Viffermike]

Not to be "that guy", but this is kind of a ridiculous discussion. The 718 is a not a dragster. Maximum acceleration in a straight line is not its forte nor its intention. It is a quick car, that's true, but where it excels is the balance between speed and sublime handling, everyday usability and track-worthy athleticism, the smile that it puts on your face when you nail an apex and come out of a corner carrying more speed than you thought you could. Sure there are faster cars 0-60 or in the 1/4 mile, but so what. If you want a dragster, get a Hellcat or a Demon and run them on racing slicks. If you want a sports car, get a 718, find a twisty road and prepare to fall in love.

End of rant.

Well, I tried to be 'that guy' above, but, you know, I'm a mod so I have to behave now. >

 

[4802]

Not to be "that guy", but this is kind of a ridiculous discussion. The 718 is a not a dragster. Maximum acceleration in a straight line is not its forte nor its intention. It is a quick car, that's true, but where it excels is the balance between speed and sublime handling, everyday usability and track-worthy athleticism, the smile that it puts on your face when you nail an apex and come out of a corner carrying more speed than you thought you could. Sure there are faster cars 0-60 or in the 1/4 mile, but so what. If you want a dragster, get a Hellcat or a Demon and run them on racing slicks. If you want a sports car, get a 718, find a twisty road and prepare to fall in love.

End of rant.

Lol, never mind Mikey boy (no offence intended & that's not an insult, I'm just British), but you're actually starting to sound even grumpier than me & that's quite some achievement.

 

[ssmv650]

As former owner of a hellcat I can tell you its all in the launch and tires. My hellcat would eat the tires at ANY opportunity. My two friends that went the same path had theirs modded before it left the dealer. You had to have the fastest in the hellcat group. I have violated the Pact in buying a non mopar vehicle and they have joked about not talking to me for a bit. I had my car for 6K miles and bought rear tires twice.

However I would have never taken the hellcat to a road track. I also never drove it as a DD. Oh and one fine day of horsing around I used an entire tank of fuel in 2 hours.

SSMV650

 

[Hellcat_1]

I'll weigh in here since I'm probably one of the few who has actually lined up at a real dragstrip with a Hellcat in the other lane. I've lost some races, and won some races. It comes down to the skill of the Hellcat driver, the Hellcat's transmission and how "stock" the Hellcat is.

If the Hellcat is 100% stock on stock tires with a manual transmission, put your money on the 718 S to win.

If the Hellcat is 100% stock on stock tires with the automatic transmission, it will be a race that will depend on the skill of the Hellcat driver. The Hellcat is tough to launch with stock tires.

A 100% stock Hellcat with drag radials and a good driver should win, but it will be a closer race than the Hellcat was expecting.

I am a Hellcat charger owner and my 0-60 is 3.8 on best in class (911 tires) Michelin Sport 4s tires. The Hellcast is a monster to launch but when it hooks up forget about it it pulls and sounds amazing. I haven't raced a 718 yet but i have taken a Panamera 4S (off the line), BMW M3 (highway), BMW M6 (beat me by half a fender off the line then i pulled away), Camaro SS (off the line), Corvette C7 stingray (off the line), Tesla P85d (off the line rush hour I'm guess batteries not fully charged no ludicrous mode). Now if a 718 caught a hellcat in a mountain pass the Porsche would win. But any semi curvy street or highway i have my money on the Hellcat. The Hellcat's problem is traction it will shred any tire. But every Hellcat owner gets rid of the stock Pirellis after they roast them (first 6,000 miles) or they die!!

 

[patentcad]

I've had a couple of late model sports cars, a C6 Corvette, then a C7, now I drive a 2018 Boxster S. For the the Boxster S to have the performance it does (i.e. 1.4 mile in 11.9 seconds per Car & Driver) it would have to have at least 400bhp @ the crank. WTF, the car DYNOS nearly 350 @ the rear wheels. It's a very fast little car.

 

[patentcad]

A Hellcat MIGHT stay with a C7 off the line, the Hellcat and the C7 are very similar in straight line performance. On a racetrack with curves (you know, ACTUAL racing) the Stingray would smoke a Hellcat. Most American muscle cars don't handle so great, one notable exception being the late model Camaros which acquit themselves nicely on a track. Anecdotal street racer stories (i.e. 'I beat a C7 with my Hellcat') are rather meaningless, you have to control for driver ability. The one resource for that is the Car & Driver Lightning Lap where they have pro drivers lapping the same course and they have been publishing lap times for over a decade. On that track a 2018 Cayman S clocked a 2:58.3, a 2018 widebody Hellcat managed a 2:59.8. So the Porsche and the Hellcat are close. A 2014 Stingray (C7) clocked a 2:53.8, so it's faster than both of them.

But all that's a dick measuring contest. In my view it simply comes down to how much FUN the car is to drive, and from that standpoint the Boxster really delivers. I enjoy driving my Boxster S with the auto PDK even more than I liked driving the C7 with a manual 7 speed. The E-Z drop-top up and down in ~10 seconds helps : ).

 

[chester7]

Count me as one who looked at Hellcats on my journey to finally ordering a 718 Cayman GTS. I perused the Hellcat message boards. Traction (lack thereof) is a massive limiting factor for the Hellcat. My fear is that adding an ECU tune to my perfect 718 GTS will move it into the limited traction realm of the Hellcat. Maybe I should listen to my ego instead of my id. It seems I am always going guardrail-to-guardrail with id winning and the ego wresting back control.

 

[DriveInHouston]

I agree about the muscle car performance. I traded in a Mustang GT for my Cayman S. Practically the same horsepower per lb, it had the heart of a beast, with (standard) brakes fit for a KIA sedan and handling worse than that. Not sorry at all I let it go with 23k mi.

 

[GTS18BGTS]

This is somewhat germane to the conversation. Well it should at least make you laugh