Our relationship with the sports car of the fleet has been both delightful and disappointing. Time spent behind the leather-wrapped steering wheel has been time enjoyably spent, even if it's just to trudge our way through the daily drudge, which makes it all the more frustrating that our time in the Boxster has been sullied by the smelly spectre of a major oil leak.
Porsche's dash-mounted oil level gauge gave first warning of a potential problem, letting us know every time we started up that a bit less of the slick stuff was left in the crankcase. We managed to hold off from a visit to the service bay until the Boxster's scheduled 15,000-mile service, at which time the service tech discovered the culprit, a compromised oil seal on the intermediate shaft of the transmission.
As this wasn't our first experience with a leaky Porsche, we started feeling like maybe it was our fault. These amazing machines don't leak, do they?
Unfortunately, some do. The source of the problem, as it was explained to us, began in the manufacturing process. Apparently, the glue which is used to help seal the two halves of the transmission case together can seep slightly along the inner case line, where it hardens and, on rare occasions, then "pinches" a rubber O-ring on the shaft bearing flange--which then gives one of nature's great escape artists a chance to slip out of the engine. According to Michael Levitas at Turbo Performance Center, who probably has broken apart more Porsche engines than anyone outside of Stuttgart, this isn't a chronic problem with the Boxster. To the contrary, he was a bit surprised to hear about the problem. However, it has cropped up often enough that Porsche announced a fix involving a redesigned flange and O-ring.
It took a couple of days to fix the leak (at no charge, of course), though it did require the R&R of the transmission and flywheel, There has been no sign of a recurrence in the 1,000 miles since the repair. Our Boxster S also suffered a horn failure, though because we've never seemed to need it, it wasn't missed and had to be discovered by the dealer tech, who also performed the car's 15,000-mile service--to the tune of $473.34. This bought us three hours of labor ($90 per hr), 10 quarts of Mobil 1 oil, an oil filter insert, air filter, pollen filter, seal ring and one can of brake/carb cleaner.
Except for the time out for the repair, the S has soldiered on, stoutbacked and willing to absorb all manner of testosterone-induced abuse. It makes seamless transitions from track sessions to grocery runs to freeway crawls, and, with its two luggage compartments, offers a level of utility unknown in other two-seaters.
I've been particularly impressed by the Boxster's stability and balance over even the roughest roads or most deeply grooved concrete freeways. Though it feels every imperfection in the pavement, and communicates much of it to the driver, the stock suspension is extremely well suited to smoothing out any negative effects.
I was a bit concerned that switching out the stock running gear for wheels and tires from the aftermarket would compromise the Boxster's inherent comfort and poise. Happily, the combination of ATS alloys and BFGoodrich KD/w all-season performance radials hasn't in the least compromised the essential Porsche values. Through a long stretch of rainy weather (yes, it does rain in Southern California!), the bee-efs showed their capabilities in the wet, never once threatening to lose their grip or aquaplane, despite repeated attempts to provoke unseemly behavior.
Moreover, in the dry the KDs have proved to be wonderful. They're not clunky-feeling, road noise is at a minimum, and grip levels are well beyond my desire to exceed them. It's a terrific combination that gives up a few, insignificant pounds to the factory setup and looks good, too. Those red "Turbo" calipers peek out through the spokes most invitingly.
A sense of gloom is creeping over time's horizon as the date to return the car to Porsche looms, so I'm taking every chance I can get to drive this rewarding automobile. The staff isn't very happy about this, but I'm sure they'll get over it.