Thursday, August 7, 2008

Porsche Boxster RS 60










Our colleague Chris Tutor recently took the Porsche Boxster RS 60 Spyder for a few quick turns around Barber Motorsports. A tad more powerful than the Boxster S, and filled with red leather, he discovered it was plenty of car on the closed circuit. We recently had a chance to get the special edition RS 60 off the track and onto the back roads of Rhode Island and Connecticut, and got to see what the car could do on twisting country lanes – and unexpectedly, in the rain. The likewise unexpected result: damn near perfection. Follow the jump to find out how,and check out the gallery of hi-res and sometimes very damp images below.

And then there's the matter of purity. This particular blogger had a thing about Porsches: you either had a 911, or you had... whatever it is you had. We owned a 993 for a while, and simply could not understand how anyone could leave the Porsche dealership with anything other than The Icon. We didn't look down on Boxster drivers... we simply didn't quite... get it.

Porsche can charge you $59,065 for the Boxster RS 60 Spyder because, for all it doesn't come with, it comes with one thing worth every red pfennig: deliciously coordinated delivery of sublimely engaging driving sensations you will not find anywhere else outside of Porsche. It's been said ad infinitum. I will say it again: no other automaker has distilled the thrill of driving as perfectly as Porsche.The steering wheel is the perfect size, in the perfect place. There are no buttons on its spokes for cruise control or volume or the dash information display. It says, "I am not a universal remote. I am for driving."The seats – gasp -- leave one plenty of room in the cabin, something I couldn't entirely say of the last 911 I drove. The sports recliners also hug perfectly -- even during those Over-the-Road hauls -- in a way that keeps your lower back, kidneys, and rump far too busy being comfortable to bother you.

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