Porsche Boxster (987)

The Ultimate Model Guide

2nd Generation Porsche Boxster (2005 - 2012)

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The second generation Porsche Boxster came out in 2004 at the Geneva Motor Show and shared almost the same design with the first version of the car. It also shared a lot of components with its 997 generation 911 sibling which was released the same year. The second generation Boxster was known as the 987. Design wise, the second generation Boxster had distinctive front styling with different triangular headlights and a unique front fascia. The front air intakes got redesigned, as well as the rear bumper and stoplights. The wheel arches got bigger to allow the installment of bigger rims, while the interior got a more prominent circular theme. The interior still pointed to the racing heritage with the presence of a tachometer which was the main dial in the instrument panel and the ignition switch was placed on the left side of the steering wheel. The leather upholstery was standard and the trims could be ordered with a choice of materials such as wood, aluminum or wood. The additions list included a Bose sound system, bi-xenon headlights and a navigation system. Higher-strength steel in the cowl area and improved spot-welding and adhesive bonding techniques resulted in a body shell that was four percent more torsionally rigid than the 986 Boxster and 14 percent stiffer.

The 987 Boxster's base 2.7-liter engine and 3.2 Boxster S were largely carried over from the late 986, but a 12 lb weight savings was realized by eliminating the cast-iron bearing girdle inserts. During the 2006 model year, Porsche incorporated a larger ball bearing for the support of the intermediate shaft at the flywheel end, which mostly mitigated the infamous intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing issues that plagued the M96 series. The 2007 Boxster received engine updates to match those of its hardtop Cayman stablemate. This consisted of the VarioCam Plus two-stage intake valve lift to both the base and S versions. The base five-speed manual was no longer Audi-based but made by Japanese supplier Aisin; the Boxster S six-speed retained the Getrag unit. Both the manual transaxles and the five-speed Tiptronic S featured shorter final box-mounted flywheel drive ratios to compensate for the larger-diameter wheels featured across the 987 range (17-inch wheels were standard on the base Boxster, 18-inch rollers were standard on the S, and 19-inch alloys were optional). The 987's suspension was mostly unchanged from the 986. However, many detail improvements were made, such as stiffer and lighter castings for the aluminum uprights/wheel carriers and larger wheel bearings with embedded magnets, which replaced the separate tone rings for the ABS wheel speed sensors. The 987 also featured variable-ratio steering for its hydraulically-assisted rack and pinion gear. Porsche's Porsche Stability Management (PSM) system was now standard across the 987 range and offered more precise controls, which allowed the driver greater freedom before PSM intervention.

Porsche introduced the face-lifted 987 for the 2009 model year. The updated Boxster featured a family of all-new engines with new designation. It had a much more rigid two-piece rankcase/block assembly made entirely of silicon-impregnated aluminum alloy, which was much more rigid than the previous M96 and M97 engines and dispensed with the separate crankshaft main bearing girdle. The cylinders were reinforced and were a closed-deck design to minimize cylinder distortion; this was important as the crankcase/block configuration was to form the basis of all future turbocharged engines, as well as the street and racing versions of the high-revving GT3. Porsche engineers had gained enough confidence in contemporary timing chain technology to eliminate the separate intermediate shaft of previous flat-six engines and drive the camshafts directly via a pair of long chains and generous supporting ramps. The oil pump was driven via a separate chain. The pump itself was demand-controlled by the DME control unit to supply only the necessary amount of oil for the engine running conditions, which saved energy. The other big news for the engine series was direct fuel injection (DFI) for the 3.4-liter S versions of the 987.2 and for all 997.2s; the base model 2.9-liter 987.2 had port fuel injection. The other major change for the 987.2 was the replacement of the optional torque converter-equipped Tiptronic automatic transaxle with a dual-clutch automated transaxle that Porsche dubbed PDK. Still, in short, the quick-shifting PDK quickly became the transmission of choice for most buyers, eventually achieving a nearly 90 percent take rate among buyers of Porsche sports cars.