2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder vs. 2011 Audi S4 - Comparison Test
The Audi’s mistake-proof grip and Porsche’s pinpoint precision are interesting counterpoints…
Talk about an embarrassment of riches. On one hand, we have the most powerful, most firmly sprung, lightest and quickest production Porsche Boxster on the planet (albeit with a fussy 2-piece carbon/canvas “emergency” top that remained in place only long enough to take a static photo). And on the other, the Audi S4 whose 3.0-liter supercharged V-6 delivers whip-quick, preternaturally strong surges of acceleration from seemingly everywhere in the rev range, each wheel driven through a sophisticated awd system that’s augmented by the optional rear torque-vectoring differential.
Despite weighing nearly a half-ton more than the Boxster and having only 13 more peak bhp, the S4’s prodigious torque and extra set of drive wheels practically punt it out of the drag strip’s launch box, keeping it astride of the Porsche and giving away only 0.1 sec. in the quarter mile. But that extra heft is felt at Spring Mountain. “It felt capable,” wrote Road Test Editor Jonathan Elfalan, “but the body motions felt more exaggerated than thePorsche’s, and the Sport Differential had to work quite a bit to counteract the understeer on this relatively tight track.” Said Shaun Bailey, Associate Engineering Editor, “You can really trail-brake this car, especially in the tight stuff,” adding that slowing his steering inputs down really helped avoid the under/oversteer seesaw motion that can happen midcorner with the Sport Diff. “Safe and pitchable,” I wrote, “but nondefeatable stability control limits the crazy yaw-action fun.” From apex to corner exit, no finesse is needed; just flat-foot the throttle and let the four driven contact patches pull you onto the straight. The S4, true to its get-in-and-drive-fast-immediately nature, felt ultra-secure over The Drop, a section of the track where the car can completely unweight, then bottom its suspension. Where some cars require a throttle lift and a little “breather” to regain composure, the Audijust storms through without blinking.
If the Audi was an eye-opener, then the Porsche was a flat-out revelation. Boxsters are quite possibly the most forgiving mid-engine cars ever made, and the lightweight Spyder takes it to the next level. With less torque and what felt like tighter gear spacing, the Boxster called for 2nd gear where the Audi liked 3rd, but the Porsche just devoured the course with 1.01g of measured grip, and a bare minimum of understeer on the track’s tightest right-hander. It’s as if all the course’s turns can be connected with a single flowing arc; there’s no wrestling with the car, it’s simply a matter of guiding it down to the apex. “Really telepathic in its handling, “ offered Assistant Road Test Editor Calvin Kim. “The quintessential track car.” There’s so little wasted motion in transitions, and never a fear of a spooky yaw “moment” with lift-throttle…only smooth easily controlled rotation. Fly in the ointment? Well, we’d like to see a firmer brake pedal on initial application. Once past the free play, there’s a lot of confidence to be had.
Maybe the highest compliment paid to the Boxster is that it’s so composed, tidy and locked down that it didn’t feel blazingly quick. Yet a peek at the data showed a huge 3.4-sec. lap-time advantage over the Audi…a car that kept us “busier in the cockpit,” as we like to say around here.
Being an open car just heightens the Porsche’s driving experience, with great sounds churning forth from the 3.4-liter 320-bhp flat-6. It’s as if Zuffenhausen’s acoustic engineers have resurrected the metallic howl/gnash of a 1967 911, muted only slightly for today’s requirements. The carbon-shell seats upholstered in both smooth leather and Alcantara are excellent on both aesthetic and functional fronts, and the red door latch straps and seatbelts add some extra distinction…as if the flowing aluminum engine cover with the faired-in headrests wasn’t enough.
The Audi continues to impress with its pitch-perfect interior with always-tasteful textures and surfaces, the focal point being the aggressively bolstered high-back bucket seats. There’s also a suitably meaty wheel, and a shifter that’s quite good, if not as rifle bolt-positive as the Porsche’s cable linkage. The V-6’s sound is engaging, not enthralling, but it’s unfair given its role to make a direct comparison with the Boxster. A faint purr emanates from the supercharger, and the Titanium Package (silver spears along the rocker panels, 19-in. broad-spoke gray-painted wheels, black grille trim) lend a little extra attitude to a car that had seemed almost too stealthy compared to lesser-powered A4 stable mates, even by Audi’s conservative yardstick.
Given the Porsche’s emergency top (a full 10 pages in the owner’s manual are devoted to its fitting), this pairing is beyond apple and oranges…apples and coconuts, maybe? Maybe Kim said it best: “The Audi and Porsche together would make the ultimate 2-car garage.” Bailey, however, professed his love for the Boxster and chalked up his return trip from Pahrump to Southern California—canvas buttress panels at full vibrato at 80 mph—as an adventure. “Thanks to an iPod with good earbuds, I could handle the drive back to L.A. easily.” Said it reminded him of driving his heatless, windowless Spec Miata, in the rain, to a race in Michigan, in the dead of winter. Ah, youth.
