More US presidents were second-born than any other birth order. If you are the middle-born child, congratulations: you are 30 per cent more likely to end up as a CEO than your older or younger siblings. The 2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 is the middle child of the Boxster family, nestled in between the four-cylinder models and the pricey GT4-adjacent Spyder. And if you really get down to it, I think this middle child is the most likely to succeed.
All paths at Porsche lead to the GT models. There’s a seemingly-natural progression through their lineup that guides one’s eyes (and wallet) from the base models to the S, the S to the GTS, and from the GTS to the GT models. And if this were a video game, the Boxster Spyder would be the one to get. It has the most horsepower, the fastest 0-60, and the highest redline. It would make most people reasonably think “that’s the best one,” but I would argue that they are wrong.
When the 982-generation Boxster/Cayman debuted in 2016, the engines of the non-GT models shifted from naturally-aspirated flat-sixes to turbocharged flat-fours. While the new turbo engines handily bested the old sixes in power, torque, and speed, many were unhappy with the rumbling four-cylinder sound compared to the beloved wail of the flat-six cars. Because of this, values of the previous 981 generation models remain very strong. Suddenly, the only way to get a six in a Boxster was to pay big money and get the top-range Spyder.
But Porsche is actually quite good at listening to their customers, and thus the GTS 4.0 was born. The GTS 4.0 isn’t a name that rolls off the tongue, but it denotes that wedged in the middle of this Boxster is a naturally-aspirated flat six that the purists love. And for a price that they love too.
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
A base Boxster starts at $69,500, and the range-topping Spyder comes in at $112,900. The middle-child GTS 4.0 rings in at $97,600 to start. Of course this is all a little abstract, because you’re more likely to find a car on BaT selling for a reasonable price than you are to find a Porsche with no options on it. Our test car wears an MSRP of $119,300. That’s $22,400 in options! So of course we have to talk about them.
Off the bat, there is a $4,250 upcharge to get the PDK double-clutch transmission instead of the 6-speed manual. That’s a lot of money to slash your future collector value. This car also has the $4,100 “premium package” which includes (among other things) dynamic LED headlights, Bose premium audio, lane change assist, power folding mirrors, and a heated multifunction steering wheel — in short, it offers some features you really want bundled with some others you could likely do without. And then we have $3,460 for the power sports seats with memory, $2,960 for the black/red leather interior, $2,640 for PorscheConnect with navigation, $1,910 adaptive cruise control, $840 vented front seats, and $740 for the special silver paint. Charging $1,910 for adaptive cruise on a $100,000 car when that same tech is standard on most Hyundais is pretty bold. But the ridiculously long Porsche option list means you can really pick and choose exactly how you want your car and end up with one perfectly suited to your needs — for a price.
But no matter how many option boxes you tick, you get that same engine. That engine! The 4.0L flat six is Porsche at its very finest. It’s calm and tractable around town, it sounds great at any point in the range, and it loves to rev, doing its best work when spinning in the top corner of the tachometer. Peak power of 394 hp is made at a lofty 7,000 rpm, and some 317 lb-ft of torque are found way up at 5,500 rpm. Unlike today’s turbocharged motors, you have to work for your speed in the GTS 4.0 — and that is a blessing and a curse.
I want to set this scene for you. The light turns green and there’s no one ahead of you on the highway on-ramp. You roll into the throttle so as not to upset the tires and then hold the pedal to the ground as the tach climbs. The engine screams from just behind your shoulder blades and as it reaches 8,000 rpm in first gear; you shift at exactly 70 km/h. Pull the paddle for second and start that engine climbing again, and this time 8,000 rpm happens at 120 km/h. You’re already faster than any speed limit in Canada, and you’re just 20 kmh away from an instant roadside impound in Ontario. If you feel brave and pull that paddle to shift into third gear, 8,000 rpm will happen at a “do not pass go, go directly to jail” 166 km/h. So in reality, the only shift you get to make in anger is from first to second — everything else redlines at pretty illegal speeds.
I get that this is a fast car, but the gear spacing really doesn’t need to be so stratospheric. Take the equally-speedy C8 Corvette for instance: it shifts at 56 km/h, 93 km/h, and at 134 (versus 70, 120, and 166). Sports cars are for enjoyment and the PDK is one of the best automatics around, but I just wish I had more chances to really use it. In actual practice, almost all sporty driving happens in second gear unless you are really moving, and then you’re still only in third. Using fourth at any kind of speed requires a race track. And there are seven gears!
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0 Photo by Clayton Seams
And that’s really the end of my criticism of how it drives. It’s nearly perfect. Steering would be 10% better if it was hydraulic rather than electric, but as far as traditional racks go, this is among the very, very best. It drives how you think it should. It feels light, agile, and fast, but also planted at speed and comforting as you go faster and faster. The engine noise is a delight, and the overall balance of the car is excellent. The GTS 4.0 is simply a car that you want to get in and drive — and then keep on driving.
Of course the GTS 4.0 now has the C8 Corvette to content with. Sure the C8 is heavier, but it makes vastly more power, gets roughly the same fuel economy, is faster, and it holds more stuff — not to mention that a C8 costs far less than a GTS 4.0. But it matters not for the Porsche faithful; once hooked on the song of a flat six, there is simply no cure.
The middle-child Boxster may be my favourite one in the Porsche family. It lacks the ultimate raw edge of the GT models, but to be honest I really don’t miss it that much; the six-cylinder engine offers up just the right flavour of traditional Porsche drama that many die-hards will love.
Keyword: Car Review: 2021 Porsche Boxster GTS 4.0