Porsche, guys, what are you guys up to? First, you reveal the new 911 Cabriolet in a press release less than a week after the L.A. Auto Show’s media preview ended. Now you’re showing us the new Boxster and Boxster S all of two days after the journalists have been kicked out of the Detroit Auto Show. (okay, they weren’t kicked out, but the car makers stopped serving free booze, which amounts to the same thing.) What gives?

Actually, we think we know what’s going on here. Porsche didn’t debut the 911 Cabrio or the Boxster at the big auto shows for the same reason Apple doesn’t come to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: because then they’d have to share the stage with everybody else. Release the products on your own terms, and all the attention belongs to you. It’s brilliant marketing…even if it does piss off the journalism establishment.

Enough marketing talk—let’s talk about the car. The 2013 Boxster marks the third generation for Porsche’s mid-engine roadster, and it’s just as far removed from the prior car as the 991 is from the 997. The wheelbase is longer, the overhangs are shorter, the track is wider and the curb weight is lower. The redesigned electric top no longer needs a lid for the top when retracted. Like the new 911, it now uses an electric power steering system. And of course, it’s both faster and more fuel efficient than the outgoing Boxster. In the 21st Century, we can have our cake and eat it too.

The basic Boxster now uses a new 2.7 liter boxer-six based on the Boxster S’s engine; the entry level six now cranks out 265 horsepower, enough to send it flying from 0-60 in 5.4 seconds when equipped with the seven-speed PDK gearbox. (A six-speed stick is still available for both models, if you’re willing to sacrifice a few tenths and mpg in the name of tactile involvement.) Base price for the Boxster: $49,500. Well, $50,450 with destination.

The new Boxster S sticks with the 3.4 liter boxer-six the last version used, but gets a five horsepower bump to 315 ponies. Check the box that says “Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe” on the options list, and the Boxster S leaps from 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, though you presumably will have to pay a wee bit more than the car’s $61,850 base price for the privilege.

Porsche’s initial announcement didn’t go too deeply into specifics, so we’ll be sure to tell you more about the new Boxster as we learn about it. We can already safely say, however, that we’re going to have a lot of fun in this thing.

[via Porsche]

Press Release:

To enhance driving dynamics yet further, Porsche offers the Sport Chrono Package as an optional extra for the Boxster, featuring dynamic transmission mounts for the first time. Also new in the Boxster is Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV) with a mechanical rear axle differential lock.
The new Boxster models are expected in U.S. showrooms in early summer 2012. The basic list price will be $49,500 for the Boxster and $60,900 for the Boxster S, not including a $950 destination charge.