Dear Forum, I offer some excerpts from the WSJ automotive column of Dan Neil from this weekend: "The Sultrier Snarl of the Turbo Porsche Boxster". "As scripture counsels, I am a modest person. So I have never quite shaken the feeling that, maybe, bombing around town in a flashy drop-top sports car was showing off. A bit, don't you think? I mean, there I am with my perfect silver streak, Persol sunglasses and reasonable body-mass index, wheeling oh-so-expertly the 2017 Porsche 718 Boxster S, the snarl of this fine little dragon rending the suburban veil. Arch and artful, smart and fine, the midengine, two-seat Boxster is the company's starter sports car. The 2017 model adds slinkiness with available 18, 19 or 20 inch wheels press-fit into the wheel wells. Fancy schmanzy. I bet a lot of people think, "hey, there's someone who works at a Porsche dealership." Perhaps they think I am what they used to call an available gentleman? Curbside clinicians will diagnose midlife crisis, and they would be spot-on. This look would also work well for the owner of a chain of hair salons. But some, a cultivated few, will cup an ear, waiting to hear the new turbocharged Boxster under way. They will note the car's more concussive idle-the flat-four engine inherently has more of a discernible pulse than the previous six, even a bit of VW chuff-overdubbed with the distinctive chinning of the Porsche's valvetrain. And cooling fans, lots of fans. Perhaps these observers will linger over the sound of me romping it, all flourishing tom-toms and tenor trombones pitching up to the satisfyingly instant first-to-second upshift, over 7,000 revs Not loud, not furious, but murderously precise and sultry. After a moment, I expect these connoisseurs will approve. Then they can go back to hating me. ------So,yeah, turbochargers. Trouble is ,turbos sap energy from the engine's exhaust-gas stream, which means less sound pressure, less of an aural presence. In a word: volume. There will be purists who walk away from this vastly fast, quicker, roundly superior Boxster only because they prefer the dinosaur trill of the previous engine. Here is where Porsche's engineering and my Amish sense of modesty meet. Thanks to a lot of clever engineering-including an acoustic channel from the engine bay to just above the driver's left shoulder-the Boxster S sounds much more fierce from the driver's seat than it does outside the car.. As my wife drove off in it, I realized how short a distance the sound carried. There is a pretty huge difference in gestalt. You know what? I am fine with a technical outcome that allows the driver's experience to be rich and vivid, without unduly imposing on those around him. The problem with driving an aggressively loud open-top sports car is that, when people look around for the jerk, they can easily see you. Oops, sorry. Please, return to your outdoor memorial service. " Warmest regards, Chuck Engles Dear Forum, I offer some excerpts from the WSJ automotive column of Dan Neil from this weekend: "The Sultrier Snarl of the Turbo Porsche Boxster". "As scripture counsels, I am a modest person. So I have never quite shaken the feeling that, maybe, bombing around town in a flashy drop-top sports car was showing off. A bit, don't you think? I mean, there I am with my perfect silver streak, Persol sunglasses and reasonable body-mass index, wheeling oh-so-expertly the 2017 Porsche 718 Boxster S, the snarl of this fine little dragon rending the suburban veil. Arch and artful, smart and fine, the midengine, two-seat Boxster is the company's starter sports car. The 2017 model adds slinkiness with available 18, 19 or 20 inch wheels press-fit into the wheel wells. Fancy schmanzy. I bet a lot of people think, "hey, there's someone who works at a Porsche dealership." Perhaps they think I am what they used to call an available gentleman? Curbside clinicians will diagnose midlife crisis, and they would be spot-on. This look would also work well for the owner of a chain of hair salons. But some, a cultivated few, will cup an ear, waiting to hear the new turbocharged Boxster under way. They will note the car's more concussive idle--the flat-four engine inherently has more of a discernible pulse than the previous six, even a bit of VW chuff--overdubbed with the distinctive chinning of the Porsche's valvetrain. And cooling fans, lots of fans. Perhaps these observers will linger over the sound of me romping it, all flourishing tom-toms and tenor trombones pitching up to the satisfyingly instant first-to-second upshift, over 7,000 revs Not loud, not furious, but murderously precise and sultry. After a moment, I expect these connoisseurs will approve. Then they can go back to hating me. ------So,yeah, turbochargers. Trouble is ,turbos sap energy from the engine's exhaust-gas stream, which means less sound pressure, less of an aural presence. In a word: volume. There will be purists who walk away from this vastly fast, quicker, roundly superior Boxster only because they prefer the dinosaur trill of the previous engine. Here is where Porsche's engineering and my Amish sense of modesty meet. Thanks to a lot of clever engineering--including an acoustic channel from the engine bay to just above the driver's left shoulder--the Boxster S sounds much more fierce from the driver's seat than it does outside the car.. As my wife drove off in it, I realized how short a distance the sound carried. There is a pretty huge difference in gestalt. You know what? I am fine with a technical outcome that allows the driver's experience to be rich and vivid, without unduly imposing on those around him. The problem with driving an aggressively loud open-top sports car is that, when people look around for the jerk, they can easily see you. Oops, sorry. Please, return to your outdoor memorial service. " Warmest regards, Chuck Engles