2024 Porsche 718 Boxster Style Edition First Drive: Right Car, Wrong Spec

• A new Style Edition joins the Porsche 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman lineup for 2024.
• Based on the base Boxster and Cayman, the Style Edition adds larger wheels and more standard equipment.
• The Boxster Style Edition is a fantastic car to drive, but other 718 models are better buys.

Those power numbers are hardly remarkable in today's era of thousand-plus-horsepower wonder cars. But the specs don't tell the whole story. The Boxster's excellence isn't measured in its 0-to-60-mph time, which can be as low as 4.5 seconds if you spec the Style Edition with Porsche's seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and Sport Chrono package. Instead, it's the way this thing absolutely hugs a winding road on a warm spring day.

The chassis isn't so stiff that the Boxster is a chore to drive on crappy stretches of road — something I can absolutely affirm, having tested this car on the ever-broken freeways of Detroit. That's even true with the Style Edition's 20-inch wheels, which ... look, I really want to say these look good, but I can't. White wheels are absolutely stupid and will be covered in schmutz and brake dust in a matter of hours, meaning you'll constantly be struggling to keep them clean. I get that they match the white decals on the Style Edition, but please, folks, don't do this to yourself.

In typical Porsche fashion, the Boxster's steering is just right — light and crisp, but with excellent feedback and immediate response. The turbo engine is a delight, too, with a ton of midrange power meaning you don't have to constantly downshift to eke the most out of this little flat-four. Oh, and for all you naysayers, shut up about the way this engine sounds. It's fine. It's just different.

With the top down, wind flows around the cabin in such a way that you and your passenger won't be blustered to death at highway speeds; you can gossip your heart out without having to raise your voice. And should you have to raise the power roof, you can do so while driving at speeds up to 31 mph, and there's still lots of headroom for all but your 90th-percentile-tall friends.

The Style Edition adds a couple of extra creature comforts to the base Boxster's repertoire, including a heated steering wheel, floor mats with contrast stitching, and headrests embossed with the Porsche crest, thank god. Even so, the Boxster is definitely showing its age inside — sure, the cabin looks and feels good, but the 7-inch touchscreen runs super-outdated tech and the one digital section of the gauge cluster looks horribly low-res by 2024 standards.

Nothing about the way the 718 Boxster Style Edition drives will make you upset. But the price, on the other hand — that's this car's mega pain point. The Style Edition starts at $78,350, including $1,650 for destination, making it $6,300 more than the standard Boxster, which is a huge premium for what is, effectively, stripes, wheels and a heated steering wheel. And that's before you wade through Porsche's extensive options catalog.

This test car? Take that $78,350 and add a full leather interior ($2,460), dual-clutch transmission ($3,210), Porsche Active Suspension Management ($1,790), torque-vectoring rear axle ($1,320), keyless entry ($800), extra interior lights ($350), half-useful power seats ($440; only the seatbacks move electronically), clear taillights ($740), color-matched headlight washers ($300), cooled seats ($740), lane change assist ($700), Gentian Blue paint ($650) and not-super-necessary Sport Chrono package ($2,610). The end result is a base Boxster that costs $94,460. That's a few grand shy of a 394-hp Boxster GTS 4.0.

Instead, consider this alternative: Grab a base Boxster, paint it Aventurine Green ($650), spec the red roof (it's free), 19-inch wheels ($2,060), keep the standard seats and manual transmission, add PASM ($1,790), torque vectoring ($1,320), and — what the heck — the Bose stereo ($990). You'll end up with a super nice Boxster that costs $78,860.

Edmunds says

Do you need the 718 Boxster's Style Edition's extra flourishes? Heck no. This car is a reminder that there's beauty in simplicity. The base Boxster rules — just go easy on the options.