Came in to say this. Guys may notice a girl’s got stilletos on, but he probably won’t know (or care) if they’re Payless or Jimmy Choo. Same thing for many women and cars. Personally, I prefer scooters and smart cars. If you are going to get a Porsche, that’s cool, but pleasepleaseplease don’t go screeching around town and revving the engine at pretty young things. It is just beyond me why guys use ‘driving away really quickly’ as some sort of retarded pick-up tactic.
Another vote for “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you drive, so long as it’s dependable and reasonably clean.” I added “dependable and reasonably clean” because I do think you can tell something of a person (regardless of gender) by how they maintain their home and their things, and I’m personally not in the market for an undependable slob.
There is a line that can be crossed, however. If you combine the sports car with the open shirt and the bling and the aviator sunglasses and the “hey, baby, how you doin’” attitude, then you are trying too hard. I don’t mind a guy who drives a Porche Boxter. I’m not interested in a guy who drives a Porche Compensator.
I bought my first Vette, at 26, because I was tired of racing a car that continually broke. I bought it because I wanted to race (on a track) and I wanted a car that involved_me in driving. Somewhere along the line that worn out car (now 17 years old), wasn’t worn out any more. It still looks like shit, but underneath the paint it’s all new, and it’s a badass car. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at it.
Does that make me badass? Not particularly. But the fact I made a badass car makes me happy. It’s snarling and hairy, and if the A/C is turned on, it’ll stall when I start it (either turn the AC off or catch the throttle when it lights)…but it’s mine, and it’s in no way a subtle, reliable, appliance vehicle. And there are much faster cars out there…they just weren’t built by me.
The wife’s got her own Corvette that she installed a factory HUD (they came out the year after this car was made), we installed a new exhaust, and she did most of the installation for a supercharger. She did. But if I happen to be driving it down the street with my sunglasses, my goofy face, and thinning hair, all you see is a ‘midlifecrisismobile’. You don’t see something I’ve been involved with for 13 years…and it isn’t even my car.
My daily driver is a White Subaru STi…all the decals and logos have been shaved off. The biplane spoiler was swapped out with the lower key WRX spoiler. Aside from the gold wheels, it looks like a rental car. I like it that way.
What I like most about that car is: The people that know, know what it is.
None of my vehicles have ever gotten me laid. They HAVE however, sold the idea of a Sportscar to countless kids. Ya gotta keep making gearheads.
In that case, I may have exaggerated a weensy teeny bit. I meant to say, all the young girls who aren’t wearing tank tops, tight jeans, or shorts, are wearing dresses and sexy shoes. 
Ahem, aren’t you the guy driving a Volvo?
I heard that the Porsche specifically downgrades the engine in the Boxster as to not outperform the 911. The mid-engine configuration is intrinsically a superior design with better weight distribution.
My friend recently bought a used Boxster and I think I’ll put in an outstanding offer on it when he tires of it in 3 years. On the other hand, maybe I should just spend some money fixing up the Karman Ghia convertible sitting in my driveway. It’s got a lot more character but ain’t nearly as pleasurable to drive as a Boxster.
It guess it’s really lucky that I checked this thread again before confirming the plane ticket, huh?
More or less.
I honestly do not notice cars, not at all. I have no clue what a Boxter looks like. If you tell me “I drive a Boxter,” then I will remember “he said he drove a Boxter.” And if a Boxter is one of those cars where the name is written on the car, then I’ll be able to tell which one is yours, because it will say “Boxter” on it.
As a general rule, the only way your car is going to get my attention is if you won’t shut up about it. Or you cut me off. Neither of those is a good thing.
… and the convertible roof guarantees a lack of rigidity, thus allowing the Cayman to be a superior handling vehicle.
Again, just depends if someone is serious about show or go. Even on the 911, I’d never get a Cabriolet.
Nope. A car is a way to get from A to B. My 14 year old Saturn isn’t very pretty, but she’s reliable and completely paid off. That’s good enough for me.
Not necessarily, but it does make me think we wouldn’t have compatible spending priorities.
If you like the car, buy the car. Just don’t buy it in an effort to get women.
Actually, I’d think you were the 50ish woman I get stuck behind on a regular basis on my way to work who drives her Boxster like a frickin’ 90-year-old great-great-grandma. Get. Out. Of. My. Way!!
I generally don’t give a crap what anyone drives, it makes no difference to me in any way, but this drives me nuts. Do not buy a performance car and then drive it like it’s powered by gerbils, k? 
You got me there. I suspect that if I put 3 typical Americans in the Ghia (theoretically, there is a back seat), the doors wouldn’t close properly. I think welding a couple of railroad rails to the chassis may add a little too much weight.
A lot of the thrill about performance is the relative change to what one is accustomed to. I have 4 cars and the most powerful engine is in my 1984 4Runner with a whopping 96 hp (The Ghia has vastly superior acceleration, but a horsepower rating of around 60). The convertible Boxster will seem quite more responsive, and with my limited driving skills, quite adequate. I still suspect that my driving skills are superior to the average wannabee Nascar retard driving on our freeways.
Get the Boxter, be damned what other people think of it…it’s not their name on the loan or title. Enjoy the car, and take a performance driving class.
That will give you a true appreciation for your car rather than anecdotes about how much ‘better’ another car is. It will also give you the tools to more carefully avoid the Commuter-bump-drafters. So may times these conversations devolve into ‘Well why bother with X when Y is SO MUCH BETTER’ without acknowledging that Y may be better on the racetrack, but it’s also 30% more expensive to own, repair, and insure, and you’ll never EVER encounter the difference in performance.
The most fun I’ve ever had in a car was between me and it, no external competition, no timers, no winners or losers. Those kinds of experiences RARELY have anything to do with wether the car makes 220hp or 375hp.
Too ostentatious a car and I’ll think less of you; too boring a car, the same. I know. I’m picky. But basically, I like a guy who drives something that’s within his means, well-kept, and yet maybe just a little fun. Pickup trucks are okay, too, as long as they’re also within the range of not-jacked-up and not completely run down.
Basically, though, it’s the whole package, not just what you drive. Your house, your clothes, your lifestyle. (I married a man who drove a mid-range pickup and had a modest house, but is a wonderful person, and sexy as hell. )
I drive a 1965 Ford F-100 pickup. It runs well, but it could use a paint job.
(leans back; waits for swarms of female Dopers to arrive)
Darryl Lict, I’ll bet your skills are too.
In short, it’s all subjective preference and there’s nothing wrong with either model. Other than the roof, the one Box/Cay difference I’m aware of is that the Cayman S has the 3.8 liter 911’s cylinder heads.
30 less hp, 295 comapred to 325 in a 3.6 vs 3.8. While the Cayman weighs 120 lbs less, it still comes up a bit short on power to weight with a 10.5 compared to the Carerra’s 10.0. What does that translate to? About 3/10 of a second slower to 100 and the 1/4, or around 5 seconds slower around the 12.9 mile Nurburgring.
It is though I think a better handling car, more intuitive. Weight distribution is probably responsible for that and, if a Cayman owner was so inclined, there’s aftermarket items that boost his hp way up for far less than the 12K sticker differential.
Hi there everyone…LOOOOOOOOOOONG time lurker here, finally got around to registering. From a 28 year old single males perspective, having a nice car defenitely doesn’t do anything to help meet the ladies. I’ve got both a Lotus Elise and a late-model BMW, and I don’t think either has ever gotten me a date… the Lotus gets LOTS of attention, most of the time way too much, but never in the form of a girl coming up and saying “I just need to go out with you because of your car.” I bought both of the cars because I like them, I like the performance, I’m able to take them to the track on occasion, and if I’m going to drive to get around, by golly, I’m going to enjoy getting from point A to point B.
It’s interesting to hear what other people say though when I’m out on a date with the Lotus…I like to sit outside on the patio at a restaurant or bar/club and keep an eye on the car, and most places will let me park right in front of the establishment in the valet area or the loading zone. There always seems to be a crowd that gathers to eyeball the car, and I couldn’t count how many times I’ve heard comments such as “small wang”, “mid-life crisis”, “uses it get laid”, etc. I always keep quiet and we usually just have a laugh about it. But you’d be surprised how many girls come up and start rattling off specs about the car, horsepower, number of g’s on the skidpad, quarter-mile times…some will even know the model # of the engine. Now THAT’S hot!
Hey man, I’m not saying that you immediately become Captain Cool just because you have a cool car. Not once did I ever say here that any kind of car “makes you cool” - I’m saying that certain cars have more character than others, at least in my opinion. And certain cars have “midlife crisis” stigmas attached to them, and the Boxster is one of those cars.
Darryl Lict, I don’t know where you got the idea that I drive a Volvo. Although if I can find one, I might make an older Volvo diesel my next car and run it on biodiesel. Older Volvos have a lot of character!
I think it says a lot that so many male dopers are posting in this thread. The OP wants women’s opinions, but the menfolks just can’t stay out of a thread about cars.
I like to think I crushed a lot of young men when they picked me up for dates in whatever exciting car they were driving, that was supposed to make me hot for them, and I never noticed what the car was.
I’ve dated guys whose friends kidded them about the undesirableness of their cars, and I’ve dated other guys who supposedly had really nice cars (I rode in their cars, but I couldn’t tell you what they were), but it was all the same to me.
Now I’m a lot older and I know more about cars, so I’m slightly more impressed with nice ones that I used to be, but really, I also have some idea how much money you have and if your car is beyond your means, that is a really bad sign.
Also, a car that isn’t full of fast-food detritus is preferable to one that is.
Sorry, I seem to recall a thread where you were talking about the Volvo that you were going to buy. I have a pathological hatred of Volvo drivers that is much deeper than BMW and Hummer driver haters.
I quite like the P1800 and the PV544 but IMHO Volvo has not designed an attractive car since they went to the boxy look.
“with panties”=“effeminate”? Or “underpowered”? Or what? The only thing I see wrong with Boxters, at least from just looking at them, is that “Boxter” is a stupid name.