The Porsche Boxster is small, fast, and sporty little vehicle. It is designed for leisure and fun as opposed to comfort and practicality.
This car is often used for track days and even in amateur and professional racing.
The Porsche Boxster has been a famous model for many years. Often being considered the ‘poor man’s’ Porsche, it was always the cheapest model available in the German manufacturer’s range of luxury cars.
In recent years however, the Boxster has risen through this reputation to become one of the more expensive options offered by Porsche.
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Here is the short answer about whether the Porsche Boxster is good for snow and winter driving:
The Porsche Boxster is surprisingly very good at driving in snowy conditions despite the car’s low ground clearance. The all-wheel drive system on the Porsche Boxster is a great help in giving the car a lot more grip in tight corners.
Is a Porsche Boxster Good in the Snow?
The Porsche Boxster is excellent to drive in snowy conditions. This is thanks for the clever technology implemented into the car. Firstly, the all-wheel drive system gives the car a huge amount of grip, even on slippery surfaces.
The Boxster also has a lot of smart technology and safety features which makes it a much safer vehicle to drive in tricky winter conditions. The Boxster handles well enough in snow and is often used in snow races.
The ground clearance can be an issue as the Boxster is extremely low to the ground, around 4.7 inches in fact. This means that if the Boxster is driven in snow that is deeper than 3 inches it could end up with some scratched and broken bodywork.
Another advantage that the Porsche Boxster has in the snow is that it is a mid-engine car.
This means that the car is very carefully balanced and is not too heavy on either axle. This keeps the car’s center of gravity low and in the middle of the car, making it more stable and giving it more grip.
Snow tires will be the best factor when it comes to driving a Porsche Boxster in the winter.
These tires will give the car much better grip in the snow and allow it to use its power and lightweight body to its advantage in maneuvering.
What Features Will Improve Winter Driving?
The Porsche Boxster has some features that are effective in making it an excellent car to drive in the snowy conditions. Some of these are basic features and others are newer technological safety features that have been implemented into the latest Boxster models.
These features improve the car’s safety and driveability even in normal conditions. In slippery winter conditions these features make the car easier to handle.
The technology used in the Boxster by Porsche is state of the art, and has been put through various tests to ensure the highest of standards are met.
Traction Control
Traction control comes as standard on the Porsche Boxster.
Traction control limits the amount of torque that is sent to the wheels which prevent them from spinning on slippery surfaces such as snow and ice.
The Boxster has an advanced traction control system which allows the driver to select the amount of input the system should have in cutting off the throttle.
For example, if the driver chooses to have only 50% of traction control activated, the system will be half as effective in controlling the power output as normal full traction control. This means the driver will need to carefully control the throttle on their own.
Traction control helps the Boxster in snowy conditions since it keeps the powerful Porsche engine tamed in the slippery conditions.
In winter it can be extremely easy to spin the wheels and lose traction.
Driver Blind Spot Assist
Driver blind spot assist is a system that notifies the driver of the vehicle that anther car is in their blind spot.
The car will automatically check for this when the driver uses their indicator to change lanes. The system will give the driver auditory and visual alarms to notify them of the presence of another vehicle in their blind spot.
This is useful in winter as it helps the driver to focus more on the road in front of them as opposed to having to turn their head and take their eyes off the road to check their blind spot.
This feature can also be extremely helpful in low visibility conditions where the driver might not be able to see another car in their blind spot.
Related: How Long Do Porsche Boxster Last? (12 Important Facts)
Automated Emergency Brake Assist
The automated emergency brake assist feature is an incredibly helpful feature that has been added on to the Porsche Boxster.
The car uses the front camera to identify potential hazards in front of the car. This could be anything from a pedestrian, an object or even a car slowing down. The feature also aids the driver in braking harder and more efficiently in emergency situations.
This feature is helpful in winter conditions as it will help the driver to slow the car down in order to avoid an impact or to reduce the severity of the impact.
The driver may not be paying close attention or may be slow to react to a car suddenly braking in front of them.
In addition, if the visibility is poor, this system is effective in identifying and preventing potential front end collisions.
4-Wheel Drive System
The Porsche Boxster is available in four-wheel drive.
This system is not used to go off-road as you would expect in an SUV though. A four-wheel-drive system in a sports car is designed to give the car more grip and to make it more stable.
It does this by distributing the power output to each wheel differently, thus giving each wheel the correct amount of power. This means that there is a smaller chance of losing traction.
This system is extremely helpful in snowy winter conditions as it gives the car a lot more grip and makes it much more stable.
The four-wheel drive system coupled with traction control means that each wheel will be able to find the perfect amount of grip in the snow.
Anti-lock Brakes System
Porsche has implemented an extremely high-quality anti-lock brakes system.
This system is implemented in order to prevent the car from locking up the wheels during hard braking.
When a wheel locks up it is no longer rotating, meaning it is sliding across the surface of the road and not generating any grip at all.
The anti-lock brakes system helps in the snowy conditions as it allows the driver to apply their brakes hard and fast and the system will ensure that the wheels keep on rotating whilst maximizing the amount of brake pressure applied.
Does a Porsche Boxster Have a Snow Mode?
The Porsche Boxster does not have a snow mode; however, the traction control and four-wheel-drive system is extremely effective in providing the car with enough grip in snowy conditions.
Can You Install Additional Snow Gear on a Porsche Boxster?
The Boxster is available to have snow gear installed. It is highly recommended to instal snow tires onto the Boxster in order to maximise the amount of grip that it has in slipper conditions. These are various pieces of snow gear you can fit to a Porsche Boxster:
- Snow tires
- Studded tires
- Snow chains
- Snow socks
How Much Snow Can a Porsche Boxster Handle?
The Porsche Boxster has a ground clearance of around 4 inches.
This means the Boxster can only handle light snow. If there is any snow deeper than 2-3 inches, its recommended to avoid driving the Boxster through it.
The deeper snow can easily scratch or damage the bodywork of the fragile and expensive Porsche. In addition, if the Boxster comes across thick and compact snow it could become beached due to being so low to the ground.
Please also read our article: Porsche 911 in snow and winter driving
How Does the Porsche Boxster Handle Low Winter Temperatures?
Porsche engineers its cars to the highest of quality and implements the latest technologies into their cars. As such, the Boxster is great in low winter temperatures and will not have any problems.
Can a Porsche Boxster Drive on Ice?
The Porsche Boxster can drive on ice.
It is highly recommended that the driver uses studded ice tires when driving on icy roads.
The four-wheel drive system and traction control will ensure that the car is stable and under control on slippery surfaces.
Does the Porsche Boxster Have 4WD?
The Porsche Boxster is available in four-wheel drive.
This was implemented as a performance part to give the car more grip and stability when cornering.
What About Older Porsche Boxster Models and Winter Driving?
Older Boxster models might struggle in the snow as they have older technology.
Most older Boxster models will have traction control, ABS and four-wheel drive which allows the car to handle fantastically in the snow, however they will not have the latest safety features.
Does the Porsche Boxster Need Snow Tires?
It is highly recommended to use snow tires when driving a Porsche Boxster in winter conditions.
This creates a firmer connection between the car and the surface of the road which will allow the Boxster’s great handling to work effectively in the slippery conditions.
Can You Mount a Snow Plow on a Porsche Boxster?
The Porsche Boxster is a small, lightweight, and high-performance vehicle.
The Boxster is designed for track days, leisure driving and luxury. As such, it is not possible to mount a snow plow onto a Boxster.
Resources
https://www.porsche.com/usa/models/718/718-models/boxster-25-years/
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/porsche/boxster
