SpeedART SP81-R Porsche Boxster S Gets Extra Snazz

After decades of irking fundamentalist Porschephiles with the heretical-as-far-as-they’re-concerned front-engine, water cooled 928 and 924/944/968 model families, Porsche got back in its most hardcore fans’ good graces in a big way with the 1997 introduction of the Boxster. Yes, the engine was still plugged in to a radiator (two of them, actually), but it was a horizontally-opposed six cylinder, and was located behind the driver. And the driving experience? All kinds of sublime.

In the decade-and-a-half since, the Boxster has become a mainstay in the Porsche lineup, and spawned the fixed-roof Cayman. And for the 2013 model year, the Boxster (and the more muscular Boxster S) is new from the ground up. However, Porsche will only go so far when it comes to building one to fit your tastes and desires. And performance, at least in a straight line, remains noticeably below that of a 911. Leave it to SpeedART to rectify both of those shortcomings.

Dubbed the SP81-R, SpeedART takes the new Boxster S and treats the body to a new front apron, side skirts with carbon fiber inlays that extend to the air inlets on the quarter panels, rear bumper and diffuser, and a stubby fixed rear wing. The searing green paint is accented by the black front trunk lid and sideview mirror caps, as well as the black centers of the 21” two-piece LSC-Forged wheels (Twenty inch versions are also available if you want some more tire sidewall in your life.). The reduced ride height comes courtesy of sport springs or coilovers, depending on how extreme an upgrade you want and whether or not your Boxster is equipped with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), and meatier front and rear anti-roll bars and more muscular brake rotors and calipers are also fitted.

Venture inside, and you’re greeted by colored gauge faces, a sport steering wheel, aluminum pedals and a host of other upgrades. The seats and portions of the door panels can be re-covered in leather in one of many colors. The seatbelts can also be replaced by color matched ones. In other words, color coordination is not a problem.

Another area that’s not a problem is power. Thanks to a new exhaust system, air filter and ECU tune, the 3.4L flat-six’s output jumps from 315hp and 266 lb.-ft of torque to 335hp and 284 lb.-ft. Not a humongous jump, no, but considering a stock Boxster S already scoots to 60 mph from a stop in 4.8 seconds (or 4.5 if you have the PDK transmission with Sport+ mode engaged), you’ll be able to get off the line in a hurry by most people’s standards.

Of course, the cost of all these upgrades will probably be considered pricey by most people’s standards. SpeedART hasn’t said exactly what the price for the SP81-R package is, but we’re going to go ahead and assume you’ll want to go easy on the factory options. And since it’s Porsche we’re talking about, we mean really, really easy on the factory options.

Source: SpeedART