One Singer and One Boxster GTS and A Whole Lotta Fun
Daily Slideshow: What better way to compare a Singer car with a stock 718 Boxster GTS than a road trip from Los Angeles to Monterey? One lucky auto enthusiast reveals his thoughts over 600 miles later.
A unique Porsche experience
Two worlds collide when an enthusiast takes matters into his own hands to determine which is better: the 51st vehicle from Singer Vehicle Designs or a stock 718 Boxster GTS. Two road trips later (each of which totals over 600 miles and involves twists and turns up the coast of California), reveals an answer you might not expect.
Photos courtesy of Automobilemag.com.
The 964-era 911
Singer Vehicle Design specializes in reimagining and reworking 964-era 911s. In case you're not familiar (or could use a simple refresher) the Porsche 964 is Porsche's internal name for the Porsche 911 that was constructed and sold between 1989 and 1994. It's also a name used by enthusiasts to differentiate this era Porsche from other Carreras. Several body styles were available, including popular coupe and convertible models. The engines were air/oil-cooled and horizontally opposed. Engine types included a 3.3-liter turbo flat-6, 3.6-liter turbo, and a 3.75-liter.
A drive up the California coast
When presented with the chance to drive both a Singer and Boxster GTS, author Basem Wasef chose to tackle the stretch of California coast from Los Angeles to Monterey. That's plenty of time to see how the car rides and handles, as the distance between the two cities is nearly 400 miles one way.
Singer’s 51st car
The Singer in this road test was equipped with an Öhlins suspension setup. The compression and rebound settings were also "more aggressive" compared with rides in other Singers, Wasef notes. During his road test, the author quickly discovered that this vehicle's steering was a lot more aggressive than in the original 911s. While the vehicle "felt sharp to the point of sometimes being jarring" it also "proved a crisply effective solution for a few laps of Buttonwillow Raceway," he concludes.
718 Boxster GTS
According to Porsche, the 718 Boxter GTS is a rear wheel drive vehicle that's capable of going from 0 to 60 in just 4.4 seconds or 3.9 seconds with a sport package. The Boxster GTS has a starting price of $82,000. Both the automatic and manual versions have a maximum 365 horsepower rating. Each model also has a top track speed of 180 miles per hour. "Without Singer’s preciousness," says Wasef, the Boxster "feels more usable and adaptable, with with the flexibility to change suspension settings and exhaust notes at the push of a button."
Singer vs. Porsche
"As technologically evolved as the modern car is, the Singer embodies a different kind of evolution," explains Wasef. Singer has long been renowned as somewhat of an outlier in the Porsche community. However, the company's close attention to detail and careful design makes each Singer car unique and fun to drive. In a showdown between modern and technologically advanced to a more vintage ride, there was plenty of time to explore what each vehicle had to offer on the winding roads from one city to the next.
And the winner is...
The road trips left Wasef with some final remarks about the cars. The Singer feels like a small-batch über Porsche, an ultimate expression of the 911 no mainstream manufacturer could build because of the expense and man-hours involved," he says. In contrast, the stock Porsche "feels more usable and adaptable, with the flexibility to change suspension settings and exhaust notes at the push of a button." Both Singer and Porsche "represent the extremes that inspire fanaticism," says Wasef. He notes that while Singer is renowned for its "maniacal craftsmanship," Porsche stands out just as much for its "unending pursuit of ultimate engineering."
A glimpse into the future
In many ways, Singer's meticulous attention to detail has further catapulted the company into the limelight. Take into consideration the Singer and Williams's Dynamics and Lightweighting Study, which saw the development of a heavily modified Porsche 911, simply known as the Singer DLS to many. Singer introduced the Porsche at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed, earning the respect of many avid Porsche enthusiasts.
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