Really, that’s what makes the difference between these two cars all that much more impressive. You expect the Boxster to be a darty little machine capable of shrinking any power deficit with catlike reflexes and grip, and it does so, to a point. But the Corvette is just an absolute animal, pure speedboat nose-lift and bellowing anger. The Boxster GTS is actually the louder of the two cars, with a hard-edged, metallic rasp to its exhaust. Doesn’t matter – the ‘Vette’s American thunder is just unstoppable.

Because it’s the looser cruiser version, the Corvette did go a little nose-light on the really twisty bits, but the sheer power and grip of the thing is beyond reproach. This is another league above the Boxster in pace, and while there’s something to be said for feel and overall drivability of the Porsche product, the Corvette just gets friendlier the longer I have it. Even in the wet, with roads slicked by grease after a very long dry spell, it’s not trying to bite you. The power is phenomenal, accessible without being too accessible, fitting around you.

And then there’s the grand touring aspect of this car. On the way back down the Sea-to-Sky, a dawdling RV pulled into the fast lane well back of another slow-moving vehicle, and began that familiar dance on BC summer roads: the no-pass waltz. In the Corvette, it wasn’t even an issue, hammer-down, catch-and-pass before the gap shrank too much. No cutting off or carving up, just instantly available speed to get around a blundering obstacle that never checks its mirrors.

Add in fuel economy that was too close to call (the Corvette does surprisingly well, loping along with that eight-speed auto in high gear), and the performance bargain remains the performance champ. Official figures are 12.1/8.9 L/100 km city/highway for the Boxster and 14.6/8.1 for the Corvette. Like Dan, I praise the Boxster GTS for its overall balance and less showy demeanour, but just know that it’s simply the slower car.

Handling

Dan says:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Corvette sounds great, it’s got power enough (and the power delivery) to make the Challenger Shuttle blush and all that. I know, but the handling is where that “best car I’ve ever driven” comes so clearly into focus.

There is just so very little that can be done to upset the GTS. It’s so dialed-in, so grippy and so rife with feedback (yes, even with electronic power steering), that it just makes you feel like such a pro. Intangible? Maybe, but those intangibles are such an important part of the sports car experience.

You sit just a little higher than you do in the ‘Vette, but it somehow still feels like your butt is hovering just centimetres above the tarmac below, even though you still have a pretty good view of the scenery as it begins to blur around you.

The result of all this is that the car shrinks around you, responding to every twitch of the wrist, every flex of the forearm; hell, it may as well respond to every thought you have, it’s that direct. I guess the big thing is that there’s no guesswork with this car; you know what’s going on under you to the point you’re always aware of the grip you have.

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