Photos by Grant Yoxon

Discuss this story in the forum at CarTalkCanada

Find this vehicle in CanadianDriver’s Classified Ads
Ottawa, Ontario – Contrary to global belief, Canada is not a frozen wasteland where people navigate ice floes to get to work, and freeze solid if they spend too much time outside. At least, it’s not for a good six months of each year.

Even when winter descends upon the nation, things don’t really get too bad. Always resourceful, Canadians have built a vast network of way-stations for travellers called “Tim Hortons”, that provide warmth and sustenance for those venturing into the permafrost for any length of time.

And many of our vehicles wear great, gnarly tires that crunch through the ice, and have powerful heaters, with electric defrosters on the windows and flares in the trunk just in case. No, we’re just fine, thank-you-very-much.

But in winter, most Canadian owners of nice cars, like a Porsche Boxster, for instance, will warehouse their pride and joy so it doesn’t depreciate too quickly. Or maybe they want to prevent it from getting dirty, or they think vehicles like these are just not cut out for battling the snowdrifts.

Whatever the reason, you wouldn’t believe how many nice cars are hardly driven by their owners in Canada.

Click image to enlarge

To get a better perspective on this phenomenon, I was recently forced to drive a Guards Red, 2005 Porsche Boxster for nearly a month to see how it managed in the subzero half of our calendar year. You know, Porsche offers a ski rack for the Boxster, so it’s not like they think you should put it away.

So here’s what I learned.

First of all, Guards Red is a fantastic colour for a Boxster, and it’s a no-charge Porsche option, which is a very rare thing indeed. Red’s good and visible, too, against a stark white background that typifies the Canadian nether-months.

Click image to enlarge

Our car came with heated seats, which were most appreciated. They add $680 to the Boxster’s $64,100 base price, but if you’re a real player, you won’t care about that.

We were running on 17-inch wheels with Continental winter tires, and on snow, ice and slush, tires like these are an absolute necessity on a Boxster. I’m certain the car would not be driveable on winter roads using its standard performance rubber, but you could argue that the 205/50R17 Continental Winter Contacts may still be too wide. Another option would be to find a set of 16-inch rims that came standard on earlier Boxsters, and put some narrower winter tires on those (have you seen what rally drivers use in the winter? Skinny tires to cut through the snow, rather than push through it).

PSM switch is just a pinky length from the shifter. Click image to enlarge

The Boxster comes standard with traction control and Porsche Stability Management (PSM) to help when starting or negotiating corners. On slippery roads, the car’s wonderful rear end wants to let go if you take a corner aggressively, and the PSM will catch it every time. Experienced drivers may wish to turn PSM off (there’s a switch to do so) but most everyone should leave it on, in my opinion.

What else is good? Well, the multi-layer convertible top insulates effectively, and the heater/defogger is great. It’s a very cosy cabin once the engine reaches its normal operating temperature. I found the seats a perfect fit.

> Click image to enlarge

The windshield washer nozzles are heated and the wipers handle the elements well. The rear window defroster and heated exterior mirrors quickly clear their surfaces of ice and condensation. If you want to get serious, you can order headlights with washers (the litronic headlights have them), which could be good as they tend to get covered in spray pretty quickly (you wouldn’t believe how much this compromises your vision at night).

Our Boxster needed a while to crank over before starting, but once the engine fired up, it ran flawlessly. Aside from basic transportation, the car was quite useful, too, with the front and rear trunks holding a surprising amount of groceries, along with the usual emergency equipment for those unexpected stops when stranded on the highway at night in a blizzard.

We did encounter a faulty coolant sensor, which was promptly and courteously replaced by Mark Motors of Ottawa, the local Porsche dealer.

Click image to enlarge

Regrets? I had a few. Because I was not able to store my (I mean, “the”) Boxster in a garage, it was subject to a Canadian climatic nightmare called “freezing rain.”

I tell you, this really messes up a Boxster.

First of all, the windows froze shut. This wouldn’t be a problem if, in order to open the door, they didn’t have to drop (this is the technology that drops the window a fraction when you open the door, and raises it into the convertible top frame to create a weatherproof seal). Unfortunately, if the window doesn’t drop, you can’t readily get into the car.

Not to be deterred, and with gentle persuasion, I did manage to get the door open, only to find after starting the car that the door wouldn’t close (yes, the window needs to be dropped to close the door as well — duh!). Power windows didn’t work, either, so I had to wait while the interior warmed up and eventually, the door shut. Phew.

Click image to enlarge

But then I realized that the ridge of ice at the end of my driveway would be a problem for the Boxster. Although it was only about 10-cm high, this “windrow” as we call them in Canada, could rip the front valence right off the P-car. So I set about levelling the ridge with an ice-fishing chisel (most Canadians have several of these) before setting out.

Once on the road, the frozen convertible top made a heck of a racket, as it flexed over the bumps and potholes. Rear vision with the top up is restricted — backing up is a bit of an issue — so you’ll have to get used to that. You can get a hardtop for the Boxster, and while this wouldn’t solve the frozen window problem, it would definitely quieten things down inside (looks good, too), and the rear window is bigger. I’d recommend it.

At highway speeds, the Boxster has a spoiler that raises and lowers automatically when the car reaches 80 km/h. I don’t know what happens when it’s under a thick layer of ice. It isn’t going up and down, that’s for sure.

Click image to enlarge

What else? Well, you’re riding fairly close to the ground in a Boxster, and the aerodynamic shape of the car is very effective at continuously showering the windshield with water, spray, slush, ice fragments, whatever, which means you go through windshield washer fluid at a fast rate. Better keep two containers of fluid in the trunk.

But keep a funnel, too. Because when you go to fill up the windshield washer reservoir, it invariably spills all over the car. I won’t go into detail, but trust me, get a funnel.

So you might be thinking this is not the ideal vehicle in which to endure a Canadian winter, and I supposed you’d be right. But, look of it this way, details aside, what vehicle would you rather drive?

I mean, in general. What vehicle?

Here’s an exercise that may help: “I could drive an old Tercel, or I could drive a Porsche; I could drive a Subaru Loyale AWD, or I could drive a Porsche; I could drive something really practical and sensible, or I could drive.”

Get it?

Click image to enlarge

There’s just nothing like a Porsche. The sound of that wonderful engine, the sensational handling, the way the car communicates the feel of the road, the great looks, the admiring public (well, sometimes they’re a little ornery), the smell of leather and machinery, the physicality of the thing, the sheer audacity of using one as your everyday car.

I had a blast driving this car — crappy weather notwithstanding, and felt secure in it at all times. It never does anything you don’t expect, and makes you feel good from the moment you start that signature engine. Sure, a car cover would be useful, and some extra maintenance attention is required (the washer fluid, being careful of the finish when removing snow, watching out for windrows, that kind of thing). But I could live with that.

I mean, why do you buy a Boxster in the first place? To store it?