Hi there
So a bit of a write up:-
Steering
Yes its electric and yes it does not have the feel of my 997.1 for sure, but its far from numb as well, but in its advantage its quicker and better weighted. So in someways it is better, anyone who has never driven a Porsche before will simply think its out of this world, only those with 996/997.1 who will notice.
Gearing - Manual
Now this surprised me greatly, first of all the engine revs to 7800rpm, no wonder people remap the older Boxsters/Caymans and increase the rev limit too 7800-8000rpm as its obvious the engine can handle it. But even without this higher RPM limit, the gearing is very long. Were talking close to 50mph in 1st, 85mph in 2nd, 115mph in 3rd and god knows what the other gears do. Are they too long for the performance of the car, well not really, but I think it would benefit if they were shorter and I suspect the PDK version will have shorter gearing giving it a marginal performance edge. The gear box to use, well its the same as my 911's but it had the SSK and as its positioned so much higher up it is an absolute joy to use and without a doubt the best manual box I've now ever used.
Performance
0-60mph in 4.4s, sub 10s too 100mph, not to be sniffed at. The car does not hook up as well as the 911, you get some wheel hop with just the right amount of wheel slip. Lets just say a Golf GTI (latest one), tried to do traffic light grand prix with me and well I made it look like it was not moving. However the problem is with such long gearing is on 40mph corner/roundabout exits, in 2nd your at around 4500rpm and the engine does not have great levels of grunt there, it seems to come on cam around 5500rpm upwards. So the car could probably benefit from marginally shorter gearing. The 911 for sure has a lot more mid-range grunt, but it does have an additional 400cc and 50BHP.
Grip & Handling
The car has immense levels of grip, the car did not have PASM but I get the feeling it had the Porsche Vector control technology as on full lock it seemed to push the nose out at sub 5mph speeds like a car with a diff would. I need to check the VIN to see exactly what options it had fitted. It was running 20" wheels with 265 width rubber on the rear and 235 width on the front. The ride quality was excellent, though I'd probably spec 19" wheels as they are rumoured to handle even better on 19's. Grip wise well it out-gripped every corner I'd done in the 911 by a good 2-4mph margin and it was running the inferior PZERO tyres compared to SuperSports. With the car in Sport I found the car would allow some slip but it was really intervening far to early for my liking as at no point was the car at risk. With PSM off, things were much better, the balance of the car is absolutely perfect. You can drive it right on the limits and beyond on the road without a doubt if you've got half an idea of what your doing. Its only downside compared to the 911 is feel and rawness, plus corner exit. The 911 is arguable more fun as you don't have to drive it as fast as the new Boxster.
Brakes
The brakes are superb, but my 911 with ceramics is more stable and better at stopping for sure and just feels a lot more confident under braking hard, no doubt due to the anchor out back keeping things stable.
Summary
Its practially as quick as my 911 in a straight line, certainly as quick off the mark and only looses out marginally past 80mph. In corners, long, tight and medium this new Boxster S is slightly more capable and more forgiving for sure, the 911 requires near perfect execution and likes smooth inputs, the Boxster to an extent will let you man handle it a bit and is far easier to do slides.
In the 911's favour, its a more raw car, you can frighten yourself at lower speeds and have more fun, the Boxster S is very refined, 60mph feels like 40mph etc, wheras in the 911, 60 feels 60 and sometimes faster.

The 911 is definetely more stable under braking, has more steering feel and still has that power out of corner ability other cars don't have along with more mid-range grunt and has a much more mechanically engine sound to it, the Boxster sounded ace but it was a lot more induction noise.
The Boxster is truly awesome, its more than a match for the outgoing 911 and is far superior to the Boxster's and Caymans before it, infact I preferre this new 981 Boxster more than the Cayman R I had for a couple of days, its a better car and just as capable in the corners, with nearly as much straight line grunt.
As such the new Cayman is out next year, so I think now I shall keep the 911 for another 2yrs and then buy a 18 month new model Cayman S and tune it upto 360BHP, or pick up a nice 991 S very cheap as the 991 out performs the new Boxster so one can only imagine their abilities on the road and on a track. Well look the Carrera S 991 laps the ring quicker than the GT3's.
