Video: 20th Century vs. 21st Century

By Bruce Richter

Bruce Richter

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1,912 views Feb 28, 2010

2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder

I ran across an interesting Motor Trend video on The German Car Blog yesterday that does a decent comparison of the new Porsche Boxster Speedster against the Tesla Roadster Sport (link pasted below). It also did a great job of getting me thinking. Check it out and see if you agree.

What it does nicely is capture the emotion of old school vs. new school. It almost has a bit of Ford vs. Chevy sentiment to it. That attitude of, "Don't care what kinda new fangled thang ya got there, this here's a Porsche--and ain't nothin’ finer than a Porsche." And on the other side is the low-key left-brainer tech editor with all the rationale and the ignition key to the secret sauce.

They set the scene by using the sporty roadster in stripped down unadulterated-driving-pleasure configuration as the common denominator.
From there they turn to the status quo, the state-of-the-art example in current technology Speedster. It's German, it's tight, it's sans all the comfort features like air, nav, even interior door handles. In other words, it’s a modern interpretation of the original Speedster. Not a bad formula to emulate and update. And to their credit, they lay out a credible argument that the Speedster is close to being the best of the best in this high-end but sub-supercar category.

2010 Tesla Roadster Sport

Enlarge Photo

They then turn to this corner, where in orange trunks, we have the “science experiment” on a Lotus chassis: the battery powered Tesla. It's defined as the sports car of tomorrow powered by the technology of the future. And by the way, it's very fast. One point made before the on-track test is that Porsche is developing similar technology. So here, get a taste of it and get use to it.

They proceed to do a fair and accurate on-track comparo that's seasoned with some editorial bias for the sake of spinning the story. Again, they begin with the best of the status quo. It's agreed that it's hard to beat the rasp of a Porsche Boxster engine, at least in this price range. In fact the entire car is so well sorted, from the steering feel to the brakes to the delivery of power. Unlike a lot of companies who dabble in sports cars every so often like Honda, Toyota, and Audi, Porsche has sports cars in its DNA. Build all the SUVs and Panamaras you want to support the company, at least at this point in time the Speedster (and GT3 and Carrera GT) proves that Porsche is still one of that elite handful of true sports car companies in the world. And from a pure driving point-of-view, it probably does have the subjective edge over this first-generation Tesla Roadster. Even the Tesla provocateur admits that the Speedster is the better car at a much lower price. Although both testers do say the Tesla is a very good, very fun car. How could a high-powered Lotus not be?

But it's towards the end that they get to root of the issue. The point being, this is a different discussion from a Car A vs. Car B comparison. The Tesla isn't just a new car, it’s a test bed for a whole new technology. Does it cost twice the price? Absolutely. But on Adam Corollas Carcast blog (www.adamcarolla.com/CarCastBlog/) a Tesla owner and informed tech follower predicts that Tesla will be able to deliver further-developed battery technology in a refined car for Speedster prices within possibly two years, and for $40,000 within three to four years. So if we take price off the table (since I'm not buying either a $70,000 or a $130,000 sports car anytime soon) we're back to the issue of past vs. future.

If anyone is all over battery technology right now, it's the Germans. We haven't seen the product of their work yet, but it's coming--from Porsche, from Audi, from BMW, from VW. The teases are out there. And they've already laid down the gauntlet, admitted they're not getting beat in this arena the way the Japanese beat them with hybrid development.

So then you ask yourself, "Do I like what I see on the horizon? What if I could get this technology in my favorite flavor, whether that's Boxster, e-tron, Shelby Mustang, the current semi-Elise version, or a hot sedan? Do I like what I see and feel and don't hear? Is the future that bad? Or do I miss that pop and hiss of the steam engine, and the gallop of those hooves over that ole' dirt road out front?"

[GermanCarBlog]