We are the sum of our collected past experiences, and the very same thing can be said about cars, especially those with a heritage steeped in racing. The 2013 Porsche Boxster wouldn’t be the same car without the lessons learned from the 550 Spyder, the 908, the 914 and even the 911 and its many racing variants.

Racing does improve the breed, and the latest generation of Porsche Boxster is, by far, the best to date. Compared to the previous generation, it’s lighter, longer in wheelbase and wider in track, and puts out more horsepower in both base and Boxster S trims.

It’s a car that can serve a wide range of purposes, from daily driver through occasional weekend track toy. Unlike its great-grandfather, the Porsche 550 Spyder, the latest Boxster can be driven comfortably in almost any weather.

We get the “rain-is-not-forever-a-roadster-is” message that Porsche is trying to convey, but we’d be the first to tell you that rain never stopped us, especially from lapping on a racetrack (manufacturers, on the other hand, have stopped us from testing their wares in the wet).

While we don’t advise driving a car sans top in the rain, we’ve racked up enough miles in four or on two wheels in the wet to appreciate the experience. Sure, we prefer sunny days over rainy ones, but when you love to drive, you take what you’re given.