The letters GTS, and the Gran Turismo Sport name they stand for, may not mean a lot to the average motorist, but they have a special resonance for the committed Porsche enthusiast. They were first used back in 1963 for the 904 race car, and reappeared on special versions of the front-engined 924 and 928 two decades later. Since 2007 they have also been applied to the 911, Cayenne and Panamera. There was, however, no such thing as a Boxster GTS until earlier this year. Along with its solid-roofed equivalent, the Cayman GTS, that car went on sale in the UK in May, when it became the most powerful production Boxster in the nearly two-decade history of that car. The maximum output from the 3.4-litre six-cylinder engine is 325bhp, or 15bhp more than the Boxster S offers. That means a top speed of 175mph and a 0-62mph time of exactly five seconds, or 4.7 if you pay extra for the six-speed PDK twin-clutch semi-automatic gearbox. (I can see why you'd do that, but the standard six-speed manual is marvellous. With concentration but very little physical effort, you can shift from one gear to another so quickly that passers-by might be fooled into thinking that you'd gone for the PDK option after all.) For the £52,879 list price you get Porsche Active Suspension Management as standard, along with the Sport Chrono package and dynamic engine mountings, while sports suspension - which among other things reduces the ride height by 20mm - is available, astonishingly in a Porsche, as a no-cost option. The test car had that, and I recommend it without reservation. Here's why. With this set-up, the Boxster GTS proved to be very capable at Knockhill, a race circuit where a car can't get away with simply bombing along the straights (though this one does so very well) but also has to deal with a long sequence of corners, every one of which includes an elevation change. The GTS won't mollycoddle you through any of this. It's impatient of inaccurate driving, and in particular it will beat you with the understeer stick if you apply the throttle earlier in a corner than it wants you to. But it rewards correct technique by becoming sharper, and better balanced, and generally more like a race car than you have any right to expect of a car designed primarily for road use. It never feels harsh, though, and despite what appears to be the unpromising fitment of 20" wheels and 35-profile tyres it's reasonably comfortable on the highway even if you use the PASM's Sport setting, which is the automatic choice on the track and the obvious one if you need (or simply want) to get from A to B in a real hurry. What I really like about the GTS, though, is that if you come out of Sport mode the car becomes a relaxed and capable grand tourer, the sort of thing that could take you from an early breakfast in Calais to a late dinner in Sainte Maxime without tiring you unduly. If I could change one thing about this car it would be the feel of the brake pedal at the top of its travel. The brakes are extremely good, but there isn't much initial bite, so there's a bit of an "oops, this isn't going well . . . oh, we've stopped" sort of effect. That apart, this is an excellent machine, and the best example yet of a range which was greatly improved during the complete redesign of 2012. I wouldn't buy one because I would pick a Cayman over a Boxster every time, but that's just personal preference. Engine 3436cc, 6 cylinders Power 325bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 31.4mpg / 211g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 5.0 seconds Top speed 175mph Price £52,879 Details correct at publication date
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