THE success of Porsche's Boxster roadster is undoubted. Its pricing has allowed a whole new group to gain access to this famed Stuttgart sports car marque. But always, from its introduction with a 2.5-litre engine, and then even when that was replaced by a 2.7, the call was for more performance. The S delivers with more power, a six-speed manual gearbox, revised suspension and bigger brakes.

In this case "S" stands for not only sports, but sensational too.