The second generation of the Porsche Boxster made its debut at the 2004 Paris Motor Show alongside the new 911 (997). The car became available for model year 2005.
In appearance the car remains very similar to the previous generation. The most obvious styling change is to the headlights, which now have a profile similar to those of the Carrera GT, Porsche’s mid-engined supercar. The intake vents on the sides of the Boxster are now larger, with more pronounced horizontal slats and are coloured metallic silver, irrespective of the paint colour on the rest of the car. The wheel arches have been enlarged to allow wheels up to 19 inches in diameter, a first for the Boxster series. The most significant updates from the 986 series are in the interior, with a more prominent circular theme evident in the instrument cluster and cooling vents. Porsche claims that the 987 Boxster shares only 20% of its components with its predecessor, despite their being almost identical from the outside. The base engine is a 2.7litre 176 kW (240bhp) flat-6, with the Boxster S getting a 3.2 litre 206 kW (280bhp) engine. The Cayman series is derived from the 987.
For the 2007 model year the base Boxster received a revised engine featuring VarioCam Plus to provide a 5 hp boost (245bhp; the same as the Cayman). The Boxster S engine was upgraded from 3.2 litre to 3.4 litre, resulting in the production of 15 more hp (295bhp; the same as the Cayman S). These upgrades made the Boxster series and the Cayman series equivalent in terms of horsepower.
