bb512 as a daily driver?

probably do better w/ a daytona as a daily driver.

i cannot even imagine thinking about using my boxer daily independant of the costs.

 

I drive my 512 carb to work about twice a week,its fine if I lived in the county would drive even more.

 

328 owner here, but I can see the Boxer being ill-suited to grocery store parking lots, traffic jams, uneven pavement, runs to Home Depot, hot weather, icy weather and a lot of daily driver tasks.

Basically I think you'd be wasting a magnificent car, inconveniencing yourself, and likely spending enough on maintenance/repairs that you could just go buy another car.

But let's hear from the owners...

 

Ross, you were inside my head, and I GREATLY anticipate the responses.

Part of my hesitancy to Boxer ownership (heart lust, head restraint) is this very question.

I'm going to dive off here and suggest that Ross' original question doesn't intend to make the Boxer a "grocery getter" (Ross, correct or append as you like) per se, but could it actually be used, started, driven, and - as a responsible maintenance oriented owner - rely upon it?

I just don't want Boxer owners to think this was a "How would you get a 2x8 to stick out of the window?" type query.

FWIW, I use my 996tt as a "daily" type car - I'm about to go pick up my son at his cousin's, drop off my daughter and friend in the car. Then going to pick up a prescription for my temporarily ailing wife. That type thing.

My Pantera is at Roush right now, and the VERY MILD mods I'm making are to gain a bit of 'reliable' street usability sans total paranoia about driving the stupid thing around when I feel like it. Rain, shine, to the lake, whatever.

So, hopefully the 'daily driver' responses will deal with this aspect more. And Ross, if I've goofed up your original intent, I'll delete and skulk away with a polite "Nevermind" from my lips. Carry on.

 

If you read this with a southern draw, I'd say you are the Mark Twain of Ferrari speak.

 

The answer is "yes." From a reliability standpoint, mine has been great and would be a fine daily driver.

Now... if your commute includes lots of bumper-to-bumper traffic and/or hot weather, it wouldn't be my first choice. Also, if you need to carry much stuff with you and a passenger, not the best (but I leave my spare tire in the garage for around town driving and that gives you a decent trunk).

But in general, there's no reason not to use a BB to commute, or pick up the groceries, or go to Home Depot, or whatever. I've certainly used mine for all of those tasks at various times.

And, the BB will actually run better and be more reliable the more you drive it. BBs do not tolerate sitting happily. To be honest, I think a BB driven 5,000 miles per year will probably cost you LESS in maintenance than one driven 500 miles per year (assuming you do the belt change at the recommended 5 year interval).

 

listen, i have a 500hp efi 930 turbo that i have been driving daily for the last two weeks...it is a very user friendly car that only turns into a beast when i t approaches 1 bar. it is a great grocery getter!

the boxer needs more time than you can imagine to warm up to the extent that it is ready to drive...h20, engine sump, and gear box.

checking the oil requires a fair amount of effort in opening and closing the bonnet carefully.

if your daily driving requires stop and go traffic, no matter how careful you are w/ the clutch, you will quickly get bored changing and paying for a clutch replacement. the car has long legs and will be hard on friction materials.

the a/c sucks so plan on a soaking wet shirt as you get to where you are going in the warmer seasons.

you will get it dirty if you really drive it daily...can you imaging how much time in your weekend will be spend washing and drying each louvre, crack and crevace? you would have to be a masochist!!

it will drive you to the poor house w/ fuel and oil consumption alone. also understand that to fill it up, many open up the bonnet as it is safer to fuel...less chance of a paint chip and fire. and note tht each time you fill it up, you will have a 20 minute discussion w/ some interested party asking if it is fast and how much does it cost?

bumper to bumper traffic would wear you out. i am a cat 2 cyclist and have legs stronger than most...it wears me out!!!

it is an occasion car that would loose its appeal and lust if you had to use it daily. i am sure that there are some who have done it for a while when these cars were new but the novelty was likely short lived.

pcb

 

Same as what Pete said...With the added caveat that she truly is a royal PITA in traffic. Oh, and the 7 MPG gets old real quick doing errands. Glad to know Pete that I'm not the only nut that opens the bonnet to fuel the beast!

David

 

I love driving my boxer often but find I have a limit of how long I can be in it before the comfort becomes an issue. Its tiring to drive at times since its demanding and that isnt my idea of a daily driver. My 308 would be better suited to being a driver for several reasons. Maybe a 400 or a 412 would be a different story.

 

In addition to some of the above comments which I agree upon, BBs have a very low spoiler thats very unforgiving, so you always need to be on the lookout for dips in the road, then worrying about someone rear ending you as you slow for the right angle.

As Peter stated, takes a good 15 minutes to get everything to optimal temps, its fine for the occasional special drive but just wanting to jump in your car and go would not be good long term for the mechanics.

The bodywork being hand beaten aluminum is very soft, what may be just a decent rock chip in a normal car could equal a rock ding in a BB.

The car while being a rush to drive also requires a high level of driver commitment, sometimes you just want to get in a car turn on the radio and relax, the race car nature of the BB is the opposite of this, combine that with gawkers, traffic, tailgaters and such the commute would get old fast and be stressful.


Its kind of like expecting a champion race horse to adapt and perform well in a slow parade going down the street.

 

They are certainly reliable enough and daily use would actually make them more reliable as most problems I have seen with old Ferrari's are due to non-use, not daily use. As far as pot holes, ect...the Boxer actually has much more ground clearance that modern Ferraris so that shouldn't be a problem...The A/C in the hot summer in bumper to bumper traffic would be tough though...

 

Ross, much depends on the environment that you drive and your physical build.

Where I am, this time of year is loaded with tourists. Traffic can be a pain, so the constant "rowing" across town with a five speed can be inconvenient. Especially 1st to 2nd gear. Then you have the people that insist on pulling right up to your rear bumper at red lights, not being used to a car with a stick shift in front of them, and haunting your rear view mirror as they wonder why the Ferrari is not going faster.

Where do you park? I don't dare parrallel park unless the BB is at the front of the line so no one could back into the nose. What about door dings? When many of the cars around you are rentals, the guy next to you likely does not care about your car, only getting to that beachside restaurant. And what valet are you going to trust with the Boxer? None of them know how to open the door to get out, let alone know the nuances of the clutch.

Having lowered my car, I find those parking bumpers have faces sticking out their concrete tongues that taunt me to get closer. What about damage to the car the requires parts that are no longer available?

The other point is your physical build. I am 5'11", even with the seat back in a recline where I can reach the steering wheel in the straight arm fashion, the top of my head still rubs the headliner. The factory seats do not give my decrepit body enough support, so within 45 minutes, I need to get out and stretch. Maybe with aftermarket seats it would be more comfortable. Then my left leg will start to feel cramps if I drive for more than an hour.

The air conditioning is perfect in south Florida's 80 degree winter months, but in the summer, 95 degrees with 95% humidity makes you wonder what the Italians were thinking.

If my drive to work was without traffic lights and bumper hugging Mercury Marquis's driven by 80 year olds, and that my drive was no more than 30 minutes long, I would drive the car almost every day. It is a joy.

But in my world, an F360 or F430 would be a great daily drivers with interiors the size of living rooms compared to the Boxer.

I hope this helps.

 

With my job I’m only home for 6 weeks at a time, so not a daily driver throughout the year, but pretty much daily when I’m home. In the past 18 months (9 months at home) I’ve put on 3700 miles with no problems to speak of, aside from normal maintenance; oil changes, spark plugs ( my BB seems to just eat spark plugs for some reason), etc.
I don’t do shopping malls with it, but have been to all the places mentioned above, parking 300 yards out in the parking lot only to find it surrounded by pick-ups and SUVs when I return, plus going to have coffee with Peter from time to time where I can usually park her close.
However, gas mileage truly sucks, rear vision is limited, and you can’t just hop in and go without warming her up some first, as she just doesn’t like to go stone cold. Sorta like a woman! It is long legged (hmmm, just the way I like my women) and a bit of a pain to get moving up hill from a stop, but my clutch was doing just fine until I let Peter drive it!
Just kidding Peter, but the clutch is starting to get thin which I’ll blame on the previous owner as he burned through 2 clutches while he had the car, and is going to need replacement shortly.
My only suggestion for reliability if your going to drive regularly, is to be certain that all the various components are in good condition, especially fuel and cooling water hoses. I did pop an ancient water hose once coming up my driveway, and learned my lesson as further from home would have left my waiting for the flatbed.
To me, the car is an absolute blast to drive and I really enjoy it. Others might look at the usual boxer quirks and shortcomings differently, but I just accept them as part of the experience of driving these great machines.
John

 

Just took the trash out. Sunny, about 80. And all this talk about the Boxer and all the work I have today.

What to do?

Time to go for a drive in the Boxer, and blame Ross for not getting my work done. ;]

 

I have already put my older 308s away from being daily drivers.....

Traffic and road conditions in my metro area made it a "pearls before swine" situation...

The reality is the threat of some inattentive motorist smacking you HARD is just too great...then you are off down the rabbit hole into the Wonderland of insurance adjusters, parts vendors, body shops, etc. etc.

There's no question a well sorted car like these CAN........the bigger question is WHY would it NEED to?

I just spent $15K on a nice 4 cyl. Toyota truck to take to work....that's about equal to a Service on the subject car, eh?

I know..not really but you get the comparison...the car is definately a 'Buy and hold' in today's market, you cannot go wrong with that decision, but I'd really think hard on proposed usage.......

Every Friday, if sunny? Sure!

 

John, IMO the new gas blends are very unfriendly to the plugs...the methanol is thinning thirty years of varnish into the cylinders, I think.......

I too am changing them more than usual.....

 

I'm a little surprised that noone's specifically brought this up somewhere (possibly they have, and I missed), but I always felt that my BBi had very heavy steering, clutch and brake controls. I found it to be not as enjoyable as I had wanted it to be as a daily driver.

The car really was designed to go fast comfortably. Puttering around in traffic really isn't ideal. As mentioned, parking is challenging and unsafe no matter where you go. Navigating the roads in poor condition isn't ideal, either. Also as mentioned, re-fueling isn't convenient.

Worse, I was rear-ended in mine. Thrice. Well, truly only once, but the other two were both hit and runs in parking lots. The worst damage was when a gardener's pickup truck backed into it. He destroyed the rear clamshell to the tune of $25K, IIRC. He left a note with a made up phone number on the windshield. After canvassing the businesses that were in that building, noone came forward about observing the accident.

Just expect the worst.

CW

 

I live in Ann Arbor and my business is Downriver in the heart of Ford country. No way would I drive the Boxer into that morass of "buy American". Just something I have to live with. The F 150's & Silverado's have no problem punting me into the weeds.

 

Car is reliable enough and a new clutch can last a long time if it is not constantly slipped. All controls are heavy untill you are rolling so stop and go,traffic lights are a pain of pains, this is more like a streetable race typw car. Ride is relatively smooth compared to some moderns.

If I lived a good distance from work, the roads were smoothish, there was little traffic and I did not have to deal with phillistines in parking lots then yeah it would be a great daily driver, as long as you could start it and leave it to idile before you had to mover off.

On some days off work I have used it for banging about town, and it is fun, but it would loose its joy and wear thin everyday unless you really had somme good stretches of country road each time you went out. A daytona would be just as wearing.

Get a M3 as a daily, it blends in, you can park anywhere, the ac works the stereo is great and you can drive comfortably in traffic. Like many Q cars you can opportunisticaly feed on any open stretches you come across, and then just blend back in.

A boxer though, on the right road on the right day just magic. Yes you can technicaly use it as a daily but you would not really want to. A model A ford could be used as a daily to but it would not be enjoyable in that mode either unless conditions were just so.

 

Ross

It can work, if that is what you want. As others have mentioned, the car will take awhile to warm up. The a.c. is not the best.


Viz for a supercar is superb. It is not a difficult car to live with.

 

a Boxer is a special car...

It can be used daily, but as said... it's inpractical.

I've used mine as a daily for periods of maybe 2 weeks at a time... but then it begins to not feel special again...

It's adequately ergonomic (nice even), visibility is great, when prepared/tuned properly traffic driving is no problem, people always seem to appreciate seeing them...

It's a fighter... fighters need rest, so they can punch harder next time....

If you can afford one, and if you like them, and if you want one... ABSOLUTELY get one as soon as possible... but get it checked by an expert so you know what you're up for.

worse case scenario... sell it again for minimal depreciation, if any, or quite possibly a gain!

Warming up.....?

I tune my carb 512 a little rich... maybe CO 5% to 6%... I can start it on a cool day and get out straight away to let it idle for a few minutes... it'll idle smoothly at about 600 rpm while it gently and utterly silently warms up... idle speed gradually rasies to about 1000 once warm.

If I chose, I can start and drive immediately... but I avoid revving over ~2000rpm and skip 2nd and 4th gears.