Wednesday 6th July 2011

Four-Pot Power For Next Boxster And Cayman?

Seems the answer is yes, but not for a little while yet (2015)

---

Not the new Boxster. Either of them. Obviously

Fed up of random rumours about the spec of the new Porsche 911? Fancy a new Stuttgart-designed car to get worried about? Course you do. And here on PH your wish is our command.

Because the third-generation Boxster is due to be unwrapped at the 2012 Detroit motor show, with its coupe sibling, the second-gen Cayman expected to arrive before the year is out.

And the first significant rumour? Both Cayman and Boxster will go to four-cylinder power. But fans of six-cylinder power needn't worry too much, because Car Magazine's Georg Kacher reckons this won't happen until the two cars are facelifted in 2015/16.

When the four-pot Boxster and Cayman do come on stream, however, they will most likely be powered by a range of 2.5-litre twin-turbo flat-four models, with up to 355bhp and 347lb ft of torque - so they won't be lacking in power or character.

Although a hybrid Boxster/Cayman is also mooted for then, so we'll see if Porsche can be the firm to actually make a sporty hybrid work within a couple of years...

There is also a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine in the offing, but it looks like this could be reserved for the oft-mooted sub-Boxster roadster, which could also get VW, Audi and even Seat siblings.

Dean not impressed by hybrid Porsches

We suppose you could think of that one as a kind of 21st-century Porsche 914, although German mag Auto Bild reckons that Porsche is planning to Revive the 550 Spyder name for its new sportster.

Yep, that one, the one in which a certain J Dean ended his days... (cue gratuitous pics of James Dean and a 550 Spyder...)

[melvster]

Not good news.

[kambites]

Probably inevitable, unfortunately.

I really hope it doesn't end up sounding like the Subaru flat-fours. Awful things.

[mrdemon]

This news was out on the web back in April.

Tell us some thing new.

And it will be a 3rd gen Cayman , not 2nd

why copy and paste wrong details from other sites ?

Edited by mrdemon on Wednesday 6th July 10:15

[Kong]

I don't have a problem with this. The fact that they are going to the effort of scratch building a flat four rather than doing the EASY thing of using the generic VAG 2.0T engine is impressive to me. Likewise if it can sound anything like as good as a flat four Impreza then it wont be lacking too much in the noise department.

A turbo engine will be lighter, more tunable, more economical and i'd guess allow for a larger boot which is always a plus.

Yes we would all prefer a N/A Six, but this was always going to happen one day so we may aswell embrace it.

[thinfourth2]

melvster said:

Not good news.

I agree i want a V12 made fom cast iron and lead with body panels cast from solid concrete none of this nasty lightwieght stuff

[k-ink]

If the cars weigh a lot less and the power remains similar it could be a more pure experience.

[Chrisw666]

[Riggers]

mrdemon said:

And it will be a 3rd gen Cayman , not 2nd

why copy and paste wrong details from other sites ?

Edited by mrdemon on Wednesday 6th July 10:15

Do you mean the Cayman due out next year? Or the one in 2015? Either way I'm not sure I agree with you on that one.

Because if you mean the 2012 Cayman will be the third generation, then that implies the revisions in 2008 counted as an all-new model. Which I would disagree with. and if you mean the 2015-16 date, then, well I can't see Porsche bringing an all-new platform in just three years...

[Dr Boxcat]

thinfourth2 said:

melvster said:

Not good news.

I agree i want a V12 made from cast iron and lead with body panels cast from solid concrete none of this nasty lightweight stuff

the case for a sarcasm font continues

[kambites]

Kong said:

I don't have a problem with this. The fact that they are going to the effort of scratch building a flat four rather than doing the EASY thing of using the generic VAG 2.0T engine is impressive to me.

It'll be interesting to see how bespoke it is. Presumably it would be quite possible for them to design a flat-four block with the same spacing as the 2.0T and make shortened versions of the heads and ancillaries. That would save them designing the valve gear from the ground up on the new engine. I'm not sure how much of the cost of developing the engine that is, though.

[HeMightBeBanned]

kambites said:

Kong said:

I don't have a problem with this. The fact that they are going to the effort of scratch building a flat four rather than doing the EASY thing of using the generic VAG 2.0T engine is impressive to me.

It'll be interesting to see how bespoke it is. Presumably it would be quite possible for them to design a flat-four block with the same spacing as the 2.0T and make shortened versions of the heads and ancillaries. That would save them designing the valve gear from the ground up on the new engine. I'm not sure how much of the cost of developing the engine that is, though.

I just hope they've learned from the 996/997 and don't produce another engine with a 30,000 mile life expectancy.

[Mac555]

kambites said:

Probably inevitable, unfortunately.

I really hope it doesn't end up sounding like the Subaru flat-fours. Awful things.

That sound made the WRC in the 90's!!!!!

[kambites]

One of the prices you pay for having a bespoke, low volume, engine in your sports car is the risk of having a bespoke, low volume engine in your sports car. It's never going to be financially viable to test them as thoroughly as you would with a massively mass produced lump.

[kambites]

Mac555 said:

That sound made the WRC in the 90's!!!!!

It's still a hideous noise, IMO. I'd rather have a silent car or the drone of an I4 than put up with a car that sounds like an Imprezza.

[ewenm]

Kong said:

I don't have a problem with this. The fact that they are going to the effort of scratch building a flat four rather than doing the EASY thing of using the generic VAG 2.0T engine is impressive to me.

Don't they already have a flat 6? Just chop 2 cylinders off, job done

[k-ink]

Dr Boxcat said:

the case for a sarcasm font continues

It should be a really serious looking font like Times, just to carry on the confusion

[kambites]

ewenm said:

Don't they already have a flat 6? Just chop 2 cylinders off, job done

I guess it might be essentially a 911 turbo engine with two cylinders chopped off.

[clonmult]

I tend to like the sound of the Subaru flat 4 engine, definitely nothing like the bland sound of most 4 pots.

And definitely nothing wrong with the idea of a 4 cylinder Porsche - the 924/944/968 are cracking cars despite having what many here would count as insufficient cylinder counts.

[norman156]

If they want to go down the engine downsizing route perhaps they should have lopped of another cylinder, at least it would still sound a bit like a Porsche then...

[Ug_lee]

I can see the case for dropping down to a 4pot twin turbo for economy reasons, but hardly think it's going to be any lighter than the 6 cylinder offering especially with all the turbo pipework and ancilliaries.

Also if the Boxster/Cayman get 330+ easily boostable horsepower where does that leave the base 911? All I can see is horsepower+weight going up respectively.
Why not spend some of the development making the Boxster/Cayman lighter and reduce the power/capacity of the flat 6 but maintain the same performance and boost economy?