Future Porsche Boxsters and Caymans Will Get More Punch From Fewer Cylinders
March 21, 2014 by Steve Siler



In the future, Caymans like this and sister-model Boxsters will be available with four-cylinders.

Porsche’s engine downsizing strategy will bring a four-cylinder boxer engine to the next generation of its junior sports-car lineup, the Boxster and the Cayman. So said the man at the top of Porsche, Matthias Müller, to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport magazine in an article published yesterday. Following in Porsche’s tradition of horizontally opposed engines, the new mill will really put the “bang” in “four-banger.” Making up to 395 horsepower, according to the report, the four-cylinder will produce well more power than the naturally aspirated 2.7-liter and 3.4-liter engines in today’s Boxster and Cayman models, the most powerful of which (in the just-announced Cayman GTS) produces 340 horses.

“We will continue with the downsizing strategy and develop a new four-cylinder boxer engine, which will see service in the next-generation Boxster and Cayman,” Müller told the magazine. “We will not separate ourselves from efforts to reduce CO2.”

We reported on Porsche’s four-cylinder inklings last year as rumblings about the engine became audible on the internet. At that point, we estimated that power output could range from 250 horses from a naturally aspirated version to more than 350 for a turbo, and reminded our readers that Porsche has a long history of putting four-cylinder engines in some of its most vibrant production and racing models from the 356/550 to the 912 to the 968.

Porsche’s new flat-four engines: from 1.6/210bhp to 2.5/360bhp

By Georg Kacher Spy shots 02 June 2014 http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Secret-...25-and-360bhp/

Porsche is developing a new family of four-cylinder boxer engines for its next generation of sports cars. Yes, the downsizing push is affecting even Porsche – and horizontally opposed four-pot motors as small as 1.6 litres are on the drawing board in Zuffenhausen. The horizontally opposed engine layout will obviously cut CO2 and boost economy, yet keep a genetic link to the famous flat-six engines which have powered the 911 for decades. Don't forget 2014's Porsche 919 Hybrid Le Mans racecar also uses a four-cylinder engine, albeit a V4.

Subaru is the only other car manufacturer to build flat-four engines, which typically have a charismatic soundtrack as evidenced on the Impreza family over the years. Porsche flat-four engines: CAR has seen spec data on the new flat-four project, suggesting it will come in three different displacements and power outputs:

Porsche 1.6 flat four 210bhp
Porsche 2.0 flat four 286bhp
Porsche 2.5 flat four 360bhp

Naturally, with power outputs that high, the four-pots are turbocharged, as well as breathing through direct injection. Hence the power and torque outputs are punchy enough to justify the Porsche badge. The 2.0 horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine develops 295lb ft, while the 2.5 cranks that up to 347lb ft. Which Porsches will get four-cylinder horizontally opposed engines?

There is uncertainty over the smallest flat-four, the 1.6. It was originally conceived to be part of the ‘baby Boxster’, codenamed 551 and could have gone on to power the sister VW and Audi sports cars. But the 2.0 and 2.5 engines are confirmed and much of today’s Porsche line-up will eventually be offered with the larger-displacement units, as tastes and taxation systems increasingly favor lower-emissions engines.

According to CAR’s sources, the Boxster/Cayman and Cayenne will get the flat-fours first. A six-speed manual or seven-speed twin-cluch PDK transmission will be offered.