Four Cylinder Boxser by 2011
- Thread starter T200
- Start date
berty987
New member
Theres been a lot of speculation about a 4 cylinder turbo or supercharged boxster. So far the only "official" press releases on the matter have denied any plans to produces such as car. The VW bluesport is however a real model that parent company VW plan to produce, working mock ups are already constructed and some mags have been able to drive the develoment cars. I think its mainly hopeful speculation that the mid engine 4 cylinder layout will be replicated in a porsche. To be honest I find it difficult to see why porsche need a cheaper model, the boxster is already selling well against rivals such as the audi TT and BMW Z4 which can be bought for less. It seems a flawed business model to try and sell a re engineered VW bluesport as a Porsche asking for more money. Admittedly it goes on already with he Tourareg and Cayenne but only becuase neither porsche or VW had an off road 4x4. If this engine is added to the porsche boxster range as an alternative it will in many cases detract from why people buy the boxster. The classic porsche flat six soundtrack at cheaper money than a 911was for me was a big draw. Porsche already make two engine variants in the boxster, I see no need to introduce a third , especially as it will potentially outgun the traditional flat six variants. Possibly porsche beleive they have made a mistake by creating the boxster with so much of the DNA from the 911 , the plan to introduce a 4 cyliner engine may be a way of nudging more potential boxster owners into 911's instead ? I'm not aware of their being production issues with making large numbers of the new Dfi engine , so I dont believe the 4 cylinder is a way of reducign the load on making flat six units to keep up with demand. Whatever the outcome i'm sure the guys at Porsche marketing will be wathching the press and listening to the reaction very intently.
The theory goes Porsche plan to move the next Boxster/Kman ranges further up market in both size, performance and price therefore leaving a bigger gap between the also rans like the Z4, TT, SLK all who have a 4 cylinder base car in there ranges
If Porsche do go for a bit of badge engineering I trust they have the sense to rename the new entry model especially if the rumours are true about moving the existing ranges a bit closer to the current 911 price wise [
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If Porsche do go for a bit of badge engineering I trust they have the sense to rename the new entry model especially if the rumours are true about moving the existing ranges a bit closer to the current 911 price wise [
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http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=500503
Not much is known about the flat-four engine at this stage, but Porsche sales and marketing boss Klaus Bening told Autocar earlier this year "That there is a clear trend towards downsizing, using smaller powerplants and supercharging. We will find our own conclusion to downsizing".
Using today's flat six as a starting point, a new flat-four engine would come in at just over 1900cc and could use either a light-pressure turbo or a supercharger. The light-pressure turbo set-up is already said to be under development for 2012's 911.
It's highly likely that such a unit would be good for about 250bhp. That's virtually the same as today's entry-level Boxster, although fuel economy would surely be better.
However, there's little chance that the 356 and Boxster will clash because, according to one rumoured product plan, the next-generation Boxster and Cayman could be moved sharply upmarket.
Porsche has a financial problem with today's Boxster/Cayman/911 line-up. According to an analyst's report seen by Autocar, the cost of the components that make up one of the flat-six models is perilously close to the base price of a Boxster.
Indeed, the entry-level Boxster is only just over half the price of an entry-level 911, despite the two cars costing a similar sum to make.
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