Photo: Carpix
Back in March, Porsche CEO Matthias Muller confirmed working on a four-cylinder boxer engine family. Alas, the CEO was tight-lipped regarding the details, only explaining the maximum output will sit somewhere in the 400 hp area. Well, the latest report comes to add quite a few pieces to this flat four puzzle, offering us the more precise outputs for these powerplants.
It seems like CAR magazine caught a glimpse at the new engine family’s spec sheet and they claim we’ll be dealing with three displacements. There will be a 2.0-liter flat four delivering 286 hp (290 PS) and a 2.5-liter boxer producing 360 hp (365 PS). The specific power values show these are turbocharged units and we can be pretty sure direct injection is also on the menu. Both powerplants are believed to share parts with the current flat six engine family.
Outside the Turbo badge, people are used to drive Porsches by pushing their engines close to the rev limit, as their natural aspiration requires that in order to extract the performance. Well, all that is about to change. We don’t have rpm data, but the peak torque values alone are something new for Porsche sportscars - the 2.0-liter unit should come with 295 lb-ft (400 Nm), while the 2.5-liter unit is expected to produce 347 lb-ft (470 Nm).
While the aforementioned figure probably don’t require any grain of salt, you should prepare some condiments for the third engine in the line-up. We’re talking about an entry-level 1.6-liter flat four, which should deliver 210 hp (213 PS).
The engineers may have produced the plans for the engine, but their colleagues failed to come up with a car for it. This unit was supposed to power the expected entry-level sports car of the VW Group, which should’ve had Porsche, VW and Audi representatives. Nonetheless, the project could be abandoned, after many years in which the VW Group hasn’t been sure about the profitability of such a project.
However, the two aforementioned flat fours will be mixed with the larger units available today in what will be Porsche’s version of downsizing.
Before we end, let's take a moment to remove all the prejudices regarding these upcoming Porsche engines. We see no problem with the units and there are quite a few reasons for this. Porsche has built four-cylinder in its past and they were nothing short of glorious.
Of course, turbos always brings sound-related concerns. Nonetheless, as the Subaru Impreza WRX (STI) has taught us over the years, this shouldn’t be a problem with a boxer.
As for the forced induction performance driving part, the Sport Plus model can keep the engines high in the rev range, where there’s no such thing as turbo lag. What the engineers have to do is work to completely eliminate lag in Normal mode.
The upcoming turbocharged flat four engine will go into the Boxster and Cayman, as well as into the 911, but their reach could spread even further.
Outside the Turbo badge, people are used to drive Porsches by pushing their engines close to the rev limit, as their natural aspiration requires that in order to extract the performance. Well, all that is about to change. We don’t have rpm data, but the peak torque values alone are something new for Porsche sportscars - the 2.0-liter unit should come with 295 lb-ft (400 Nm), while the 2.5-liter unit is expected to produce 347 lb-ft (470 Nm).
While the aforementioned figure probably don’t require any grain of salt, you should prepare some condiments for the third engine in the line-up. We’re talking about an entry-level 1.6-liter flat four, which should deliver 210 hp (213 PS).
The engineers may have produced the plans for the engine, but their colleagues failed to come up with a car for it. This unit was supposed to power the expected entry-level sports car of the VW Group, which should’ve had Porsche, VW and Audi representatives. Nonetheless, the project could be abandoned, after many years in which the VW Group hasn’t been sure about the profitability of such a project.
However, the two aforementioned flat fours will be mixed with the larger units available today in what will be Porsche’s version of downsizing.
Before we end, let's take a moment to remove all the prejudices regarding these upcoming Porsche engines. We see no problem with the units and there are quite a few reasons for this. Porsche has built four-cylinder in its past and they were nothing short of glorious.
Of course, turbos always brings sound-related concerns. Nonetheless, as the Subaru Impreza WRX (STI) has taught us over the years, this shouldn’t be a problem with a boxer.
As for the forced induction performance driving part, the Sport Plus model can keep the engines high in the rev range, where there’s no such thing as turbo lag. What the engineers have to do is work to completely eliminate lag in Normal mode.
The upcoming turbocharged flat four engine will go into the Boxster and Cayman, as well as into the 911, but their reach could spread even further.
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