Launched in 1996, the Porsche Boxster is one of the longest lasting Stuttgart creations. Its debut precedes that of the Cayenne by six years and the Panamera by a massive thirteen. The little roadster is credited with saving Porsche's bottom line in a time of hardship and yet nobody really gives it the respect it deserves.
Blogs from across the world are tripping over themselves to act offended by the fact that flat-4 turbo engines will soon mark the downsizing of its engines. "They're killing natural aspiration just like they're doing to the manual gearbox and the Mitsubishi Evo," they say.
But it's time to get off the high horse and admit that what Porsche is doing is very normal. These two videos were shot by our friend DrGumoLunatic in a district of Stuttgart show the 2016 Boxster prototypes testing their 4-cylinder turbo engines. The world isn't coming to an end and satan's creatures aren't flowing from the ground the cars "steps" on. When it's ready, the updated Boxster will still be a very sexy, very fast 2-seater that you can't afford. Nothing more, nothing less.
And that's because this is just another sportscar being powered by a turbo engine, admittedly one that's horizontally opposed. Many companies have recently changed their best cars to accommodate turbochargers. For example, BMW doesn't have a single naturally aspirated engine any more. This, mind you, is a company that used to make fun of of its rivals for using the stuff.
What's more, all Mercedes AMGs except for two (SLK and C-Coupe) now use turbos; so does the new Clio RS… and the next Honda NSX… and the next Ferrari V8 supercar.
So how about it: can we let Porsche do its work and give us better economy and more torque?
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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