Porsche Boxster and Cayman Get 4-Cylinder Boxer Turbo Power and Historic 718 Number

By Henny Hemmes
Senior European Editor

THE HAGUE - December 13, 2015: In the course of 2016, the mid-engine sports cars Porsche Boxster and Porsche Cayman will get a facelift, while their names will be enhanced with the number 718, a reference to the models of the year 1957.

In the new 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman, the 2.7-liter six-cylinder naturally-aspirated flat sixes in the current 981-models will be replaced by 2.0-liter four-cylinder boxer engines combined with turbo charging technology. As far as we know the engine has 240 hp. The S models will get a 2.5-liter variant with around 300 hp and the GTS will get a 370 hp version.

Porsche’s four-cylinder boxer engines have a rich history in racing. In the late fifties, the flat four powered the Porsche 718, an open-cockpit race car that was built between 1957 and 1962 and was also known as RSK. It was the evolution of the famous 550 race car, indeed, the model that brought Porsche its first victory in a major sports car race and which James Deans fatally crashed on the road. The 718 became even more successful.

The first generation Boxster (986) was designed by Harm Lagaay, the Dutch design chief, who was inspired by the 356 Cabrio and the 550 Spyder. It was introduced as a 1997 model and the first road-ready roadster since the 550 Spyder. The Cayman was introduced in 2006 and is a coupe based on the third generation Boxster that was launched in 2012. The new 718 Cayman will be repositioned in the market and will be lower priced than the 718 Boxster, just like the coupe and roadster models of the 911.

Porsche has not released any further information, but expect the new models to make their world premiere at the Salon de l’Automobile in Geneva in the beginning of March.