Breaking News: Porsche Confirms 4cyl Boxsters And Caymans

The sweet sound of a six-cylinder boxer engine is a Porsche trademark, but it's one you won't be able to enjoy in the Boxster and Cayman for much longer. In an interview with Motor und Sport magazine, Porsche boss Matthias Müller confirmed that the next generation of Boxster and Cayman will drop to four-cylinders and gain turbo power.

The days of six-cylinder engines in Boxsters and Caymans look to be numbered

The new units will still be of a horizontally-opposed boxer variety, as part of a new modular engine architecture. Outputs of "up to 400ps [395bhp]" were promised by Müller, which presumably means all Boxsters and Caymans will be powered by the new four-pots, rather than just the lower, non-S versions.

With most manufacturers downsizing engines and adding turbochargers for ever-tightening emissions regulations, it's not exactly a surprising move, but as big fans of the sonorous boxer-six noise, it's a sad thing to learn. The news comes just two days after more powerful GTS versions of the current Boxster and Cayman were unveiled.