The Porsche Cayman And Boxster Will Each Get A New Name And Four-Pot Engine For 2016

Porsche has confirmed some serious changes to its entry-level sports cars for 2016. Here's everything you need to know...
The Porsche Cayman And Boxster Will Each Get A New Name And Four-Pot Engine For 2016

The return of the 718

The Porsche Cayman And Boxster Will Each Get A New Name And Four-Pot Engine For 2016

Porsche has announced that for 2016 the Boxster and Cayman names will both be prefixed with the iconic ‘718’ moniker. The 718 designation originally belonged to a successful Porsche race car, which was built between 1957 and 1962 as a replacement for the infamous 550. The 718 was highly innovative for the period with its mid-engined layout, and it achieved considerable success on track, winning the 1959 Targa Florio.

Now, all this information on a classic race car doesn’t seem very important in isolation. I mean, the Boxster and Cayman were not originally built with racing in mind, so why attach a racing moniker? Well, by using the numerical designation from a classic racer, Porsche has the opportunity to present the cars in a different light. After all, despite being celebrated sports cars, these two are often labelled as the Porsches bought by those that couldn’t quite stretch to a 911.

Now, as car enthusiasts we know that rationale is a lot of rubbish, and that in fact, models such as the GT4 can provide an even better driving experience than its bigger brother, the 911. But subliminally, perhaps the alphabetic names separated the cars from the more ‘serious’ 911 and 918. At least by adding the 718 to the Boxster and Cayman title, they fall into line with the more serious Porsches.

Porsche has also taken this opportunity to reposition the Boxster above the Cayman in terms of price, following the same trend as the convertible and coupe 911s.

Flat-sixes are out, flat-fours are in

The old flat-six
The old flat-six

The 718 was a lightweight, four-cylinder, mid-engined sports car, and that four-pot detail is another aspect which links to the 2016 Boxster and Cayman. Stuttgart’s intentions of dropping four-cylinder engines into the cars have been clear for the last couple of years, and now we finally have confirmation.

Statistics for the Cayman have not yet been released. But we know that the 718 Boxster is to receive a 2.0-litre turbocharged flat-four, which should put out around 261bhp (258lb ft) in the base model and 311bhp (295lb ft) in the S according to reports. With this level of power we can expect the S model to produce a not too shabby sub-five second 0-62mph time.

The Porsche Cayman And Boxster Will Each Get A New Name And Four-Pot Engine For 2016

Downsizing also brings with it some considerable benefits. We can expect these new models to be the most economical sports cars that the German firm has ever produced. And they will also be significantly lighter than the outgoing models, helping performance in every measurable area.

Now if all this news about four cylinders is making purists weep, do not fear. Allegedly Porsche’s six-cylinder engines will make a return, but will be limited to the range-topping models of the two cars, including the future 718 Cayman GT4.

In its press release Porsche has also made a big deal out of its Le Mans success, stating the 919 has been a perfect platform to test technology for future production models. For example, “combining combining two different energy recovery systems with a two-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine” has allowed them to develop the technology further. This is clearly a strong hint that we can expect to see a hybrid Cayman or Boxster in the not too distant future.

The Porsche Cayman And Boxster Will Each Get A New Name And Four-Pot Engine For 2016

So far Porsche has been one of the only manufacturers to successfully introduce electric power steering and paddle shift transmissions to its most extreme models without corrupting the driving experience to an excessive degree. So even though we will morn the loss of soulful flat-six, hopefully the 718 Boxster and Cayman will be class leading cars when they are released next year.

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Comments

TaTa_R

Please let them put a 2.5 liter inline 4 in that cayman, that would be gorgeous

12/10/2015 - 13:58 |
5 | 9
Boosted Boris

In reply to by TaTa_R

Inline 4? are you kidding us?

12/10/2015 - 14:21 |
25 | 2
suckingnozzles

Cost?!

12/10/2015 - 14:05 |
5 | 0

For my budget there will most likely only be some kind of expensive paintjob 😢

12/10/2015 - 17:23 |
4 | 0

Unaffordable :))

12/11/2015 - 14:03 |
0 | 0
🇮🇩Mk7Golfer 🇦🇺

.

12/10/2015 - 14:09 |
6 | 17

Only of late has Porsche not done 4cyls- 912, 718, 914, 924, 944, 968 were all either flat or in-line fours. It’s part of their history. Even the 919 LM racer has a 2 litre V4

12/10/2015 - 14:22 |
21 | 0

some people won’t cry about that. I’m good with an 4cylinder.

12/10/2015 - 15:55 |
7 | 0
Anonymous

2 lires inline 4 is not a box(t)er, how did Porsche think?

12/10/2015 - 15:45 |
1 | 3
James Leeder

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

“But we know that the 718 Boxster is to receive a 2.0-litre turbocharged flat-four

So it will still be a boxer!

12/10/2015 - 16:19 |
9 | 0
Anonymous

I don’t know how to feel about that 718 branding. Boxster and Cayman became two iconic names for me at least, they can keep them in my opionion.

12/10/2015 - 16:10 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

They are keeping them. 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster.

12/11/2015 - 00:58 |
0 | 0
ValveLiftMan

They should offer the turbo flat-six from the new base Carrera.

12/10/2015 - 16:25 |
0 | 0
ejohns67

I guess they’ve finally given in…

12/10/2015 - 16:42 |
2 | 0
RedWattsonn

I hope they’ll still offer an N/A flat six for the GTS models. At least an N/A flat four. Natural aspiraton and the linear response are what made the Porsches great. I know that they’re perfectly capable of wizardry to perfect the response of turbo engines, but please, Porsche. And, no turbo Porsche engine will ever howl like the N/A models.

12/10/2015 - 16:50 |
3 | 0

Turbo is futur so deal with it!

12/10/2015 - 17:24 |
3 | 3
james009510

Government regulations is killing a lot of good engines; first the LS7, then Ferrari’s NA V8, now Porsche’s NA flat-six. Hope they can at least make it as decent as the 944 Turbo was.

12/10/2015 - 17:11 |
12 | 0

It’s Porsche. It will still be superb.

12/10/2015 - 18:01 |
21 | 0
Anonymous

Isnt part what made the cayman and boxter a success the engine? If they were going to bring back flat fours why not do it on a new FR platform and bring back 944 Turbo moniker.

12/10/2015 - 17:25 |
1 | 0