Porsche 718 series names for Cayman and Boxster, and return of the turbo 4

Porsche has announced that its smallest sports cars, the Cayman and Boxster, would undergo a name change, getting a 718 prefix to their names, to make 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster.

Cayman and Boxster twins

The Boxster and Cayman are roadster and coupé versions of each other.  While Porsche markets the Cayman with very slightly more power than the equivalent Boxster model, it is also price higher. 

In the car world a coupé is more expensive than the sedan or hatch it is based on, and a roadster or any cabriolet is more expensive than the coupé it is based on, where applicable.  So why then has Porsche confused things?  The company says the Cayman is more of a driver’s car than the Boxster, but not everyone agrees – a small roadster just adds to the driving sensations, because the moment the roof hits its hiding spot co-incides with the delicious delight of the Porsche exhaust sound to be better heard, and the wind-in-the-hair, and the look of freedom.

Why go through the trouble of engineering (programming) the same set of engines with ever so slightly different power outputs?  On the 2.7-litre base and the 3.4-litre S models, the Cayman has a negligible 7kW and 10Nm more than the Boxster – to see the numbers:  Boxster has 195kW and 280Nm, while the same-engined Cayman has 202kW and 290Nm, while Boxster S gets 232 and 360, but Cayman S 239 and 370. GTS?  Boxster GTS 243/370 vs Cayman GTS 250/380.  Surely Boxster Spyder and Cayman GT4 share the same power from their 3.8-litre 911-sourced engine?  No.  276 and 283, but 420Nm for both.  Unnecessarily complicated.

Order is being restored now, as the new 718 names will see the re-introduction of a new engine (see next paragraph) where both 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster will have the same power and torque outputs.

Pricing will fall into the correct order as well, as is done with Porsche 911 coupé and cabriolet:  coupé Cayman, then roadster Boxster.  This will also help market perception of the Boxster, putting an end to the image question of why the roadster is cheaper than the coupé, when anyone can see these are twins.

Return of the turbo 4

The rich Porsche archive shows the most recent 4-cylinder turbo engines were found in cars like the 944 turbo.  Since then all Porsche sports cars have had the pleasure of some form of the boxer-6 Porsche engine – a legend.

The evolution of the turbo in smaller engines, with the power and efficiency that have been achieved with 4-cylinder turbocharged engines, have fellow German car makes introduce this engine configuration in their roadsters.  OK, the Audi TT has always been available with a turbo 4, which Audi likes a lot, while Mercedes SLK and BMW Z4 have their 2.0 turbo 4-cyl offerings.

Oh, a flat-4?

Yes, Porsche is so good at building the boxer a.ka. flat engine, the new 4-cylinder will keep this horizontal practical arrangement.  No size or output figures of this new engine have been given, and it is not revealed whether these Porsche mid-engined sports cars will have the flat-4 as a replacement of the howling flat-6, so let’s hope the Porsche 4s will sound good… but it cannot emulate a 6, so let’s hope some more that a turbo flat-6 will find its way into the Cayman/Boxster duo, as it did with the 911 facelift recently.  This kind of engine in the mid-engined twins would be able to challenge the turbo 6’es of its country counterparts:  the top-of-the-range BMW Z4 sDrive35is with its 250kW 500Nm 3.0 straight-6 turbo engine, and the just-revealed Mercedes-AMG SLC43 (SLK would-be facelift was renamed SLC) with its 3.0 V6 turbo in AMG-tuned 270kW and 520Nm.  Are you reading this, Porsche?

Why 718?

4-cylinder flat engines have a way-back history with Porsche:  the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder had a successor in the late 1950s, called the Porsche 718.  It was compelling in races at Sebring and the European Hill Climb Championship, where it prevailed against more powerful competitors.  The Porsche 718 took 3 wins in 1959 and 1960 in the Targa Florio race.

The current Boxster was introduced to market in January 2012, followed by the Cayman in December 2012 overseas.  Could this timing mean the 718 name change will also see a facelift of this pair of Porsches? 

The Porsche South Africa website is at www.porsche.com/middle-east/southafrica/