Boxer eight on the cards for Porsche

Porsche is working on a horizontally opposed eight-cylinder boxer engine with an output approaching 450kW for a future flagship model.

At least this is what British magazine Autocar is claiming as it lists a number of developments currently under way with the German high-performance car manufacturer.

The eight-cylinder engine is intended to take up residence in a new Ferrari 458-challenging Porsche supercar, believed to carry the development name 988, that will take the step upwards that is thought to be necessary if the company is to compete directly with the Italian brand.

Quoting comments by Porsche engineers some years ago that the six-cylinder boxer layout reaches its limitations at around 4.2 litres, Autocar says that, with an eight-cylinder configuration, the company is leaving itself headroom to significantly lift future output (and capacity) potentials.

This is in spite of the belief the new boxer eight is currently planned as a 4.0-litre – although it is believed an output of up to 450kW will make it stronger by around 25kW than the larger-capacity 4.5-litre V8 seen in the Ferrari 458 Italia.

Little appears to be known yet about the shape of the 988, although a number of speculative sketches have been produced, and it's possible it could take some styling cues from the 918 Spyder (concept pictured).

The suggestion has been made that the 988 could be aiming for a global launch in 2017 – in the same time period it introduces new modular architecture that will underpin all rear and mid-engine Porsche models.

In addition to the boxer eight engined 988, Porsche is also said to be working on a 2.0-litre four-cylinder boxer turbo for next-generation Boxster/Cayman models with outputs as high as 295kW accompanied by reduced Co2 emissions and improved fuel economy compared with the current boxer six engines.