Bruce Newton•28 Jun 2013
NEWS
Porsche boxer four under development
But four-cylinder turbo-petrol Macan has been scratchedPorsche is developing boxer four-cylinder engines for the Boxster and Cayman sports cars but has decided against offering a widely predicted four-cylinder turbo-petrol version of its forthcoming 2014 Macan compact SUV.
Confirmation of Porsche’s four-cylinder green and red lights was made by the company’s global CEO Matthias Mueller during the launch of the updated Panamera luxury liftback range in Germany this week.
“It [four-cylinder] is the discussion we have with Boxster and Cayman,” Mueller told motoring.com.au.
“We are developing a four-cylinder boxer engine and maybe we will have this engine in the next generation Cayman and Boxster.”
The Porsche chief said the move to add four-cylinder engines to the mid-engined coupe and convertible – which have always been exclusively boxer-six powered - was being driven by ever-tightening emissions and fuel economy legislation.
The issue has been emphasised by the European parliament’s approval this week of 95g CO2/km average fleet emissions to be introduced from 2020.
“On the one hand it’s frustrating,” admitted Mueller, “but we have to accept the world is changing and the interpretation of a sports car could change a little bit.
“The innovation of engine development is such that also four-cylinders can make a lot of fun, in terms of performance, in terms of sound, in terms of everything.”
The rumours of four-cylinder boxers for the current 981 Cayman (pictured) and Boxster have been circulating for some time. Early this year media reports tipped a Geneva show debut, which proved false.
More recently a rash of stories has emerged naming September’s Frankfurt show as the launch venue for Cayman and Boxster boxer fours.
However Porsche insiders have scotched those stories too. The company is determined nothing will distract from the launch of the 918 Spyder supercar, while the debut of the 991 911 Turbo will provide a pretty impressive support act.
It’s most likely the arrival of revisions as fundamental as four-cylinder engines would come at the mid-life makeover. Boxster and Cayman lifespans are set to eight years with the midlife coming in the fourth year of the cycle. So that would be 2016 for the current Boxster and 2017 for the Cayman.
And while Mueller talked about the “next generation” Boxster and Cayman, Porsche often refers to midlife updates as being a ‘generation II’. Also, with engine development confirmed to be underway a two to three year timeline makes more sense than six or seven years.
Whenever the boxer four does appear it is tipped to be a turbocharged 2.5-litre unit based on the 3.4-litre boxer six used in Boxster, Cayman and 911.
Hybridisation is also coming under increasingly serious review for Porsche’s sports car line-up, and the four-cylinder would make a logical partner for electric assistance. Certainly, there would be space, as the engine bay would still have to accommodate the longer six-cylinder as well.
Meanwhile, Porsche had been widely expected to offer a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine as the entry-point to Audi Q5-based Macan lineup. However, Mueller confirmed that would not be the case. Instead only a four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbo-diesel will be offered.
“We will have a four-cylinder diesel engine in the Macan and six cylinder combustion [petrol] engines,” Mueller confirmed. “The car will be positioned very high above the Q5 and also price-wise. Then we have to see whether we get new customers and what kind of customers these are and so on.”
It is understood there was concern within Porsche that appropriate performance could not be extracted from the Audi-sourced turbo-petrol engine.
Instead it appears the petrol choices will include naturally-aspirated and bi-turbo versions of the company’s new 60 degree 3.0-litre V6 and the plug-in hybrid just launched in the Panamera. A 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 is also likely.
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Written byBruce Newton
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