Porsche are working on new turbocharged flat-four motors and an all-new model to be positioned below the Cayman, Car Magazine has discovered.
The market for compact and more affordable sports is growing globally. With emissions-control cracking down on displacement and number of cylinders at the same time, there still seems to be no compromise on power, which is actually going up instead, happily. A car like the Alfa Romeo 4C, which uses a 1,742cc turbo-four and makes 240 PS and 350 Nm can be a hoot! Why? It weighs only 900 kg. That gives it a power-to-weight ratio of 267 PS/tonne – a few hairs better than the Mercedes C63 AMG, which uses a 6,208cc V8 and makes 457 PS, and, not to forget, costs a lot more! The 4C also manages a 4.5 second 0-100 km/h dash and claimed top speed of over 250 km/h! That is the point. Having a track-day car may not make sense on a daily basis; having an everyday sportscar on the other hand can be very rewarding.
That’s what Porsche seem to be believing. Not only do they have two new flat-four turbos in the pipeline, they have an all-new model too. Believed to be called the 718, the compact sportscar will use lightweight engineering to be as low and agile as can be, while making it as frugal on fuel as possible. Not that the 911 GT3 isn’t light. We’re talking the next level, no more stripped out interiors and racing seats, but minimal weight with all the essentials. But, let’s get to the engines.
The two in question are a 1.6-litre flat-four with 210 PS and a larger 2.5-litre motor with 360 PS. The latter seems likely to replace the motors in the Boxster and Cayman. Those will mean some big changes as far as power delivery and peak torque are concerned. There are many reports which suggest outputs of up to 400 PS, but we will have to wait and see what Porsche announce when the time comes.
So far, since the 968 in 1995, the Macan will be the first of the current lot to receive a four-pot, albeit an inline motor. Of course, that’s apart from the 919 Hybrid’s turbocharged V4 doing duty in their Le Mans racer! The turbo-four in the Macan, based on the Golf GTI motor, makes 236 PS and 350 Nm of torque and is paired to the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) 7-speed twin-clutch automatic transmission. Since both the petrol and diesel V6 models carry the ‘S’ badge, it’s safe to assume that the Macan and Macan Diesel will sport four-cylinder motors. The Macan will go on sale in India later this year.
Story: Jim Gorde
