Porsche Four-Cylinder Engines: From the 356 to the 718

By Adam Pockross - February 24, 2016

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We know that Porsche is officially saying goodbye to the Boxster’s old 2.7-liter flat-six and hello to the 2.0-liter and 2.5-liter turbocharged flat-fours in the 718 Boxster and Boxster S. And the new performance reports are helping us to forget the old (never) and celebrate the new (kind of). But in celebrating the new, it’s good to remember that Porsche has a long and storied history with four-cylinder engines.

Top Gear recently gave us such a lesson with their “Brief History of 4cyl Porsches” slideshow. They start by going back to the beginning in 1948, with Porsche’s first production car, the 356. Every single 356 boasted four cylinders, in one configuration or the other, even the early versions that rocked the modified VW Beetle’s flat-four.

From there, TG looks at the Porsche 912’s 1.6-liter flat four, which bridged the 356 with the 911, and the 914 with the 924. Then came the 914, which used the VW Type 4’s existing 1.7-liter flat four. Onward and upward through to the 924, which was also developed along with Volkswagen, putting the 2.0-liter four-cyl to good use, along with many other VW parts. Next came the 944 and its new 2.5-liter inline four, which was one of the fastest four-bangers around when configured in the 1988 944 Turbo S. The 968 and its giant 3.0-liter marked the end of the four-cylinder road, other than the Porsche Macan, which borrowed a 2.0-liter turbo from the Golf GTI.

Now, the 718s are reviving Porsche’s once strong four-cylinder history, albeit in turbo form. And with the Boxster and Boxster S both getting a healthy HP bump, it’s hard not to be excited about Porsche’s four-cylinder future, even if we will miss the naturally aspirated past.