Originally Posted by Chris3963

I was at the Nordschelife on Monday for a track day with my RS. Decided to stay over for the Tuesday because it was an industry test day and I thought I might see some interesting stuff.

There were two 718s pounding around the track all morning.

The first was a 718 Boxster GTS 4.0l and it sounded terrific. Indeed it was one of the loudest cars on the day. The curious thing was that it sounded very much like the GT3 engine especially the way it revel and howled through the forest. You could actually hear it from a long way away. More so than any other car on track.

I was actually a bit puzzled as to exactly what it was because it did not sound anything like the new 9A2 EVO engine...although I did notice that it had a US spec bumper so maybe it was a non-OPF car. Take listen and see what you think.

The second car was a Cayman....and again I wasn't entirely sure what this car was. It sounded like a cross between a 2.5 4cyl and the new 9A2 EVO 4.0l. It was much, much quieter than the Boxster. It was a more gruff sound and I could not swear whether it was a 4 or a 6cyl. Judge for yourself.

Originally Posted by wizee

It’s not a huge amount of development effort, given it’s just sticking an existing engine into an existing chassis, reusing the same transmission as present, and perhaps detuning in software. Everything bolts together - it’s just a matter of testing and certification, which isn’t necessarily cheap, but probably doable in the single digit millions range, or low double digit millions.

While the performance of such a car (detuned to say 385 PS like the old GT4) would not be very different from the existing GTS, that was never the issue with the current GTS to begin with. The issue is that many journalists and potential buyers have been complaining about the sound the four pot makes, and many buyers feel bad spending $90k+ on a four cylinder car, even if the 4 cylinder outperforms the old 6 cylinder. This particularly the case now when you can get a fully loaded C8 Corvette for less than that. I expect four pot 718 sales in North America to be poor over the remaining 2-3 years. A detuned 4L NA flat 6 would maintain similar performance to the current GTS, but with much better sound and sharper throttle response. I’m sure many people would like it much better than the 4 cylinder GTS.

Suppose adding the 6 cylinder GTS would allow them to sell an additional 5000 cars worldwide over 2-3 years (remaining production life of the 718). I think that’s quite plausible. Say for each car they make $20k profit when you ignore development costs. That’s an extra $100M to pay for trivial development and minimal additional certification effort. I can see it being worthwhile financially for them.

Originally Posted by Denny Swift

Thanks for posting, but I have to ask, why do you say, "The first was a 718 Boxster GTS 4.0l"? How do you know that it had a 4.0? Are you basing that on the sound? Why can't it be a 3.8??

Originally Posted by Denny Swift

Thanks for posting, but I have to ask, why do you say, "The first was a 718 Boxster GTS 4.0l"? How do you know that it had a 4.0? Are you basing that on the sound? Why can't it be a 3.8??

Originally Posted by Pokerhobo

It's unlikely Porsche would create yet another naturally aspirated engine for a relatively low sales lineup. The new 4.0 already meets expected future emissions requirements and AP has already said they didn't create a bespoke engine just for the GT4/Spyder.

Originally Posted by Loess

They both have orange side markers so both likely cars for NA. The Cayman sounds like a larger displacement turbo engine. It's been a while since they've done a special edition car to try to boost sales? Or maybe just testing possible new models as suggested before. 718 Turbo?