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.

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?

Yc911Kid

Thanks! This is great news!

subshooter

718RS?

worf928

718 Turbo S

jayson

Sales manager at my local dealer tried to talk me into going on the reservations list for the Cayman GTS 4.0 vs. GT4 when I asked about GT4 allocations.

tthellott T

I received the same info from my Porsche sale, suggesting 6-pots 4.0 in upcoming 718 GTS

LnC993

A very loud 718 Boxster? Can that be the test mule for that special Boxster anniversary edition?

Chester7

And what would be the real difference between the 4.0l GTS and 4.0l GT4? The suspension? If they further detune the 4.0l for the GTS, the Cayman S with 2.5 turbo will walk away from the GTS 4.0l - at any speed, not just out of slow corners. The logic just isn't there.

FazedChicken

Exactly. I currently have a 718 S and looking to get into a 718 GT4. My current 718 S is already basically the same speed as the GT4s in my run groups. They're nearly dead even on the straights.

NiteCrawlr

Not to mention the 4.0L engine probably increases the weight of the car by over 100lbs maybe? If detuned to 380hp it just doesn't make sense. About the same horsepower, less torque, more weight. I love the flat 6 sound but don't know if it would be the better car for me vs the current GTS which is also easily and safely tuneable for 50 more hp and torque across most of its rev band for around 2 grand.

But we will see. Porsche will probably somehow sucker me into buying one despite the logic for not.

jayson

Maybe they keep the performance the same but just market it as the softer / more streetable car? The GTS sitting on my dealers lot right now is stickered at $95k, that is pretty close to GT4 pricing as it is.

wizee

If they keep the same torque as the GT4 but neuter the top end (ie make it like the 981 GT4), that would keep it competitive with the 2.5T motor without encroaching on the GT4.

Chester7

Take away the top end, which is the only range where the GT4 is arguably stronger than the GTS? To sell how many cars worldwide? All while Porsche likely needs to spend its time engineering electric vehicles. And all to keep a few people happy. I think any good CFO would turn this business case down.

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.