fast1

Like my Audi TT Roadster (v6, 6MT, s-line) these cars are rarely seen on the road,

I understand that neither car is a big seller, but the Audi's deficiency is that it's built on a VW Gulf platform. Granted that Audi has done a good job tweaking it to get the performance they do, but it has some serious shortcomings. The 981's problem is its price, which makes the 718's significant price increase all the more surprising.

Underblu

Porsche did what they needed to do performance wise to somewhat mitigate the fact that the car is now a 4 banger turbo. Question is will it be enough

The reason why for so many this is a downgrade is the fact that a flat 6 is the quintessential Porsche engine. It is iconic to the mark and is probabaly one of the reasons why the Boxster and a Cayman have endured where many other non 911 sports cars have had fairly short shelf lives. The 991 and 981 as well as previous generations of each shared the same engine which is an integral part of a cars DNA. This is probably why Porsche felt it so compelling to detune the Boxster Cayman versions of the engine to ensure no performance overlap.

Now with the 4 cylinder engine there is less of need to; vis a vis, the 944 turbo and the Carrera of the day.

My only thought is that Porsche should've gone much further design wise with the 718. The subtle tweaks like em dislike em are still very subtle. The 718 looks like a 981. If the 718 is supposed to evoke the past 718 and represent a new series for the mid engine porsche platform then far more distinctive styling clues from the historic 718 should have be implemented in the new 718. The possibilities for Porsche to tap this part of their heritage are incredible rich and it really seems they missed the boat here.

A new 718 that bares a similar resemblance to the historic 718 much the same way the 991 bares a similar resemblance to the first 911 could've been a runaway hit for Porsche. 4 cylinder turbo or not. Now the 718 looks like just a another 981 Boxster except with a 4 cylinder engine.

Phil G.

Absolutely loved my TT roadster. Wonderful AWD system, great engine note, silky short throw 6 speed, and beautiful 19" RS4 style wheels. I didn't see those as shortcomings. Is the 981 a superior machine? Sure, but no serious issues with 7 years of ownership. Just time to move on. For what you get with the 981S for base of $63K I don't see the price as an impediment. The Audi was $52K fully loaded and worth it. I just don't get your post.

Chris3963

It seems that the 987 is being held out as some kind of style icon when in fact, IMHO, it was a seriously compromised car design wise. Largely due the the fact that Porsche were forced to reuse the whole front section of 997 from and including the doors forward due to cost constraints. Sure that made some changes to headlights, etc, but the whole from architecture was that same.

This handcuffed the designers significantly. It was not until the 981 came along that the designers were much freer to do a lot more with the car. E.g the doors are different shape and design. As a result, it is a far more balanced design with better proportions and much greater road presence.

And one more thing. It seems that some people think the 718 is a completely new car. It's not. The 718 is still a 981 and retains the 981 numbering system. Essentially it is 981.2 i.e. just a face lift (albeit a reasonably significance one).

Underblu

I agree the 981 is far and away the best looking Boxster and maybe the best looking production Porsche.

I believe the 718 is considered the 982. Regardless of how it is noted internally at Porsche the car is being marketed as the new 718 Boxster and therefore imho worthy of a significantly greater facelift.

Chris3963

The 718 is a 981 just like the latest 911 is a 991. The 718 number will remain unchanged for future models just like the 911 name. The underlying model number (981) will change to a new number when the next gen comes out with a new architecture in around 3 years time.

n4v4nod

Hi Chris, I thought that as well, but others have discovered otherwise. In the configurator see the model number:

Chris3963

I stand corrected.

xpensivewino

I think too much is being made of the 4 cylinder aspect. Porsche is a company built on 4 cylinder engines. It's superiorly reliable, yet complex engines of the 50's and 60's were the platform for all the 6 cylinder variants. The flat 6 is certainly an icon, but given the experience Porsche has with 4 cylinder power plants, I'm sure the engine is quite an engineering marvel.

jeanrabelais

I was just studying the new 718 build site and it is nice on paper. The only thing was I built up out a dream car and looked at the price and I thought I'd rather have a Spyder. But it did make me very curious about the future GTS and Spyder iterations of the 718 and their respective costs and HP numbers.

Phil G.

My guess is GTS will be a 4cyl with a few more hp than the S. I think you won't see Spyders for a while after the current model run.

SingallZ

I've owned many, many, turbo'd flat 4's over the years and I've always looked at them as compromises on a path towards owning a Porsche. Now that I've heard the new car I can't stop hearing that old motor and compromise. I'm sure after a tune and a "stage 2" exhaust it'll blow the doors off my CGTS, but I won't care.

Sorry for going slightly off topic, I was disappointed to see the move to 4 cylinder and had to get this off my chest.

taibo

pretty sure the pse is 'standard equip'. it makes the fearsome four sound fearsome.

shewu

PSE is coming later this year.

chriswd62

Did I miss something, or is there no Sport Chrono package?