I agree that it definitely costs more to produce and hence would command a higher fee than the older 3.8L.
The second point you state is probably the more significant reason and putting a 4.0L engine from a 150K $ car into a car that costs a 100K $ would not be very well received by the customers who purchased the 150K $ cars. I am not saying porsche will put the 4.0L in the GT3 but was just stating that the 30K $/ 40K $ difference that everyone keeps throwing around for the GT3 engine should really not be that much and the costs will only keep reducing as they produce more of them.

The engine in the overrated BMW M4 GTS which stickered for 135K $ base is really an iteration/version of the 3.0 L S55 which will soon be powering the BMW M2 Competition which is expected to cost around 60K $. We all agree that the legacy water induction technology in the M4 GTS is not worth 75K $. BMW will surely advertise the M2 as having a de-tuned engine and all that but a majority of the components will still be the same. Most people who purchased the M4 GTS/CS or even the base M4 are not going to complain.

The GT2 RS has a version of the engine that powers the turbo S but there is almost a 150K $ difference in prices because the car is marketed differently. Porsche could do the same and "de-tune" the 4.0L engine and also take out some of the bespoke parts and price the GT4 in the 90s and I am sure most people will not complain because the car will be making about 20% less power, will probably not rev to 9K and will not have the same parts that make the 4.0L in the GT3 so special.

 

Titanium con rods are titanium con rods, whether you build 1000 or 5000.

I'd love to see it, but I just question whether Porsche's gonna put a high cost dry sump Motorsport engine into its mid range sports car and convertible.

 

I am really hoping this is what will happen.

Here's an older thread where someone was trying to buy a 997 GT3 crate motor:
https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...nd-tranny.html

That's retail of under 40K $ for the whole engine. It is from the last generation car but still....

 

The 997 Mezgers were knownly expensive to buy. The New DFI motors are supposed to be less money to buy which is what motorsports customers wanted.

 

My fear is they sandbag the internals on the GT3 engine for the GT4. We might not get the good stuff...

 

Mercedes AMG M177 & M178 -- GT S and C63 S

 

This whole 4.0 from the GT3 but detuned to 420hp is just marketing speak. That's like saying the last GT4 had the GT3 3.8 just detuned to 385hp. The block and maybe a few accessories were the same but that was about it. The difference from the 991S 3.8 was smaller tb, intake, and tune. The difference from the GT3 3.8 was a lot more. Good thing too since it saved us from the finger follower issues. In the 981/991 gen a crate GT3 3.8 was something like twice the price of the standard 3.8. I'm not saying a 420hp na flat 6 718 GT4 isn't exciting, it is, but Porsche simply dropping in a GT3 engine with a smaller tb and charging less sounds like a pipe dream.

 

 

There is nothing magical about a dry sump and solid lifters.............you have to look at benchmarks. Look at the 981GT4 relative to the 991 Series 1.............

 

 

Well, not counting the GT3 and GT3RS, there are 21 different iterations of the 911 available for purchase currently...

 

 

 

A corvette C7 crate engine with the dry sump is 12K $. Not sure what Porsche pays for their parts and I agree that the GT4 engine will not get the bespoke parts of the 4.0L in the GT3 but those same parts are not as special or expensive as porsche would lead us to believe.

Also, i remember reading that the 991.2 GT3 has 7 pumps to keep the oil flowing optimally. That is a lot of pumps and more things that could go wrong.
With a lower redline, it might not need that many pumps and also save some costs.

 

Porsche can get away with putting the "same" engine with less output in a different, lower cost package because they are marketing the GT4 as the little brother to the GT3 with slower lap times, 0-60, etc. Customers are buying the "whole" package (perforance, styling, marketing, image, etc) and many will accept that they paid more because they have the better, more prestigious car. Some may be upset with a GT4 w/ 4.0L and that may be why they delayed releasing it in Geneva. For the 981GT4, Porsche needed to produce it with output between 375-400hp to beat the 981GTS so they looked around and saw the 3.8L and 4.0L already in their lineups. And since they can get to 385 easily with the 3.8L, the decision was easy. Today, the engine lineup for output of 400-435hp is either 4.0L or 3.0T so unless they go turbo (please NO), then a detuned 4.0L is most likely.

As Gatte mentioned, economies of scales. Although I doubt the savings from scale would cover the increase cost of material from steel to titanium so I agree with you. IMHO, it'll be the GT3 4.0L block with NO coating, less advanced/rigid valvetrain, smaller TB, steel rods, dry sump making 420-425. The lack of coating and less efficient intake system will force rpm down to 8k max and Porsche will say they had to shrink the intake to fit in the 781 engine bay.