user1029

it's official! end.all.speculation.

O5C4R

Funny that, just recently when I dropped off the GT4 for a new gear box the sales guy I always deal with told me the GT4 RS is 100% happening in 2018 and will have a PDK option, so my name is down

calvinchan

I heard from my dealer that it's definitely not happening lol

O5C4R

jebus.... how long ago

raclaims

Yeah I've spoken to several dealers that I've bought cars from...all say RS is BS

tcsracing1

We should see the 718 body GT4 sometime next year as a 2019 model.

Porsche is tight lipped on power plant.

Expect it to be lighter weight, PDK option and more power.

Clubsport track model will follow suit.

This will cool down 981 GT4 market, unless no manual is offered in the 781 GT4...

CAlexio

Detuned 4.0, logical progression no?

MC 968CS

Couldn't porsche just add existing off the shelf x51 pack to current engine and tick the "more hp for an RS" box off pretty easily? I'm really doubting they would do more.

NoGaBiker

^^ Except the "existing engine" doesn't exist anymore. Suddenly it would be a bespoke, stand-alone engine made exclusively for the GT4. Not to say they "couldn't" but I dunno... it doesn't feel like the formula for this car.

I hate to say it, but what feels like the solution is a detuned 400hp turbo 3.0 from the Carrera S. Competitive horsepower for the class, off-the-shelf engine, a nod towards "legitimizing" the mainstream turbo engines by using one in a Motorsports Div. car.

Not dissimilar to BMW's M path, where for years it wasn't an M unless it used a hand-built I6 bespoke engine. Then they started allowing some of the M cars to have a regular off-the-line BMW engine, but one that was larger than what you could otherwise get for that series of car. And of course, before long turbos were all the rage.

If this happens in Zuffenhausen, look for a 2020 GTX Cayenne Turbo.

jmartpr

First they need to fit the turbo engine, which I doubt it will if the current dimensions are kept. Second, there's enough info and interviews around that the next generation of GT cars will be N/A...I think that a 4 cylinder turbo would happen before using the new 911 turbo engine.


So what options are left: 1)Detuned 4.0l from GT3....that will bump the price considerably overlapping GT3 market but would make a hell of a car. 2) New Carrera turbo engine but converted to N/A...this could be possible specially if the new engine shares a lot of internals with the current N/A engine. 3) They will continue to make current 9A1 N/A just for the GT4. This could be doubtful but they could end up with surplus engines or keep making them smaller volume....all is speculation of course so we will see, in the meantime I'm going to keep on enjoying my GT4

tcsracing1

The 3.0 turbo wont fit. Turbos get in the way.

Porsche has 3.8L remaining in inventory to cover off warranty etc on the final run of 991 Porsches. Motor is still available.

Warwick Morris

My uneducated bet is a tweeked turbo 4 with +400bhp and really good torque. The engine bay is different in the new cars and it would cost a lot to accommodate A 6 CYL motor. Given VW needs the dosh, they won't do anything too special.

NoGaBiker

Yeah, I forgot about the F6T not fitting so I revise my guess to same as yours; F4T, possibly 2.7 for some differentiation, plus turn up the wick on the boost controller.

d00d

The engine bay is not different, the F6 still fits.

NoGaBiker

But... presumably, them being Porsche, they don't have even one MORE 3.8 than they need to cover warranty for 991s and 981 GT4s. Certainly not enough to make a couple thousand 718 GT4s. They still have to have the spares; if they didn't project that they'd need them, then they wouldn't have them in the first place.

Remember this too -- I heard several interviews with AP after 991.1 GT3 came out saying ADAMANTLY that there would be no 6M GT3, and for people to get over it. The car is being built to be as fast as possible and that's what PDK does. Now they have completely reversed course. Which is not necessarily analogous to the current 718 GT4 situation, but does provide a look at statements made by Preuninger himself that were contradicted in short order by the actions of Motorsports Div.

So if they were to say the 718 will be NA, and then reverse course, it wouldn't be without precedent. Of course, at this point in the game barring something remarkable, whatever it's going to look like has already been decided and probably cast in stone.

Can someone link an authoritative comment from anyone in Porsche circles stating next GT4 will be NA? I haven't seen that but doesn't mean it isn't out there.

As I see it, possibilities:

a) some version of the 4.0, complete with ti con rods, close-to-9k redline, etc. (makes for a Carrera S or GTS priced GT4. Plus, can Motorsports crank out enough motors for GT3, GT4 and RS?).

b) some version of the holdover 9A1 3.8. If it was still in production this would be simple -- jack the X51 atop it, make it fit in the engine bay (I know AP said the standard 911 intake wouldn't fit, much less the X51. But c'mon, really? Or was that misdirection to excuse the 385 number? Also, what's to keep them from raising the engine cover a little bit? They managed to reengineer the whole front end for 981 GT4, surely a little repackaging of the engine space could be accomplished.) However, the whole problem with this solution is: there is no line currently making the 9A1 and are you really going to start up a new engine line for the GT4? Doubt it. But this is the solution I'd like best...

c) some version of the 9A2 F6T or F4T, as speculated above. Works on every level except "rabid Motorsports customers who see the writing on the wall for GT3 as well, and take to the streets with torches and pitchforks." But it does tend to solve the "how do we win on the world's racetracks" question. And don't forget, for decades, race-winning 911s were all Turbo 911s (from '76-'98-ish). As I said above, the trickle-down effect of legitimizing the current bread-and-butter engines by making the race-engines vaguely similar could have the same positive effect of endorsement that switching from the Mezger M64 based race motors to the 9A1 engines in 991 RSRs has. I never had an M96/97 Carrera, but if I had, I'd have felt kinda crappy knowing that when it matters, Porsche uses something entirely different. (And in fact, I felt somewhat smug with my Mezger engines during that time.)

d) No 718 GT4. It simply ceases to be.