The Porsche 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster will now be closer together in Porsche’s model range.
2017 COUPE AND ROADSTER TO RECEIVE NEW ENGINES, NAMES
With the debut of the next-generation Porsche Cayman and Boxster, the two models will receive more than just a new turbocharged flat-four engine — they’ll have new names as well. The mid-engined duo will be known as the 718 Cayman and the 718 Boxster, with Porsche adopting the historical name first carried by the 1957 718 race car, a descendant of the 550 Spyder.
“Whether it was at the 12-hour race in Sebring in 1960 or the European Hill Climb Championship which ran between 1958 and 1961, the Porsche 718 prevailed against numerous competitors with its powerful and efficient flat-four cylinder engine,” the company said in a statement. “The 718 took first place twice between 1959 and 1960 at the legendary Italian Targa Florio race in Sicily. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1958, the 718 RSK with its 142-hp four-cylinder engine achieved a significant class victory.”
The Cayman and Boxster will receive new boxer engines with the 2017 model year redesign.
The coupe and roadster will now have more in common with each other, with Porsche bringing them closer together stylistically and mechanically — even though they didn’t start out that way. And the automaker is taking the opportunity to reshuffle the pricing, too; Zuffenhausen wants to position the Boxster just above the Cayman in price to present a clearer price ladder for buyers.
Perhaps even bigger news than the name change, the upcoming 718s will be powered by a new turbochaged flat-four engines — a development which former chief executive Matthias Muller has hinted at in the recent past — with the engines expected to displace 2.0 and 2.5 liters (though the displacement figures have not been confirmed). Muller has also indicated that the powerplants could spread to the rest of the range, with the Macan possibly being the next in line to receive the new boxer engines.
As for output, Muller has suggested that the top version of the new boxer engine could produce up to 395 hp, which would make it an easy choice for the Macan should Porsche decide to go in that direction.
The 2017 Porsche 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman are scheduled to debut in 2016, so get your naturally aspirated mid-engined Porsches while you still can.
Source : http://autoweek.com/
Porsche Boxster and Cayman renamed 718, get turbocharged four-cylinder power
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