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Cayman and Boxster 718-6?

ralphmusic

PCGB Member
Member
The T series (718 and 991) are not doing well in the USA and perhaps this the background to the return of the 6 cylinder NA.

BTW, I wonder if the Pistonheads logo strips on the lower sills are standard or options at £169?

 
Could be Ralph. The US is an important market for Porsche, and without an obvious replacement in the pipeline the 718-series looks as though it's going to run for a few years yet and a n/a flat-6 version could be a good marketing ploy. Plus, Porsche will be able to recoupe more engine development costs.

PH logo strips a cost option - it's a Porsche and everything's optional..!

Jeff

 
fits with what i was told by OPC 2months ago that there would be a run of 1200 6c caysters released by the end of 2019

 
This looks an interesting development.

Personally, I think the 718T 2.0t was a mistake. A limited edition run of 1200 6 cylinder Caysters certainly looks plausible.

Will the current 718 GTS be superceded by the 718-6 models I wonder? If so, that pitches the power north of 365bhp. Torque will surely be lower than 430Nm with a N/A 6-pot detuned below the GT4.

Brian

 
Bearing in mind that we still know nothing definite about the engine, if the GT4 comes in at the expected 420hp then the 718-6 models should be good for 380hp+ via a detune.

Limited to 1200 cars? I think that's going to depend upon demand and available build-slots when production moves from Stuttgart back to Osnabrück in northern Germany where the 981-series was built (make up your mind Porsche..!).

I'm not sure if the 718T is slow selling. Someone posted on the forum that other than the showroom car, his PC couldn't get a build-slot for a considerable time - although that could just have been sales ploy.

Jeff

 
A poster on Rennlist is claiming that these "718-6" models will actually be replacement 718 GTS models, which I assume would be part of the 718 range refresh that's due in the near future, and they will have less power than the GT4/Spyder derivatives (380-400PS rather than 420PS). It makes sense to me as they'll be easier to slot into the hierarchy rather than being between the GTS and GT4, but make of it what you will...

 
More folk on PH are saying these cars will be the updated 718 GTS models and will be announced towards the end of this year. Sources are OPCs and Porsche themselves.

If true, I guess the base/T will get a slight power increase and the S will get the current GTS tune.

 
Twinfan said:
More folk on PH are saying these cars will be the updated 718 GTS models and will be announced towards the end of this year. Sources are OPCs and Porsche themselves.

If true, I guess the base/T will get a slight power increase and the S will get the current GTS tune.

I know I am in a minority in speaking up for the 2.5 718 CGTS, but I fail to see the logic behind Porsche converting the current 982 GTS to a flat-6 normally aspirated engine. No n/a flat-six engine, especially one that has been detuned from the 982 GT4 spec, will provide anything approaching the torque and every-day drive-ability of the current 718 CGTS. If, as has been suggested, the Cayman-6 is pitched at 380bhp, it will struggle to offer comparable torque to the present 718 GTS. Both in daily driving and on the track, big torque brings huge advantages.

Another thing, if, as David has mooted the 718 S gets the current GTS power unit, this hypothetical car would also trumph the Cayman-6 in both torque and daily drivability. I cannot see the point in Porsche wasting money following this Cayman–6 path when they have a perfectly decent flat-4 turbo engine already in production, and importantly, with significant further development potential.

If the USA market is the attraction for slotting-in the n/a flat-6 into the Cayman, they are welcome to it.

Brian

 
The Porsche hierarchy is based on BHP not torque, and the US market is worth a lot of $$$. Emotion and marketing play a large part in sales, not just outright performance.

I guess we'll find out in a few months what Porsche have planned.

 
Ok David.

Those of us know better will just have to leave the marketing suits to dupe the unwary and uninterested punters with their emotional smoke screen.

I know for a fact that torque is more relevant both on road and track for a satisfying drive.

I really hope Porsche don't make this rumoured Cayman-6.

Brian

 
BJ Innes said:
I know I am in a minority in speaking up for the 2.5 718 CGTS, but I fail to see the logic behind Porsche converting the current 982 GTS to a flat-6 normally aspirated engine.

It has nothing to do with logic. It's purely about sound, that's it. In every way, logically, turbo charging makes sense. And we know the 718 has a four rather than a six pot because they couldn't fit turbocharged sixes into the space available. But those fours – and sorry for those owning one – sound bloody awful (I took one out for a test drive recently – best handling car in the Porsche range in my humble opinion; utterly amazing fun on twisty B-roads. But the noise! I couldn't live with that engine sound).

If it was entirely about logic none of us would bother with sports cars, we'd have electrically powered SUVs, ha ha! But sports cars are about emotions, and sound figures very highly in that emotional state.

 
Exactly. With impractical non-essential road going sportscars emotions are very important, and sound can be a large part of that, as is having a USP. A turbo charged four cylinder engine is certainly not unique!

The sound and throttle response of a NASP engine is definitely more important to me than outright performance, which is why I'd take a GT3 over a Turbo S for example. Porsche must feel they can get back lost sales and/or increase sales by reintroducing the F6 and I'd be very surprised if they were wrong!

 
I'd love this N/A F6 comeback to be the case, as I had felt slightly abandoned by Porsche when I first saw/heard the 718 models. I'd come to the conclusion that my 981 GTS was my last in a 20 year run of six Porsches. It seems there may be light at the end of the tunnel after all...

By the way, power still wins over torque IMO. (I'm clearly an immature 65 year old).

 
BJ Innes said:
Those of us know better will just have to leave the marketing suits to dupe the unwary and uninterested punters with their emotional smoke screen.

I know for a fact that torque is more relevant both on road and track for a satisfying drive.

So you know better than Porsche, do you Brian? And that your "satisfying drive" is what's desired by everyone? I think that's a very blinkered view and completely ignores the majority opinion on this subject.

Anyhow, the cars are coming and I expect they'll be very popular. Fair play to Porsche for listening to what buyers want.

 
‘Peter Drucker wrote that businesses required only two basic functions, innovation and marketing. The aim of the latter was not to sell, but to “understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself”.’ :ROFLMAO:

 
mphillips said:
It has nothing to do with logic. It's purely about sound, that's it. In every way, logically, turbo charging makes sense. And we know the 718 has a four rather than a six pot because they couldn't fit turbocharged sixes into the space available. But those fours – and sorry for those owning one – sound bloody awful (I took one out for a test drive recently – best handling car in the Porsche range in my humble opinion; utterly amazing fun on twisty B-roads. But the noise! I couldn't live with that engine sound).

If it was entirely about logic none of us would bother with sports cars, we'd have electrically powered SUVs, ha ha! But sports cars are about emotions, and sound figures very highly in that emotional state.

Well said and reflects exactly my own sentiments and experience too.

When the 718 first came out I tried one at the Porsche Experience Centre Silverstone. When I started it up I was looking for the sports exhaust button to switch it off as the 'lumpy' sound was so invasive and not at all what I expected. The instructor said straight away that the noise was 'standard' and that there was no sports exhaust fitted!

I knew there and then that I could not live with the sound. Great car to drive and performed as you would expect a Porsche but sadly not for me.

I'll stay with my 270bhp F6 thank you.

 
Somehow I can't see the logic in Porsche having a 718 flat-4T GTS and a n/a flat-6 variant with ~380hp as well. No doubt the marketing dept will be looking at this carefully to optimise builds and profits on the mid-engine cars while keeping in mind Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirements.

I'm sure there's sufficient pent-up demand worldwide for n/a versions of the Cayman and Boxster (and the mags will lap it up!) and it could turn out to be the swansong for the series production n/a sports cars.

If these cars do materialise then it will be seen as a slight embarrassment for Porsche (having nailed their colours to turbo technology), but at least they'll be able to claim that they've listened to their customers.

Jeff

 
Motorhead said:
If these cars do materialise then it will be seen as a slight embarrassment for Porsche (having nailed their colours to turbo technology), but at least they'll be able to claim that they've listened to their customers.

Jeff

It won't be the first time they have done an about turn either.

From the standpoint of 'we will never produce a diesel car', to flooding the market with them, now there are non produced.

 

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