Not since the days of the 968 have we seen a Porsche with less than six cylinders, but growing environmental pressures mean even Zuffenhausen cannot stand apart from the crowd, and as such the head honcho of the company has confirmed that the next-generation Boxster and Cayman models will be powered by four-cylinder turbocharged engines. Naturally, this is all in order to reduce the company's CO2 output.
In an interview with the respected German magazine, Auto Motor und Sport, Matthias Müller said the road cars would have to tread the downsizing road like any other manufacturer, taking their inspiration from the 919 hybrid race car, which uses a V4. The unit planned for the Boxster and Cayman pair, however, will follow Porsche road car tradition and be horizontally opposed; presumably, the firm will do its best to differentiate it sonically from a classic Impreza's off-beat note.
It's a tragedy that the stunning, normally-aspirated flat-sixes used in the Boxster and Cayman will meet their end, but there's a silver lining to the cloud - Müller said the new turbo motors would be capable of making up to 400hp, well in excess of the 340hp the recently-revealed Cayman GTS musters.
Anything else?
It's not the most surprising news, however, as on last year's passenger preview of the Macan SUV, the team behind that model said it would soon be powered by four-cylinder engines. Although it's highly unlikely that the Macan would use the high-performance flat-four planned for the Boxster/Cayman twins; it's more probable that it will use some sort of Volkswagen Group 2.0-litre powerplant, such as the engines out of the Golf GTI and GTD.