Well, are ya… punk? As part of its “why does Ferrari get all of the €250,000-€750,000 fun” fit of pique, Porsche says its considering a flat-eight engined beast to take on the Italian foe. Autocar reports that
Porsche engineers have long been frustrated by the fact that the company’s iconic flat-six engine cannot be extended much beyond 4.0-litres. It’s also felt that in the Ferrari-dominated market, eight cylinders are a pre-requisite.
Moving to a larger engine would also differentiate the new model from the new 911 and next-generation Cayman range. It’s thought that the creation of such an engine has been made easier by the engineering working currently being done on the new turbocharged flat-four engine, which will be offered in Porsche’s planned entry-level roadster. This all-new motor is thought to be modular, allowing it to be extended into the next-generation flat-6 and a flat-8.
Porsche’s head of R&D Wolfgang Hatz says a flat-eight evolution of the forthcoming flat-four could be matched to “the Carrera GT’s ultra-compact transmission” for the forthcoming Ferrari-fighter. There’s just one problem…
We could develop it, of course. One of the key issues is where we put the differential, but it is a possibility
Details! The key issue is that Porsche doesn’t have a “different model” positioned in $4k increments from $200k and up. As long as you’re addressing the important issue, these little technical details will work themselves out in deference to Porsche’s “fundamental economic sense.”
Tagged as Engines, Flat-Eight, Future Vehicles, Germany, Heritage, Porsche
I’d love an eight cylinder Porsche — provided the engine was up front, not out back. Wait, that’s a Panamera. A flat eight would be a more expensive, harder to service Subaru. I’m guessing a Panamera Coupe is in the works.
Another example of Porsche being hamstrung by the legacy of a rear engined car: you can’t hang a flat eight out beyond that rear axle without (even more) serious packaging and handling problems. Four was OK, six was pushing it, eight was out of the question.
Depends on how you do it. Interweaving two flat-4s into a x8 would keep the length down.
Yes, or you could do it in the style of the 1966 BRM Type 75 Formula 1 engine with the H16 layout but as an H8, however, the packaging of the intake and exhaust in the ‘trunk’ of a 911 would be a nightmare for either configuration.
Or interweave 3 flat-4s and call it an homage to the Curtiss Wright Duplex Cyclone…..
Germans love complexity – the option of the turbo compound version is just the ticket.
/snark
edit – equally awesome/stupid would be two flat-4s with the transmission between them. A great compromise between the rear engine and the mid engine configurations. You could put it a car called the 99181….
I think they are talking about mid-engined…
Yes they are talking mid-engined, we are just being snarky about Porsche’s slavish devotion to the 911 platform.
They had their chance with the 914 to make their move to mid-engined but they flubbed it out of devotion to the 911. (Remember the one-year-only 912E, the 914 flat 4 in the 911 chassis?)
BTW, the first video is great: ahh, the good old days of Porsche prototype racing!
8? Keep ‘em coming. Ferrari uses 12. Let’s see how modular that engine really is. This will need to be a new mid-engined design.
Yeah, this. 12 cylinders is the gold standard. Anything less is… less. And there’s a seriously iconic historical precedent for a mid-engined flat-12 Porsche, and Porsche’s current management is totally cynical enough to use the ’917′ name on what would surely be an overweight over-luxed glutton of a road car.
Let us not forget the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer which was a flat 12 mid engine car, and gorgeous. The Porsche will be frumpy.
But the Ferrari Boxer was not a real boxer. It was a 180 degree V12. Only 6 crank pins…
It was still gorgeous. And it was a Ferrari. Berlinetta Boxer is what it was called. Maybe boxer is an Italian word that means “180 degree V12 with 6 crank pins”.
The Porsche will be lumpy.