Porsche's Four-Cylinder Future Is A Small World
There’s nothing inherently undesirable about a four-cylinder Porsche, as long as the rest of the car is worthy of admiration. For most of the years that the 912 was offered, as an example, it outsold the 911. Throw in the 356, the 550, the 914, the 944, and the 968, and it’s probable that the Porsche of the pre-Cayenne era did more four-cylinder volume than six. Now, if the rumors can be trusted, the Stuttgart company’s future may begin to closely resemble its distant past.
Porsche 1.6 flat four 210bhp
Quoth Kacher, “According to CAR’s sources, the Boxster/Cayman and Cayenne will get the flat-fours first. A six-speed manual or seven-speed twin-cluch PDK transmission will be offered.” The 1.6-liter was supposed to be for the “baby Boxster”, and its future is uncertain.
I’d like to see the return of the 912 to the Porsche lineup. The 991 could theoretically drop beneath the 3,000-pound line with a lighter engine and running gear. Such a car would do a lot to restore the luster of the marque with those of us who prefer the scalpel to the broadsword.
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4 cylinder Boxsters and Caymans? Yeah that's great and all but what I want is a new 944, because by the time I can afford to own a Porsche of any vintage most of the old ones will probably be dead.
Bah. All of the 912 buyers WANTED the 911, but couldn't swing it. Do the 912s even have the "coffee grinder" engine sound that the aircooled 911 lovers enjoy so much? I don't think so.
My sister had a late 60's 912 for a while. She and her husband thought it was an "investment" and that they would make a bundle of money off of it after a few years of enjoying it. Before they committed the money, I told her not to buy it - look for a 911 instead. My feeling was that that you may not lose any money on a 912, but you aren't going to make any money either, at least not in the short term that they were thinking of. Shortly after they got the car it needed a clutch and the carbs overhauled, so there went several thousand bucks out the window on top of the purchase price. Fast forward a few years and they were looking to sell it - it took forever for a buyer to materialize. They even had a guy from Germany give them a deposit, then he flaked out and never contacted them again....needless to say they kept the deposit! When it finally did sell, they took a several thousand dollar loss on it (not counting the repairs, which makes the loss even bigger). So much for the investment - if they had held onto it a few more years their plan may have worked.
I don't think Porsche really wants to make a flat-four turbo for fear of being shown up by Subaru! What with IMS failures in Porsche's water-cooled engines and the recent GT3 engine fiasco causing total engine failure, a few Subie head gasket problems seem like loose change by comparison, and it wasn't their turbo engines anyway. I see it all now: 20 years in the future, old turbo 4 boxer engines in Boxsters will be replaced by turbo 4 Subies being sold as crate engines on Ebay for less than it takes to crane out the engine from a Boxster after you've turned it upside down.