Porsche 718 Boxster Spyder Set To Get 911 GT3’s Fire-Breathing Flat Six

The most hardcore version of the Porsche 718 Boxster is reportedly going to ditch the turbo flat-four engine for the sake of the 911 GT3’s naturally aspirated flat-six.

That means that the upcoming 718 Boxster Spyder will be powered by a high-revving 4.0-liter engine instead of the turbocharged 2.5-liter unit found in the S and GTS models, Autocar reports.

The 911 GT3’s 4.0-liter engine produces 493hp (500 PS) at a howling 8250 rpm, but in all likelihood Porsche will detune it a bit before installing it in the new 718 Boxster Spyder, as we have reported earlier. This will allow the GT3 to stay on top of Porsche’s smaller cars in terms of performance.

Apart from the naturally aspirated powertrain, the new 718 Boxster Spyder will also be subjected to a diet, featuring less sound insulation and more exotic materials. The folding fabric top will also be replaced by a lighter tent top, just like its predecessor.

The most driver-focused version of the Boxster will be closely related to the upcoming 718 Cayman GT4. “Natural aspiration is one of our main USPs,” Andreas Preuninger, Porsche’s head of GT car development, said earlier this year. “At Porsche Motorsport, we think we can achieve throttle response and immediacy a little bit better with an atmospheric high-revving engine than any kind of turbo.”

The previous Boxster Spyder was powered by a 3.8-liter flat six taken from the 997 that produced 370hp. The current GTS versions of the 718 Boxster and Cayman use a turbocharged 361hp 2.5-liter engine. That means that the upcoming Spyder version should offer something around 430hp, or even more, in order to firmly establish itself as the range-topping Boxster.

There’s no official information yet about when Porsche is going to launch the new 718 Boxster Spyder, but the reveal should take place later this year.

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