A 4-Pot 718 Spyder As An Entry-Point To Porsche Sports Cars Sounds Great But We Doubt It’d Happen

It seems not that long ago that we were told that Porsche’s new line of 718 Boxsters and Caymans would be made four-cylinder-only. Even though the turbo flat-fours had decent power, we bemoaned the fact that this incredibly capable chassis had lost one of the key elements of the Porsche driving experience: a nice and vocal flat-six.

Thankfully the enthusiasts’ cries didn’t fall on deaf ears, and the six-cylinder models were introduced, albeit as a step up from the turbocharged four pots. One such model is the 718 Spyder, a nod to the past with a funky engine, which along with the Cayman GT4, transformed the 718 into a proper 911 challenger.

The party piece of the 718 Spyder is its 4.0-liter naturally aspirated six cylinder engine, a modified 3.0-liter twin-turbo lump borrowed from the 911. Saying it gives the 718 Spyder a bit of extra verve and distinction is an understatement.

Read: Large Wing Spotted Testing On The Nürburgring, Has New 911 GT3 RS Attached To It

However, fresh from its unveiling at the Shanghai Auto Show, the 718 Spyder now comes in a with a 300 hp 2.0-liter flat-four, at least in the Chinese market. As luck would have it, the very next day our spies managed to snap one testing at the Nürburgring.

While the four-cylinder Spyder is thought to be a China-only afair, its presence at the Green Hell has got us wondering if Porsche sees potential in a global roll-out. And while it wouldn’t be the first time China has got a lower-powered version all to itself, we do dig the simplistic looks of this new Spyder.

The four-pot 718 Spyder features the standard Cayman/Boxster bumpers as opposed to the aggressive ones from the full-fat GT4-engine’d 718 Spyder. It will also ride on the standard suspension and presumably feature smaller brakes. Although all of this doesn’t sound great, especially because it has a smaller engine. Moreover, while this might not matter so much if it were to launch as an entry-level point to Porsche’s sports car range, we can’t see it happening, for two reasons: first, the Spyder has never been an entry-level model, and second, even in China it’s priced at 738,000 yuan (~$113,000), which puts it between the 661,000 yuan (~$102,000) Boxster T and the 797,000 yuan (~$123,000) Boxster S – and way above the 565,000 yuan (~$87,000) base 2.0-liter Boxster.

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