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4 Cylinder engine for Porsche


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Oh sod it - why don't they just raid the VW parts bin (to keep you happy Tipex) and recycle the original Beetle flat four :eek:

Let's be honest, it's only a matter of time before the VAG parts bin starts spoiling Porsche, don't they still make the air cooled flat four in Mexico? :eek:

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Porsche is working on a new four-cylinder petrol engine that would power [...] potentially even the 911, the firm has confirmed.

Unless they wanted to sell any, of course.

The Cayman and Boxster are so good, and the price differential to the 911 so high, that people must only buy a 911 because they want a 911 and all the historical baggage that comes with it. Which means a flat six.

And anyone who is about to cough and say either "912" or "aircooled" can feck off. I'm right, so there :grin:

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A four cylinder 911 is an anathema - My guess is that they are paving the way for something even more terrible - a 4 cylinder hybrid 911 -a poxy mainstream one as opposed to the racing ones they have been showcasing). If it was me I'd give the Boxster/Cayman 4 cylinder power (including turbo) and reserve six cylinders for the 911.

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It would only be right if I said that last time Porsche fitted a turbo-ed 4cyl into one of their cars it was a much better package than the 911 of the time. :)

924/944/968 superb cars. The Porsche range made sense then but now the Boxster/Cayman are too close to the 911 IMO. One day I will own a 968CS...

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Everything I've read agrees that the 928 was supposed to replace the 911 but never really delivered on it's promise, hence it died off.

The 924 was originally a joint project with VW that was sold to Porsche after VW got cold feet over the 70's oil crisis. Although it had a VW derived 2.0l engine and lots of beetle parts it saved Porsche's arse big time due to it's volume sales and profit margins.

This evolved to become the 944, with a proper Porsche-designed 2.5l engine, which was also available turbo-ed, for one rare year was 2.7l (mine) and then 3.0l in the S2. The 968 was supposed to be a 944 S3 but was renamed as a "new" model. To this day, the 3.0l Porsche 4cyl engine is the largest capacity 4cyl ever produced. It's also as smooth as a 6cyl due to two balance shafts that run at twice engine speed in opposite directions.

Which means more belts to put back on when you've finished servicing the water pump:

5e0ef1a4-c3a6-6fb4.jpg

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It would only be right if I said that last time Porsche fitted a turbo-ed 4cyl into one of their cars it was a much better package than the 911 of the time. :)

Absolutely. The 944/968 line was just superb. But the 911 is still with us, and the 968 isn't. There is something indefinable about the 911 that makes people want it, even when the logical choice is to buy something else*. Porsche know this - look how radical their restyling is(n't) when the bring out a new model, look how much reliance they place on the car's heritage.

*and I say this as an owner of a 911 cabrio who bought it in preference to a Boxster because the Boxster "doesn't look right somehow". Most expensive sentence I ever uttered... :grin:

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Yes, I get the weight balance thing, with the torque-tube (what a fantiastic name for a bloody great long tube that goes from the engine to the 'box!), but the 968 is lightyears ahead in terms of drive quality. I know the 968 is a newer car, but I've always been of the impression from driving them that the 924 and 944 were Porsche's attempt to grow their market share by taking their core values down (driving experience) whereas the 968 properly brought them back up to it.

Then the century turned and they brought out the Cayenne :eek: - the Touareg is a much, much better drive (same car in essence), but it accounted for nearly 50% of their global sales 2 years ago.

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But the 968 is only any good in CS guise though isn't it?

The CS is undoubtedly a fantastic car, hence why it holds it's value so well, but the rest of the range is not so well regarded, and isn't the CS the only one available with a Manual box? Or am I thinking of something else?

I agree with you about the 924, but I don't think the 944 falls into the same category.

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