New Porsche 718 Spyder, GT4 In The Works, Will Include Flat-Six Power

In conversations with Drive.com.au, Porsche’s August Achleitner confirmed the news, and we could not be happier.

Since the 981-generation Boxster Spyder and Cayman GT4 launched, we’ve been convinced that they were the greatest road car and greatest track car that Porsche had ever built, respectively. Sadly, they’ve been holding their values too well for the likes of us writer types to purchase one. We are still holding out hope for someday. In the meantime, the 718 twins have launched and the Spyder/GT4 was discontinued.

Achleitner told Drive.com.au, “The Boxster Spyder and the GT4 have been very successful in the market, and we did not know before, because we had not launched both models, and the result has been really, really excellent. So that showed us that there is a specific market. The customer likes this kind of Cayman and Boxster, very sporty, very powerful expression. So most likely we take this feedback and cultivate this also in the future.”

When we attended the 718’s launch, we asked about the potential of another 911-powered mid-engine sports car. We were told that the current Carrera S engine would not fit in the 718. The new 718 features a subframe with four motor mounts, and the current 6-cylinder is too large to fit in the engine compartment, as-is. However, the reasoning given included the “necessity” of finding room for the 911’s turbocharger. Apparently, a naturally aspirated 6 will fit in there just fine.

Achleitner continued, “Six-cylinder turbocharged engine wouldn’t fit,” he said. “Naturally-aspirated we have today, and most likely we will offer versions in the future, like GT4 for example. We keep this line of naturally-aspirated engines in the GT3 and GT3 RS and so on, as well as GT4, we will develop it.”

It is possible that our favorite line of mid-engine Porsches will return. Considering that the GT3 has recently moved to a 4-liter engine, it could be possible that we’ll see a larger displacement engine. Perhaps with even more than the 420 horsepower found in the Carrera S. We would love to see a 450-horsepower GT4 come to fruition, especially with the naturally aspirated sound we love.