Porsche with a Tent: Porsche developing driver-focused 718 Boxster

Porsche is working towards developing a driver-focused variant of its current generation 718 Boxster. The car will see a lot of its bits coming from the Cayman GT4 parts bin. Under the hood, the Boxster will forego the current turbocharged 2.5-litre flat four, and instead put on the blistering naturally aspirated, flat-six engine of the latest 911 GT3.

In an interview with Autocar UK, Andreas Preuninger, head of GT car development at Porsche, said, "Natural aspiration is one of our main USPs. At 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 output is rated at 500bhp for the 4.0-litre unit in the 911 GT3. However, we expect the Boxster to be a bit lower on this side so as to leave some space for its expensive GT3 sibling.

The earlier Spyder used a 3.8-litre flat-six which was taken from the 911 Carrera and had a power output of 375bhp. Now the recently showcased Boxster GTS and Cayman GTS get the highly tuned four-pot engines with 366bhp. This means the new Spyder will need to produce more power to affix its position as the top Boxster with an output of 430bhp.

The Spyder will be offered in a 6-speed manual as standard as opposed to the 7-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission which will be offered as an option.

There are a lot of things which will get a miss on the Spyder, starting with cabin insulation, radio, air conditioning, electric folding soft-top, and other weight savings coupled with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber to make the car one of the sharpest cornering cars ever made.

Porsche has not yet stated anything as to when will the Boxster steps in India but considering the buyer mentality of more money more spec, we don't think it will.