The possible turbocharged 2016 Porsche Boxster has been spotted doing high-altitude testing in Colorado.
Porsche has been working on small-displacement turbocharged engines for its Boxster and Cayman models to replace the current entry-level naturally aspirated flat sixes. Both cars are due for a mid-cycle refresh, which would be a perfect time to release new engines.
Visually, the Boxster shown testing in the Rockies doesn’t look much different than the current model. Even with camouflage on the front end, the lower spoiler appears to be redesigned. In the rear, the spoiler looks more prominent and it no longer flows into the taillights.
The pictures show two different versions of the new Boxster. One has plain black-painted wheels, while the other one has the same wheels as the current Black Edition, so there’s a good chance that car is also a Black Edition Boxster.
The new turbocharged engines are thought to be flat fours with either 2.0 and 2.5 liters of displacement. They should have the same power or more as the current naturally aspirated flat-sixes, which now make between 265 and 330 horsepower.
Porsche is no stranger to the four-cylinder engine. The original Porsche 356 used an air-cooled flat four that was also used in the 912, which was a 911 with a 356 engine. The 914 also used a mid-mounted flat four. The 924 and 944 models used longitudinally mounted four cylinders in the front. The last four-cylinder Porsche was the 968, the successor to the 944, which was discontinued in 1995.
Porsche does offer the Macan SUV with a four cylinder engine in other countries, but it’s a version of the Volkswagen 2.0-liter four that also powers the Audi Q5.
Porsche isn’t saying whether or not the turbocharged flat-fours will ever make their way into the flagship 911, but that may need to happen if Porsche wants to meet its goal of reducing CO2 emissions.
Check out this TFLcar video of the 2016 Porsche 911 spotted testing in Colorado: