Goodbye Porsche Boxter and Cayman, welcome the 718

The Porsche Cayman and the Porsche Boxster will don a new moniker starting 2016. The cars will be unified under the 718 badge and the new names are 718 Cayman for the coupe and the 718 Boxster for the roadster. The newly named cars will be despatched with the 2016 model year cars.

The first Porsche 718 (1957-62) was a 4-cylinder boxer engine sportscar. The current 981 series of cars gets naturally aspirated flat-6 petrol engines which will now be replaced by the new flat-four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. The new mill has been derived from the 2-litre flat-four from the current World Endurance Racing champion 919 Hybrid LMP1 race car and is highly  efficient yet powerful.

The Boxster and the Cayman, though based on the same platform, had subtle technical and visual differences. As the 718s, the two cars will now almost resemble each other except for the roof. The 718 Boxster roadster will be expensive as compared to the hard-top coupe, the 718 Cayman. As typical Porsche cars, you will have to buy all the luxuries you want for the car except for the immacualtely engineered mechanicals.

The 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman are midsize sports cars and compete with the Mercedes SLK-Class and the BMW Z4 globally and are expected to be launched for a price tag of about Rs 1 crore in India.