BoxsterS71

Porsche's 919 Hybrid Le Mans prototype (LMP1) racecar, with its revolutionary twin motor-assisted turbocharged 2.0 litre V4 engine, won't be the only four-cylinder vehicle running the Stuttgart firm's iconic logos soon, as the next-generation Porsche Cayman and Boxster pair will sport a four-pot motor too.

You read that right, four-banger Porsches. Unlike the 919 Hybrid's novel V4 layout, the road-going models will get a more conventional four-cylinder configuration – boxer. The new flat-four motors (no displacement figures have been revealed yet) will form the basis of Porsche's new modular engine strategy.

This confirmation came straight from the top. Porsche CEO Matthias Müller told German magazine Auto Motor und Sport that, "we will continue with the downsizing strategy and develop a new four-cylinder boxer engine, which will see service in the next-generation Boxster and Cayman."

Muller also added that the new (presumably turbocharged) powerplants could offer as much as 400 PS. That's significantly more than the current naturally-aspirated 3.4 litre flat-six models, which, even in its highest state of tune (in the new Cayman GTS), makes just 340 hp. Less really is more, then.

981 Porsche Boxster S 3.4 PDK