Porsche is set to launch the 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman on February 15, 2017. The new 718s are essentially thoroughly updated versions of the outgoing Boxster and Cayman.
The biggest and most dramatic change is in the engine department. Porsche has replaced the older cars’ flat-six engines with turbo-charged flat-fours. Interestingly, the ‘718’ prefix links the cars to Porsche’s four-cylinder race cars of the past. The international 718 line-up includes 300hp, 2.0-litre and 350hp, 2.5-litre engine options (the latter powers the ‘S’ variants), but India will only get the smaller of the two powerplants. While the cars in India will come with Porsche’s PDK dual-clutch automatic gearbox, the manual gearbox will not be sold in our market. Despite the drop in displacement, Porsche claims an impressive 0-100kph time of 4.7sec for both the 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman.
Along with suspension tweaks for sharper handling, Porsche has given a few cosmetic updates as well. Also, the cabin gets the company’s latest infotainment system.
Significantly, the 718 range in India is expected to start in the region of Rs 80 lakh (estimated, ex-showroom) which would be a 20 percent drop in prices compared to the outgoing models. The 718’s smaller 2.0-litre engine has qualified it for a lower duty bracket and, correspondingly, the pricing will be a lot more competitive. However, as with all Porsche’s there will be lots of customisation options on offer which could add significantly to the final price tag. Another key point is that this time around, the Boxster will be priced higher than the Cayman, in line with the international trend of convertibles being pricier than their coupe derivatives.