New 997 and mention of a 275bhp boxster late 2003 - Page 1 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

I have new Boxster arriving in January and was desperately trying to get Porsche to upgrade the power to closer to 300bhp with the sort of simple mods that are available for the 911s but they were not interested. I was told that there would not be an officially produced more powerful boxster until the next generation of 911s moves the power game to a different league. Aparently the problem is that anything more than about 275bhp will actually put the performance of the Boxster above that of the 911 particularly as in my opinion the handling of the Boxster is already superior. I for one would be pretty unamused if there was a more powerful model out by the end of the year especially as I have specifically asked the dealership if that would be the case and they had given me categoric assurances - albeit followed by the usual Porsche never tells us anything caveats. The problem is a genuine one - I have had 2 996s and I'm switching to a Boxster not because of the cost saving but because I wanted a change and i wanted a 2 seater convertible sports car not a 2+2 GT car where the convertible is not the sporting choice. I tried the Targa as an alternative but was hugely unimpressed. I have massively overspecified my Boxster but the one area I could not spend more money unless i took it to Ruf or Gemballa was on more power. >> Edited by senator on Monday 4th November 11:12

I ahve just got my new S. Like you, senator, I have the car because I want the two seat open format car. I did consider a 996 Cabrio - but it just doesn't quite do it for me. So...I told my dealer when I picked it up if they could let me know when a Boxster S with 340bhp would be available they could have my deposit now. The rumour mill is working overtime on all of this right now. Personally - I reckon its 2004 before we'll see a "Boxster RS" but I could be wrong. I am currently thinking if business goes the right way my current S should just be up for replacement when a more powerful Boxster "RS" (or whatever) arrives. Hmmn. Right now whilst I am still running in the current one I'm trying VERY hard not to think about replacing it - the wife would go apesh*t.

This is courtsey of Andy C on BM3W and is a translation [IMG] www.4car.co.uk/cars/fullsize/porsche/02spy911_1.jpg [/IMG] [IMG] www.4car.co.uk/cars/fullsize/porsche/02spy911_2.jpg [/IMG] "But the 997 will be longer, taller and wider than the current model, and could even feature an eight-cylinder engine: the engine bay is said to be large enough to accommodate one, thanks to the widened rear track. The 450 bhp, 4.5-litre bi-turbo unit used in the Cayenne would be an obvious choice of engine to fit, but rumours suggest that Porsche is working on a 5.0-litre flat-eight, which produces 450 bhp even in normally-aspirated form. This version could well be badged 'S', to distinguish it from the six-cylinder model, which will probably use the current 3.6-litre, 315 bhp engine, enlarged to 3.8-litres to deliver 350 bhp, an upgrade which could appear in the last of the 996-series coupes. The standard-fit transmission will be an all-new sequential manual set-up. There are said to be no less than thirteen variants of the 997 scheduled, starting with the six-cylinder Carrera Coupe in spring 2004. New models will be rolled out at six-month intervals, with cabriolet and targa models to follow, and both Turbo and GT variants as well as the S. The S is likely to be more comfort-orientated than the all-out Turbos and GTs, and will come in coupe, targa or cabriolet form. Expect also Carrera 4 4WD models. But don't think Porsche is playing it too safe: whilst the 911 is not too radical a departure, there are rumours of more 'interesting' models to come out of Leipzig. German magazine Auto Motor und Sport wrote recently of a two-door "Kombi-Coupe" to rival the BMW M3, powered by the V8 engine - mounted at the front. On a more mainstream note, there will be another upgrade to the only recently-tweaked Boxster; in late 2003, its engine will be enlarged to 3.3-litres to deliver 275 bhp, and it will receive a minor facelift." Has anybody else heard of the new boxster model ? I am supposed to have a new S coming in March to replace the current one but I don't want to to that if another set of improvements is on the way