Porsche Boxster GT4

Porsche  has received a lot of criticism in recent years for not letting the Boxster  and Cayman  models live up to their potential. It’s a well known fact that in order to protect the iconic 911, the Germans have been keeping their entry-level models from becoming too powerful. Fortunately, that’s about to end once the current Cayman receives its mid-cycle update in 2016, as the mid-engined coupe is set to receive a GT4 version similar to the GT3 package the 911 has had since 1999. As 2014 comes to an end, there’s more good news coming from Stuttgart, in the form of what appears to be a GT4-spec Boxster. While Porsche has yet to confirm such a roadster is underway, a new Boxster prototype that surfaced in Germany suggests the drop-top sports car could be in for a similar update.
We should find out more about that in the first half of 2015, but if the Boxster GT4 is indeed on its way, it is likely to arrive in dealerships for the 2016 model year as the most powerful and most track-focused Boxster yet. Meanwhile, read on to find out what we know so far about the roadster that’s set to climb above the GTS as the range-topping Boxster.
Updated 12/16/2014: Based on the recent spy shots, we created a rendering for the future Boxster GT4. Check it out after the jump.

As our recent spy photos proved, aside from a Cayman GT4, Porsche is also working on a GT4 version of the facelifted Boxster.

The blue prototype we caught unguarded earlier this month, had the same exact upgrades and updates as the closed-top Cayman GT4 testers, from the more aggressive aerodynamic components and vented hood lip, to the beefy wheels and brakes.

If you don't want to put your imagination to work, the team over at Topspeed have crafted a realistic rendering of the sports model based on the Boxster GT4 spy shots. 

The question on what engine will power the GT4 models remains open, as there are conflicting reports, with some sources pointing to a new turbocharged flat-four or six, and others to a larger displacement version of the Cayman GTS' atmospheric flat-six with 3.6-liters delivering anywhere between 360hp to 400hp.

Porsche  has received a lot of criticism in recent years for not letting the Boxster  and Cayman  models live up to their potential. It’s a well known fact that in order to protect the iconic 911, the Germans have been keeping their entry-level models from becoming too powerful. Fortunately, that’s about to end once the current Cayman receives its mid-cycle update in 2016, as the mid-engined coupe is set to receive a GT4 version similar to the GT3 package the 911 has had since 1999. As 2014 comes to an end, there’s more good news coming from Stuttgart, in the form of what appears to be a GT4-spec Boxster. While Porsche has yet to confirm such a roadster is underway, a new Boxster prototype that surfaced in Germany suggests the drop-top sports car  could be in for a similar update.

A Porsche Boxster prototype doing its best impression of a Michigan resident and freezing its arse off during cold-weather testing. We believe this Boxster—which is badged as an S model—is in fact a 2016 GT4, a new range-topping high-performance model. The front fascia is the giveaway, its giant intakes mimicking those on a Cayman GT4 prototype we spotted this past spring. This Boxster’s rear end may actually have frozen clean off, since the tall spoiler seen on the Cayman GT4 is absent here.   

As we pointed out when the Cayman GT4 surfaced, it used to be that any talk of a high-performance Porsche based on anything beneath the 911 was punishable by life in a clapped-out 924, but the hard-liners in Stuttgart are softening. The mid-engine Boxster and its hardtop Cayman sibling are highly capable sports cars that also feel as though they’ve been purposely held back so as not to step on the pricier 911’s toes. GT4 variants of the mid-engined wunderkinds could mark the end of Porsche’s careful metering of performance, not to mention show what the Boxster/Cayman can really do.  

 Porsche already has rolled out the entirety of its 2015-model-year offerings, so we’re thinking the Boxster GT4—and its Cayman-based twin—will be introduced sometime next year as 2016 models. (We had previously predicted that the Boxster and Cayman GT4s would be 2015 models and debut late in 2014; that timeline has more or less expired, so we’ve shifted our expectations accordingly.) With what’s sure to be epic dynamic capability, the Boxster GT4—there’s also some talk that this car may be called the RS Spyder—could start at $100,000 or more.

Wouldn’t it be great if spy photographers could magically produce keys to prototypes and use them to pop the hood every once in a while? That way at least we’d have some idea of what kind of muscle the GT4 will come packing. OK, well, we’d have to drive this particular car onto a lift and drop the engine, but you get the idea. Our best guess is that the new Boxster variant will utilize a version of one of the 911’s more-powerful flat-six mills—the Carrera S’s 400-hp 3.8-liter—or a worked-over iteration of the 3.4-liter flat-six that the Boxster and Cayman share with the base 911 Carrera. It’s also possible that Porsche could use the model to introduce a turbocharged variant, perhaps with just four cylinders, and/or include some hybrid gear.
Whatever happens, don’t expect the GT4 to pack much less than 400 horsepower. If the GT4 uses a hopped-up 3.4-liter six like the Boxster GTS, it’s impossible to imagine fewer than 355 horses; after all, the GTS makes 340, and Porsche would have to differentiate the GT4 with more power. Encouragingly, this prototype had a six-speed stick sprouting from its center console.