VarioCam Plus

[John Y]

Previous Boxster models, including the 2005 and 2006, just had variocam. That was a variable valve timing system. Variocam Plus, taken from the 997 and more directly from the Cayman. also incorporates variable valve lift; I think it has two different lift maps, one high one low. That seems to have generated the slight increase in grunt. Presumably, there were programming modifications int he ECU to take advantage of the increasing range in valve lift. The torque curve seems to have flattened out a little more, even though there's not a whole lot in terms of peak values (based on my drive of a 2.7l Cayman this weekend) and most sginifcantly, there's an impressive increase infuel economy, judging by the 23/32 EPA rating for the Cayman.