2011-2012 Boxster Photos
 

Economic times may delay the intro, but smaller, lighter, and closer to the original concept sure appeal to me. If you cringe at the thought of a turbo 4 replacing the big 6, remember that the 944 turbo was faster than the standard 911 in the late 90s and is almost as fast as a Boxster today.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/porsche-boxster-2011.html

Nice catch.
Looks: Still looks right, although it's clearly not anywhere near production standard, so hard to say exactly what the end product will be. Lines appear to remain true Boxster.
Lighter: Always a plus, anytime! :dance:
4 cyl? mmmm... In a lighter car, I'm sure they could get the HP/torque and performance, but what about image? Hard to say on that one...
Price (most economical Porsche): probably not a bad idea in today's world, but part of the Porsche experience is exclusivity, so you can't go too low either (not that I'm really worried on that account).
Overall: Porsche management has a strong record of building sports cars, selling sports cars, and making a profit all the while. I'd bet they get it right, and that there's a fun Boxster out there in future-land.
Colors?

Glad to see the Boxster returning to smaller, lighter; the car grew when the 987 was introduced over the 986. Turbo four could be alot of fun...many times easier to coax more power out of a forced induction engine.

Just look back a the Tag Porsche F1 motors of the 80's (though they were sixes); the amount of power extracted per liter was quite strong.

Did you get a look at the instrument cluster? I like that set-up, probably getting oil pressure & volt meter in one and oil temp and a boost gauge (if the four banger has forced induction) in the other.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/porsche-boxster-2011.html

I'd love to have more gauges, idiot lights in any sports car is ridiculous. Idiot lights are for minivans so soccer moms can concentrate on the road, yell at the kids and call in take-out pizza at the same time.

A turbo 4-cylinder should work nicely in the 988/981 version of the Boxster. A 325 hp 6 cylinder would also work nicely for the 988/981 Boxster S. Would love to see a Club Sport version that strips some of the sound deadening materials for another 150 lb. weight savings, as they are planning later this year for the Cayman. Heck, I would even like a plexi-glass engine cover. My only criticism at this point are the dash vents, which I am hoping have no resemblance to the production vents, and yes I too like a more comprehensive array of real gauges, which appear to be present on this version of the prototype.

Whatever the outcome, Porsche has a very tough act to follow as some owners will claim that they ruined the styling or that a 4-cylinder engine represents a step down. Quite frankly, if the car is significantly quicker, more efficient, and becomes even more nimble, it will be difficult to find fault with the new 988/981. It has "best in class" written all over it, just like the 986/987 has been for over 12 years.
vincesf

Too early to tell on the gauges. Maybe it's the same gauge pod as the next 911 on this proto. Maybe they just use the gauges for the development mules, although all that info can come through the ECU more accurately and recorded on a laptop. I agree though, gauges are better than idiot lights and I would like to see them on the car, I just don't think it's very likely.

I've read that the internal designation for this car is 981 as opposed to 988 and the new 911 is 991. Not that it really matters.

I love the new center console height!!
It puts the shift knob at nearly the same height as the column stalks, but looks like it tapers down toward the back as to not interfere with your elbows, as does the ridiculously high center console on the S2000.
Once you get used to the shifter being right next to the steering wheel, you will never want to go back to having to drop your hand so far. The closer the shifter to the wheel, the less time it takes to shift and return to two hands on the wheel. I found when driving a Civic SI, that had the shifter on a stalk coming out of the dash, having the shifter that close had the side benefit of convincing you to keep your hand on the wheel, to be closer to the shifter.
When going up through the gears, in normal driving, I tend to leave my right hand near, or on, the shifter instead of returning it to the steering wheel. This may never bite me..................

Alfa started that a long time ago. It may be functional, but it's not as cool looking as the standard location.

http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/attachments/alfa-romeo-cars-sale-wanted/110273d1216735064-1990-alfa-spider-veloce-convertible-alfa-interior.jpg

The dash on this car looks identical to the one on the Panamera test mule posted in earlier spy shots. I don't think it has anything to do with actual production interiors.

jmatta, I hope you are right. Those vents going all the way up the dash toward the windshield are awful!

I was hoping the 2012 model would look like that orange one I saw on the cover of whatever magazine... a cross between a 987 and a CGT. That was a fine looking car for sure.

This one isn't worth the upgrade in my opinion.

Those vents would never see production, the reflection in the windshield would be horrible.

Some more pics of the same car:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/porsche_file/2012_porsche_boxster_spied+view-photos.html

still can't figure out how to hide the "ribs" of a soft top.. to me, it just kills a high-end sports car.

I do not like the rear end in particular the tail lights. It looks like someone stuck a Nissan Rear end on traditional Porsche.

any new engine that will opend the door to the possibility of being beaten by a Domestic roadster is a mistake. Their just handing the competition marketing gold.
"faster than a Porsche Boxster" bla bla bla.
If you're going to charge more $$$$ over similar cars at least make sure the car has enough power to put away the competition.

The last issue of Excellence has the Chief of Porsche Motorsports programs basically saying that there are no plans to give the Cayman any prominence in racing. It sounded kind of funny "The 911 will continue to be zee top of the zee top. We could make it a mid engine 911 because we don't make use of the backseat in racing but we will continue with zee engine in the zee back".

Bad news for more power in Cayman and Boxster.

This is news because...?

Porsche 911 is the flagship product and always will.

There's really no reason to believe that a lighter Boxster with a turbo 4 couldn't outrun the current car, even the S.

If it went from 3000 pounds to 2600, 13% less weight, it would need 13% less torque to get the same acceleration. This is why the Elise only needs 200hp to do 0-60 in 4.5 seconds.

Even if the weight didn't change, 310-320 hp isn't a challenge for a turbo 4. In fact, that's about the output of the flat-4 in the Impreza STI. When you add direct injection to a turbocharged engine, you end up with a drivetrain that hasn't sacrificed drive ability at all. Compression can still be relatively high, meaning off-boost torque is high and turbo lag would be minimal. If you've ever driven a well sorted turbo 4, you'll know what I mean when I say the torque wave can be addictive. It's a feeling the current NA engines don't have.

The advantage to having an engine designed for forced induction from the factory is that it has to be more robust in the first place. Adding higher boost and more fuel is a cheap proposition to adding more power as compared to where we are in the current car.

The other advantage to using a DI turbo 4 is in fuel economy. It's easy to drive a turbo car without spinning the turbo much as turbo activity is related to load and speed combined. If you drive gently, you can greatly increase fuel economy compared to a large engine of equal power.

What are the wheels from?
I want a set!!!

A few more pictures

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=140446#2

http://www.motorauthority.com/spy-shots-porsche-boxster-speedster.html

And this is interesting, although slightly off topic, a club sport Cayman

http://www.motorauthority.com/spy-shots-porsche-readying-cayman-rs.html

"I was hoping the 2012 model would look like that orange one I saw on the cover of whatever magazine... a cross between a 987 and a CGT"

I believe this is the one...