See Porsche’s next Boxster in our new spy video. Click on the video player below to see the 2012 Boxster out on test at the Nurburgring – as Porsche engineers hone the guts of the next 911 for use in the smaller roadster and coupé family.
No prizes for guessing that evolution is the name of the game chez Porsche for this new model programme. The new Boxster is all-but-identical to today’s two-seater, but there will be numerous detailed changes to the tech spec and, we hope, the exterior design that’s hardly changed since the car was launched in 1996. Is Porsche being too timid? Perhaps it’s leaving radical change to its new models, such as the Cayenne, Panamera and forthcoming small sports car twinned with a VW.
Porsche’s new Boxster (2012): what is new
We’ll see the new 911 first in 2011, followed a year later by the next-generation Boxster and Cayman. Both will follow the classic mid-engined, rear-wheel drive format set by the original, but most other details are shrouded in conjecture at this stage.
The flat six engines are likely to continue, further improved with incremental gains to the direct injection systems and PDK twin-clutch gearboxes. Stop-start is mooted as are active aero tweaks with numerous pop-up addenda to smoothe airflow and – allegedly – rear-view cameras to replace those pesky, easily damaged and bulky door mirrors.