Missing cylinders haunt new Porsche

THE Porsche 718 Boxster is still one of the best handling and fastest roadsters you can buy – but it has something missing from its mechanical make-up.

When the original Boxster became the 718, two cylinders were chopped from the engine.

It gained a turbocharger, but it is the change from six cylinders to four that has disappointed so many purists.

Gone is the delicious soundtrack, now replaced by a rough note more Subaru than Porsche. Or, if you want to be even harsher, more like an old Beetle. Later this year, Porsche is going to launch a new Boxster Spyder that will be powered by a version of the amazing 4.0-litre naturallyaspirated six-cylinder motor currently used in the 911 GT3.

That car promises to be a formidable machine. But for now we have another special model – the 718 Boxster GTS.

It uses the 2.5-litre flat-four engine of the Boxster S but with an extra 15bhp which brings the total to 361bhp. There’s an extra 7lb.ft of torque which brings that total to 317lb.ft. This figure is

available as low as 1,900rpm but the power output doesn’t peak until 6,500rpm. It makes for an exciting power plant (if you ignore the noise) because there’s plenty of low-down stomp to pull you through the gears yet still a frenzied rush as you go past 6,000rpm.

Our test car was fitted with the old fashioned and utterly brilliant