It’s fair to say the four-cylinder engine in the 718-generation Boxster and Cayman has divided opinion among Porsche devotees, which is why the news that both the Spyder and GT4 variants of both will be powered by a naturally aspirated flat six is bound to have them crying out with joy. The engine itself pumps out 420HP and 346lb ft of torque between 5,000 and 6,000rpm and is coupled with a good old-fashioned six-speed manual gearbox. The sprint from 0–62mph is dispatched in 4.4sec and both the Spyder and the GT4 will top 185mph. 

Both of the mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports cars have received GT-developed chassis and an aerodynamic makeover, improved significantly thanks to a clever new functional rear diffuser. The rear wing on the GT4 has also been developed to offer 30 percent more downforce than that affixed to the previous model. While carbon ceramic stoppers are available as an option for both cars, Porsche claims its new aluminium monobloc fixed-calliper brakes are consistently effective even on the racetrack.

Unlike its predecessors, the third-gen Boxster Spyder uses the same underpinnings as the full-fat GT4. Combined with the fact the flat-six is said to sound better than ever (having just had our ears grated by the 911 GT3 RSRs at Le Mans, we can vouch for that!), we think it’s the car we’d choose out of the two. The tricky part will be getting hold of one in the first place. Good luck to all those prospective buyers! 

Photos: Porsche