What are you taking about?

It's not that easy increasing HP in a 6 cylinder engine.

The 964 had 250HP, the 993 270, the 996 320, etc...

Same thing for the Boxster, it went from 200 to 303HP in 10 years.

And don't forget that it's not only HP that sells for the Porsches, it's the feel of the car, the fact that they are not front engined, etc...

What can you say about Honda? They have been putting out the same 200HP front wheel drive cars for the last 15 years, have done a horrible job updating the NSX, and the most pathetic upgrade job in the history of automobile with the S2000.

 

[QUOTE=Fanman,May 1 2008, 07:17 AM]Typical BS Porsche hp increases.

 

Give me an old air cooled turbo or S or something

My personally favorites

 

+20-30 HP and better gas mileage sounds great to me. Porsche pricing.... not so much.

 

Porsche has really upped their game, addressing all the "flaws" I've experienced in a 997 C4S.

 

I agree (and I love Porsches). I think Porsche should make the 3.6 with 340ish h.p. standard in the Boxster S/Cayman S (and at least a 3.2 with 300ish h.p. standard in the base Boxster/Cayman) and the 3.8 with 380ish h.p. standard in the Carrera with the S version having as standard whatever the X-51 power kit includes. Given the competition and how good it is (Corvettes, M3s, GT-Rs) and Porsche's pricing, I think such an across-the-board power bump is reasonable. Oh, and while they're at it, they can make xenon lights, sport steering wheels, sport seats, sport shifters, and sport exhausts standard too. They are making sports cars, after all, right? Nonetheless, the new tranny sounds great. About time they ditched the mid-90s tech. tiptronic.

 

It used to be in the 90's & early 2000's the Porsches were somewhat close to it's competitors in hp. i.e :

Porsche vs. Corvette :

282 hp vs. 300 hp
320 hp vs. 350 hp
355 hp vs. 400 hp

Pretty soon it will be 380 vs. 430 hp. It has gone from 18 hp to 50 hp difference in the span of about 10 years.

This is how the Porsche lineup should look :

Boxster S/Cayman S = 3.6L 325 hp
Carrera = 3.8 L 380 hp
Carrera S = 3.8 L 410 hp

Would have to only bore out the existing engine, very little new technology, R&D. Can basically transplant the existing engines down into the lower models.

They stepped up on the Turbo, when the Vettes Z06's went from 405 to 505 hp, Porsche went from 415 to 480 hp, they could still grow a set & put the 530 hp GT2 mods in the Turbo, but again Porsche will rape us on options (future X50 package).

 

That, plus the fact that the competition (Corvette, M3, GT-R) has gotten so much better. The '08 Corvette is just a wonderful all-around car now. It truly is hard to find significant faults with the car now (unlike with the C4, which was garbage).

 

It's a lot easier than you think. By & large they have used this existing engine in it's current form since 99', when it was a 3.4L putting out 300 hp. Now it's a 3.8L putting out 355 hp, but with the powerkit option you are looking at the same basic engine putting out 381 hp. No major modifications, same engine, just bored out futher. Rumored limitation on this engine is around 4.2 L. It's not a technological limitation, it's that Porsche can charge you for an upgrade (i.e. powerkit). Those components when put into an engine during assembly probably cost less than a $1000 more than the current parts, but Porsche wants to charge people $12000 to $17000 more for it.

So in that time Porsche has added 55 hp to it's lineup (+80 with the powerkit), GM has made the base Vette go from 300 hp to 430 hp (+130 hp).

Boxster S went from 250 hp to the current 295 hp, not 200 to 300.

It's not hp that sells, but when dropping $60K-$100K you want your car to be competitive, which the Porsche is becoming in danger of losing. When you have 430 hp Vettes, 414 hp M3's, 420 hp Audi's, 415 hp IS'F's, 450 hp AMG's.

And you example of Honda, isn't that the reason everybody, even S2000 owners are making fun of Honda ? It's an example of what NOT to do in the sportscar market, not a sterling example that Porsche should follow.

As a former Porsche owner I loved my Carrera, but would I get it again today ? No. It isn't competitive with what is coming out today. For the price you pay you should be getting more.

 

This is where I'm tempted to say "if you want to over-focus on hp or you want value for money then just don't buy a Porsche," but I can't bring myself to say it. Basically I agree with you and the last couple posters. Not that Porsche doesn't know what they're doing, but just that I wish they'd listen to you all.