Porsche presents the new Boxster and Cayman at Los Angeles Auto Show

Better late than sorry. This suits pretty well this post, once the new Boxster and Cayman have been released last week. We could have left it behind, but since no Porsche can be left that way, we have prefered to bring it to you today.



Porsche claims this is a new generation of Boxster and Cayman, but the new generation of the cars will only be released by 2011, when the new 911 (998) will also be presented. Anyway, the cars have had a great improvement.

First of all, the 2.7-litre engine has gotten bigger. It is now a 2.9-litre engine that produces 255 bhp on Boxster and 265 bhp on Cayman. The previous engine gave these cars "only" 245 bhp.

For the S versions, the 3.4-litre engine has also been improved, but not with a larger displacement. It has received direct fuel injection and now generates 310 bhp on the roadster and 320 bhp on the coupe. Transmissions are a six speed manual gearbox of the seven-speed PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, German for double-clutch gearbox).

Performance has also gone through a nice upgrade. Now Boxster accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.9 s and Boxster S does the same in 5 s. Cayman S is 0.1 s faster. Fuel consumption is also lower. The 2.9-litre engine spends only 1 l of petrol every 11 km, or is a 11 km/l car, if you prefer. The 3.4-litre engine spends just a little more and runs 10.6 km with 1 l of petrol.

Both models will be sold from February 2009 on. No price tag has been released so far, but Boxster and Cayman will remain as the cheapest Porsche for sale. At least while Porsche does not decide to sell a VW Golf based hot hatchback...