Four-pot Porsches?

This is the description of the media involved in the media container above.

The stranglehold placed upon big engines appears to be reaching out to the likes of Porsche, whose powertrain development guru revealed that the company is not totally averse to lopping off a couple of cylinders in the name of the environment.

In an industry beset with plummeting sales, especially in the case of big-engined models, Porsche has thus far managed to buck the trend and continues to report strong sales. The Stuttgart company is not ignorant to the fact that tightening emission laws and high fuel prices will eventually catch up with it’s existing model line-up, so it has recently voiced its willingness to consider four-cylinder engines as part of its future.

At an Australian press conference for the launch of the new-generationof Porsche 911 models, Porsche’s head of powertrain development, Thomas Krickelberg, revealed that Porsche is not completely averse to using four-cylinder engines, should the need arise. Krickelberg revealed that the 911’s six-cylinder engines had been designed in such a manner that the number of cylinders can be reduced if there was a “strong need to do it”.

Global warming and the need to reduce fuel consumption were cited as the strongest factors favouring such a move. Europe’s strengthening stance on CO2 emissions will also play a strong part in adopting smaller powerplants.

Porsche has not used four-cylinder engines in its vehicles since the likes of the 924 and 944 in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Modern four-cylinder engines utilizing forced induction have proved very successful for the likes of Subaru (Impreza Sti et al) and Mitsubishi (Lancer Evo series), and even sister company Volkswagen has seen a great deal of success with its 2,0-litre TFSI units.

Krickelberg would not comment as to whether a new model line-up would emerge, if Porsche decided to go the four-pot route. A number of reports have suggested that Volkswagen and Audi are both looking to introduce compact mid-engined roadsters to their model lines, so would it be too far-fetched to imagine a sort of re-born Porsche 356 Speedster with a four-cylinder powerplant?