Quote:
Originally Posted by lemming
I figured. It’s a nice engine.
I just don’t understand why Porsche doesn’t use its engines more broadly. It’s an expensive business model to keep the 718 4.0L and the 718 4 cylinder engines as custom for the 718.
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Indeed. I guess they charge high enough prices to cover the cost and give themselves a nice margin though... To take it to an extreme, Ferrari only produces a few thousand vehicles a year and is one of the most profitable car brands. So it can be done...for a price.
My guess is that Porsche/VW group have determined that there are certain things that need to remain exclusive to the brand such as flat engines. FWIW, the 4.0L engine in the 718 GTS is derived from the same 9A2 engine that's found in turbocharged form in the 911 range. And even the flat 4 engine is derived from the same architecture; so I suppose they get some economies of scale (though not much). Here's a press release from Porsche that talks about the shared underpinnings of their current flat engines:
https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2020...394-20340.html
It was even weirder when Porsche used to have its own line of V6 and v8 engines that it used in the 1st gen Panamera, Macan, etc (likely because they were developed before Porsche was fully owned by VW). I believe all the current v6/v8 engines are now shared with Audi.