Lies and the 718

"Nauraushaun" (nauraushaun12) 06/27/2020 at 20:58 • Filed to: None

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Porsche markets the latest Boxster and Cayman as the 718 to mislead people into believing industry-standard engine down-sizing links the car to an old race car that also had 4 cylinders, so that they will spend more money.

The 718 is also available with 6 cylinders, turning a tenuous-at-best link into a downright lie.

In the same way that Tesla is chiefly a technology company, Porsche is chiefly a marketing company. One does not buy a Porsche, one is sold a Porsche.

Maybe they are great drivers’ cars and all, but I’d hesitate to give my money to such a company. I call this deception and marketing gone too far, it’s dubious and I don’t believe in it.

In the same way that spending big money on an Apple product leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Good products maybe, but there’s a voice in the back of my head screaming about how they’re deliberately creating their own over-priced lock-in ecosystem.

Maybe I’m over-sensitive to this sort of thing. Maybe it’s not that much worse than anyone else’s marketing if at all. But in a world that’s increasingly trying to steal your attention and sell you stuff you don’t want, I believe that we should be thinking about this stuff and lines should be drawn.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 21:11

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You know who buys a Cayman/Boxster? People who can’t afford a 911. That’s it. That’s the entire market segment.

Maxima Speed > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 21:17

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This HAS to be satire.

dogisbadob > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 06/27/2020 at 21:18

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That’s just it, though. With all the options and shit, it ends up costing as much as a 911 anyway

Also, Porsche cripples them specifically to be not as good as the 911. They’re jealous that the mid-engine is better than rear-engine, and over the years, Porsche has been moving the 911 engine more towards the rear axle

dogisbadob > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 21:18

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718/4 and 718/6 :p

Anyway, I’m glad Porsche is actually using a number name that doesn’ t start with 9 again.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > dogisbadob 06/27/2020 at 21:20

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Eventually they’ll HAVE to move into the Tens... 

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 21:24

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I did not know about the 718 racecar. Huh.

WilliamsSW > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 06/27/2020 at 21:28

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A while ago, I drove a 997 S and a 2013 Boxster S back to back.   Loved both, but I had more fun in the Boxster. Not entirely fair because it was 5 years newer (And the same price), but I did really like it.

Nauraushaun > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 06/27/2020 at 21:40

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I’m okay with that. I own an MR2 because I can’t afford a Cayman! And we’re all in the same boat really - nobody can afford a Carrera GT but we’d all prefer one.

Nauraushaun > dogisbadob 06/27/2020 at 21:41

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But, but 718/6 is like NA (turbo). The entire point of 718 is the 4-cylinder, that’s the only reason it’s got the 718 name!

Nauraushaun > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 06/27/2020 at 21:41

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But what about confusion with the Peugeot 1008?!

Nauraushaun > Maxima Speed 06/27/2020 at 21:41

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Sorry

Nauraushaun > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 06/27/2020 at 21:42

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Yep, that’s the reason for the name. The only reason. It evokes the heritage racing lineage history bloodline podium Volkswagen Beetle.

Note that there are certain Porsche history notes they’d rather not advertise.

CRider > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 21:45

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Next you’ll tell me that those Mercedes AMGs with 6.2 liter engines and 6.3 badges are also marketing lies .

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 21:53

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That’s so dumb. I figured it was just a chassis code, to differentiate it from the outgoing Boxster/Cayman

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 22:06

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They have been marketing the base entry model as 718, referring to the old race cars between the 550 Spyder -> 718 Spyder -> 904 Carrera GTS (all 4-cylinder mid-engine cars, BTW) since what would have been the 981.2 introduction.

The Boxster RS60 also commemorated that 4-cylinder open-cockpit race-car lineage in reference to a specific 1960 model variant.

The 718 c hassis and body is essentially 981.2... but going all-4-cylinder Turbo sparked the name change to that heritage.

The 718 model with the 6-cylinder is a recent development in response to the turbo-4 modern cars not sounding very good, and garnering some criticism for being less soulful than the flat-6 cars they replaced, the 981, 987, and 986.

So the 2020 revival of the Cayman GT4, and the Boxster Spyder got a 4L atmospheric (aka naturally-aspirated, not-turbocharged) flat 6 engine, based from the 991/992 3.0L Twin-turbo base Carrera 911 engine, not the GT3-based engine. The 2021 models are getting a PDK option, and a GTS 4.0 stable-mate... without the motorsport suspension, a few less revs and thus less horsepower, and with the regular GTS accoutrements and options. Such as a power insulated top in Boxster’s case,

That, while base and S-model versions of the 718 continue with 2.0 and 2.5L single-turbocharged flat-4 engines, respectively, as all previous 718s have.

And if by “Being Sold” a Porsche means getting one of the purest driving experiences on the road today, in a 3000lb mid-engine sports car chassis that isn’t gigantic, has two trunks, and the right amoun t of power to exploit and enjoy without the car trying to void your driver’s license or activate your life insurance policy, or get you a vehicular manslaughter charge by attacking other people...

Then consider me sold. I so badly want a 981... but if I had a lot more money... I would go for a 718 Spyder, GT4, or GTS 4.0. GT4s don’t even seem to significantly depreciate... 981s or 718s.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 06/27/2020 at 22:09

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Counterpoint.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 22:18

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718 RSK Spyder (1959) - the namesake.

U nlike a Beetle and 356 , the Porsche race cars were mid-engine, not rear-engine. That continued from 550 Spyder, through 718, into the 900-series 904, 906, 908, and beyond that into 917... etc. as the engines grew from 4 to 6 cylinders, flat-8s, and flat-12s.

wafflesnfalafel > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 22:18

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right - can’t say I’d ever consider at a 4cyl 718, but Porsche is very good at making lots of money. (And I would absolutely love a new gt4 - skip the carbon brakes and track seats and you can price a nice one under 110k...)  

Nauraushaun > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 06/27/2020 at 22:27

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Apparently the internal designation is 982, the previous gen being 981. So 718 is like a marketing sort of public-facing code. Really fucked

Nauraushaun > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 06/27/2020 at 22:27

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As I said, being a good car doesn’t offset the garbage spin coming from the marketing department!

Nauraushaun > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 06/27/2020 at 22:33

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I understand the reasoning behind it. Using a turbo 4 will lose sales, so they dug into their history to find a way to make it sound like a good thing and offset that loss.

Then they decided to put a 6 in some of them anyway because buyers love that. And, well, why bother renaming them? It will only confuse people and “718" is probably selling a few cars.

It’s ultimately the same reasoning behind using “coupe” on a Porsche SUV, or “turbo” on a car without a turbo, or “targa” on a car that isn’t really a targa. It doesn’t really matter to Porsche if these names are true or not, so long as it convinces people to buy them.

You need to reconsider the notion that these cars have anything in common with the 718 race car. They both have 4 cylinders, but that’s hardly a defining characteristic of a car, and it’s not even true of all 718s. The only real link is one created for marketing purposes.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 23:23

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Porsche will just get sued by Peugeot and they’ll add a 1 to the name and call it the 1018... or the 1118

Nauraushaun > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 06/27/2020 at 23:25

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Haha, there’s precedent for that of course. I actually forgot that it was Peugeot who complained about 901 in the first place.

for Michigan > Nauraushaun 06/27/2020 at 23:33

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That is an impressively long, angry rant about a comically insignificant thing.

Nauraushaun > wafflesnfalafel 06/27/2020 at 23:36

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Sadly yes, they are making a lot of money it would seem.

Nauraushaun > CRider 06/27/2020 at 23:40

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Well, they definitely are. Unless you think it’s an honest mistake?

That’s a curious one because the engine it commemorates   was actually considerably higher than 6.3L. Unlike today, the name wasn’t trying to over sell the car , it was just differentiating from the smaller engine’d model . I think that says a lot about how times have changed.

ranwhenparked > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 06/27/2020 at 23:54

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Boeing is in a similar trap with 7, but they only do a new plane maybe once every 20 years or so, so they won’t have to face the problem for a little while. 

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Nauraushaun 06/28/2020 at 00:24

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Since I've never really understood what a Porsche is for nor have the ability to differentiate between many of the current ilk unless they are covered in giant vinyl lettering telling me what they are...I think you might be on to something.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Nauraushaun 06/28/2020 at 01:09

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Mustang. Challenger. Camaro. MINI. Corvette now more than ever...

None of them have anything currently in common with their origins.

It is a matter of lineage and heritage, not necessarily outright commonality.

Plus, they are running out of numbers, which is why the sports car numbers are jumping around, and the non-sportscars don’t generally use their engineering codes, but their model names.

I am kind of surprised that Cayman and Boxster still prominently use a model number... and in the future perhaps they won’t... but I am not going to argue too much that they use a number from their past, if it gets people to talk about Porsche’s motorsport history.

But yes... calling something with more than two doors, and ample size to be a “coupe” which is French for cut-down (as in making smaller), and traditionally referring to carriages and cars with only one portal per side, and a fixed roof, is ridiculous, but Mercedes started it (CLS)

And calling an electric car Turbo, is also ridiculous.

993, 996, and 997 Targas were further from being targas than the 991... which is basically a power-top targa… and what Ferrari and McLaren call Spyder... a folding stowable panel above, but not really behind the cabin, not really as big as a full convertible/cabriolet top.

Marketing speak is as bad as ever... and frankly, I try to ignore or get past it, because everyone is trying to sell everyone else everything they can... and not only monetarily. Some of the biggest bills-of-goods being sold to people have nothing to do with an up front transaction price... although they ALL have a cost.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Nauraushaun 06/28/2020 at 02:50

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10/10 approve of the 718/6 name. 

Thomas Donohue > Nauraushaun 06/28/2020 at 11:31

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Curious as to which car company you think is righteous and always spot-on with their advertising? I mean, they are all in the car sales business.

Technically, they made other versions of the 718 that had flat-eight engines, including the GTR . Those could have been considered the equivalent of the newer GT4.

The GTR raced and won the Targa Florio in 1963.

RedSnake > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 06/28/2020 at 11:56

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Complete crap, I bought a 718 Cay man GTS, with the turbo 4 (gasp), and you know why, because it’s an incredible car . I could have purchased a 911 but the Cayman is smaller, more nimble, and in  the end it’s just more fun.

Nauraushaun > Thomas Donohue 06/28/2020 at 18:28

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It’s a good question. I ask myself the same thing. All advertising is for the purpose of convincing someone to buy something they otherwise wouldn’t buy. But there are levels of evilness I’m willing to accept. I think the 718 thing falls somewhere between a downright lie which would be illegal (“the Cayman is the fastest car in the world” ), and a fair and balanced statement (“the Cayman is an exciting, well-balanced sports car”). And I think it falls a bit far on the evil end of the spectrum for me.

Of course I think someone like Lotus is fine but maybe that’s just because they’re the underdog. And Ferrari do all sorts of silly naming based on older cars, but somehow I don’t think it’s as evil. The name Superamerica has been on a bunch of Ferraris, but I think it’s more just a case of reusing old cool names for cars that generally share a similar idea.

The 718 is especially dubious because it’s trying to pretend that engine downsizing for emissions regulations is something that it’s not. They didn’t choose the 4-cylinder to reduce weight to better power to weight, as was the case for the 718 race car . It’s a regulations-driven change being dressed up as something it’s not!

But one can draw lines wherever they like. There are probably examples out there of things I think are fine but are actually just as bad.

See Porsche isn’t interested in those cars, or anything close to the truth. They’re trying to sell a single narrative - the Boxster/Cayman is linked to the 718 race car because they both had 4 cylinders. It’s not important that the 718 sometimes had 8, and the Caymster sometimes has 6. And they’ll sell that story to a lot more people than will bother researching the truth.