You’re looking at a rendering for the Porsche 988 published by Autocar. Just what is a Porsche 988 we hear you ask. It’s the latest model rumoured from Stuttgart to take on the Ferrari 458 Italia and the like.
If that all sounds a little bit familiar, welcome to 2012. This time, however, plans for the 988 (understood to be a development title only) seem to be more concrete than any previous “Fefi” rumours we’ve heard in the past.
The 988 is expected to go on sale in 2017 and will be powered by a flat-eight cylinder engine which will be mid-mounted and around 4.0 litres in capacity. You don’t get excited about a supercar these days unless it’s nudging 600hp and with the aid of a turbo or two, or maybe even four, the 988 should oblige on that front.
Reports of an eight-cylinder engine are interesting inasmuch as Porsche engineers feel they need the extra cylinders to take on models like the 458. The recent issues faced by the 3.8 litre flat-six in the 911 GT3 have no doubt helped confirm that theory.
The 988 will eventually lead a revitalised model range as Porsche aims to sell 200,000 vehicles per annum.
[Source: Autocar]