The flat-6 midmounted water-cooled engine reminds you of a boxer as he faces his opponent at center ring right at the introduction by the referee. Both of the fighters punch their boxing gloves at each other striking the other’s extended wrapped fists as a salute. The engine’s pistons oppose one another in a similar movement back and forth thus giving the idea of a ‘boxer’ getting ready to box. The pistons are mounted in the engine block in two banks of three cylinders on either side of a centrally located crankshaft.

The Porsche Boxster engine is designed with a low center of gravity and brevity of overall length. This construction provides for more efficient air-cooling especially since it is located behind the seats. The length may be short, but the width of the engine makes it too big for the engine compartments of most compact cars.

In 1997, the Boxster debuted with the 2.5-liter dual-overhead-cam, 201 horsepower engine. The entry-level engine produced 180 foot-pounds of torque.

The next two years found very little changes to the engines, but in the year 2000 the company produced two new dual-overhead-cam engines. One was a 2.7-liter flat-6, which powered the base model Boxster. The other was a 3.2-liter six that pushed the new ‘S’ model through a 6-speed manual transmission.

Year 2003 found the development of increased horsepower in both engines with the base model adding 11 more ponies to make 228 HP, and the ‘S’ engine only gaining 8 horsepower over its predecessor to expand to 258 HP.

Surprisingly, the difference in size and horsepower did not impact fuel economy all that much, for the marque was able to maintain its city and highway mpg ratings with very little change. However speed did change over the years. In 1997 the 2.5-liter DOHC, 201 HP engine produced zero to sixty times in 6.0 seconds. In 2009, the Boxster base model flat-6 grew to a hefty 2.9-liter and 255 HP and delivered the car from the starting line to sixty mph a whole second faster at 5.0 seconds.

Over the years, the Porsche Boxster engine made a gradual change from its start in 1997 to take on more of the architecture and performance of its big brother 911 engines. Porsche is the master at the flat-6 and they have made a really winning car to fit around it.