Have you noticed that cylinder counts have been declining globally over the past half decade or so? Once where there where sixes, turbo fours now reside, and even Ford, home of the romper-stomper Trinity V8, is today offering its Fiesta with but three cylinders for power. Porsche too has apparently been getting on the cylinder lopping bandwagon, and is all but certain to introduce a 395-bhp flat four in the next iteration of the Boxster and less hair-tossling Cayman.

Here’s the thing about cars of Porsche’s ilk however, there’s a status in cylinder count just as much in price and horsepower numbers. Consider if you will Aston Martin’s declaration that they are a maker of predominantly 12-cylinder cars.  That raises the question, after close to 20 years as a 6-cylinder will buyers accept the Boxster, and its even more aggressive coupe brother, with a four?

As noted, cylinder count is as much a status symbol as the badge on the hood and while addressing its corporate responsibility, is it possible that Porsche is taking things a little too far by building a four pot Boxster? After all, the last mid-engined four that the company offered – the 914 – wasn’t even considered by the marque to be worthy of the Porsche name, selling instead as a VW-Porsche in many markets, while Porsche retained the solo name for its six-cylinder edition. What do you think, does a four-pot Boxster make any sense?

Image source: autoevolution