The Porsche flat-six engine series is a line of mechanically similar,

naturally aspirated A naturally aspirated engine, also known as a normally aspirated engine, and abbreviated to N/A or NA, is an internal combustion engine in which air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and does not have forced induction through a turboc ...

and sometimes

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

flat-six A flat-six engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-six, is a six-cylinder piston engine with three cylinders on each side of a central crankshaft. The most common type of flat-six engine is the boxer-six engine, where each pair of opposed c ...

boxer engine A flat engine is a Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where the cylinders are located on either side of a central crankshaft. Flat engines are also known as horizontally opposed engines, however this is distinct ...

s, produced by

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

for almost 60 consecutive years, since 1963. The engine is an evolution of the

flat-four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine or boxer engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the box ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

used in the original

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

. The flat-six engine is most often associated with their 911 model, Porsche's flagship rear-engined sports car which has used flat-six engines exclusively since 1963. The engines were

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. Air-cooled designs are far simpler than their liquid-cooled ...

until 1999, when Porsche started using water-cooled engines. In April 2011, Porsche announced the third generation of the 997 GT3 RS with an enlarged 4.0-litre engine having a power output of . The

naturally-aspirated A naturally aspirated engine, also known as a normally aspirated engine, and abbreviated to N/A or NA, is an internal combustion engine in which air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and does not have forced induction through a turboc ...

4.0-litre flat-six engine (the largest engine displacement offered in a street-legal 911) was introduced with their 2011 911 (997) GT3 RS 4.0, in 2011. The engine itself uses the crankshaft from the RSR with increased stroke dimensions (from 76.4 mm to 80.4 mm). This change increased the power output to at 8,250 rpm and of torque at 5,750 rpm. giving it a

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement ...

of 365 hp per ton. Only 600 cars were built. At , the engine is one of the most powerful six-cylinder naturally aspirated engines in any production car with a per litre output. Other Porsche models that use flat-six engines are the 1970–1972 Porsche 914/6 (

mid-engine In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle. History The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive format can be considered the original layout ...

), the 1986–1993

Porsche 959 The Porsche 959 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1986 to 1993, first as a Group B rally car and later as a road legal production car designed to satisfy FIA homologation regulations requiring at least ...

( rear-engine), and the 1996–2021

Porsche Boxster/Cayman The Porsche Boxster and Cayman are Mid-engine design, mid-engine two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche across four generations—as a two-door, two-seater Roadster (automobile), roadster (Boxs ...

(mid-engine). The

Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 is a sports prototype racing car designed and built by Porsche. Created to replace the Porsche 956, 962 was introduced at the end of 1984 and replaced the 956 in the International Motor Sports Association, IMSA's IMSA GT Champio ...

sports prototype A sports prototype, sometimes referred to simply as a prototype, is a type of Auto racing, race car that is used in high-level categories of sports car racing. They are purpose-built auto-sports race cars, as opposed to production-car based or s ...

also used a

twin-turbocharged Twin-turbo is a type of turbo layout in which two turbochargers are used to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case of a Direct fuel injection, direct-injection engine). The most common layout features two identical or mir ...

flat-six engine.

Applications

Road cars

Porsche

*1963–present

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in ) is a family of German two-door, high performance Rear-engine design, rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. Now in it ...

**1963–1989 original

**1989–1993

Porsche 964 The Porsche 964 is a model of the Porsche 911 sports car manufactured and sold between 1989 and 1994. Designed by Benjamin Dimson through January 1986, it featured significant styling revisions over previous 911 models, most prominently the more i ...

**1994–1998

Porsche 993 The Porsche 911, internally type 993, is the fourth generation of the 911 model of Porsche sports car, manufactured and sold between 1994 and 1998 (model years 1995–1998 in the United States), replacing the 911, type 964. Its discontinua ...

**1997–2006

Porsche 996 The Porsche 996 is the fifth generation of the Porsche 911, 911 model sports car manufactured by the German automaker Porsche from 1997 until 2006. It was replaced by the Porsche 997, 997 in 2004, but the high performance Turbo S, GT2 and GT3 va ...

**2004–2013

Porsche 997 The Porsche 997 is the sixth generation of the Porsche 911 sports car manufactured and sold by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche. It was sold between 2004 (for the 2005 model year) and 2013. Production of the Carrera and Carrera S coup� ...

**2011–2019

Porsche 991 The Porsche 991 is the seventh generation of the Porsche 911 sports car, which was unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show on 15 September as the replacement for the 997. The 991 was an entirely new platform, only the third since the original ...

**2019–present

Porsche 992 The Porsche 992 is the eighth and current generation of the Porsche 911 sports car, which was introduced at the Porsche Experience Center in Los Angeles on 27 November 2018. Design The 992 uses rack and pinion steering, along with MacPherso ...

*1970–1972 Porsche 914/6 *1986–1993

*1996–present

Porsche Boxster The Porsche Boxster and Cayman are mid-engine two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche across four generations—as a two-door, two-seater roadster (Boxster) and a three-door, two-seater fastbac ...

*2005–present

Porsche Cayman Cayman may refer to Places * Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory comprising three islands: ** Grand Cayman, the largest island ** Cayman Brac ** Little Cayman Other uses * HMS Cayman, HMS ''Cayman'', a British frigate * Porsche Cayman, a ...

Others

*2014–2018

W Motors Lykan HyperSport The Lykan HyperSport is a limited-production sports car manufactured by W Motors, a United Arab Emirates-based company, founded in 2012 in Lebanon with the collaboration of Lebanese and Italian engineers. It is the first sports car to be design ...

*2019–present W Motors Fenyr SuperSport

Race cars

* Porsche 914/6 GT *

Porsche 934 The Porsche 934 is a racing version of the Porsche 911 Turbo, prepared to FIA Group 4 rules, similar to the Porsche 935 which was prepared to FIA Group 5 rules. History The Porsche 934 was introduced for the 1976 racing season. It was manufact ...

* Porsche 934/5 *

Porsche 935 The Porsche 935 is a race car that was developed and manufactured by German automaker Porsche. Introduced in 1976 as the factory racing version of the Porsche 911 (930), 911 (930) Turbo and prepared for Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, ...

Porsche 936 The Porsche 936 is a Group 6 sports prototype racing car introduced in 1975 by Porsche as a delayed successor to the 917, a five-litre Group 5 Sports Car, and the 908, a three-litre Group 6 Prototype-Sports Car, both of which were retired b ...

Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984. I ...

Porsche 961 The Porsche 961 was a race car, racing car built by Porsche and based on their Porsche 959, 959 sports car. It was intended for Group B sports car racing, complementing the purpose-built Porsche 956, 956 and Porsche 962, 962C which ran Group C in ...

Porsche WSC-95 The Porsche WSC-95 (sometimes referred to as the TWR WSC-95) was a Le Mans Prototype originally built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. It was modified by Porsche from the original Group C Jaguar XJR-14 from which it derived, and run by Joest Racing. O ...

Porsche 911 GT1 The Porsche 911 GT1 is a car designed and developed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG to compete in the GT1 class of sportscar racing, which also required a street-legal version for homologation (motorsport), homologation purposes. The ...

Porsche 911 GT2 The Porsche 911 GT2 is a high-performance, track-focused sports car built by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1993 to 2009, and then since 2010 as the GT2 RS. It is based on the Porsche 911 Turbo, 911 Turbo, and uses a similar twin ...

Porsche 911 GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a range of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

* Riley MkXI/Riley MkXX/Riley MkXXII/Riley MkXXVI

References

{{Porsche Boxer engines Flat engines Flat-six engines Porsche Porsche in motorsport