why s2k is more powerful than boxster?

[Yuta]

im just curious.....why HONDA S2000 is more powerful than boxster??? The honda 4-cylinder 2liter engine produce 240 hp.... the 6 cylinder 2.7liter porsche engine produce only 217 HP... What is wrong>?? Porsche 986 has bigger displancement and 2 more cylinders,...why it produce less hp??? Is it because of the tuninig? Honda rev at higher rpm? Why cannot porsche rev higher?? Porsche's manufacturing accuracy and reliability not as good as honda??

Is there any way to tune a boxster engine to be as powerful as or more powerful than the s2k?

[bell]

There is more to it than the hp......
The s2000 is a fun car.....and you are comparing it to a base boxster......
Compare it to the S.......

[racer]

ON the other side, you NEED to rev an s2k to get it going (no torque).. this gets tiring in regular street driving for a certain demographic. The boxster has more tq.

That said, the Honda motor is quite remarkable. Honda is no slouch when it comes to making great motors.

[bell]

And oh yea.....it's still just a Honda :-)

[white out]

Boxster was the lowest Porsche. S2000 was the best Honda. So Honda could push the car to it's fullest . . . and Honda is pretty damn good at making the n/a I4 make power and rev to the moon.

Nick

[Alphaboy1]

I smoked my buddies S2000 to the point where I left him crying once in my Boxster S. Then there was that other Japanese powered car... The Lotus Elise. Smoked him to. High rev on that but no match to my super human powers! ;-)

[Cajundaddy]

The S2K is a very fun car but few can match the lap times of my lowly 2.5 Boxster with only 201hp. Why is the S2k so damn slow with so much more power??

[Yuta]

You guys are acting like porsche snobs... I own two porsches and I really enjoy porsche.... But here I just want to discuss the technical difference.... Don't give me that snobbish faces....Driving a porsche does not necessarily make you a better person than people who drive Hyundai....after all they are just machines made of metal and plastics....If you don't know technical reasons behind it, simply say i dunno...

[Cajundaddy]

Originally Posted by Cajundaddy

The S2K is a very fun car but few can match the lap times of my lowly 2.5 Boxster with only 201hp. Why is the S2k so damn slow with so much more power??

Hint: Hp sells cars, torque wins races. Big hp #s generated at 9k rpm are of very limited use as you are only there for brief moments in each gear. A long wide torque curve provides more power throughout the rev range. Over analyzing specs on paper often leads to frustration.

[tomk]

for most engines the cylinder head design and cross flow properties have a strong influence on volumetric efficiency which determines how much air and fuel it can take in and then assuming you can control preignition the compression ratio comes in next followed by materials and precision manufacturing. i suspect the boxster engine was on the drawing board in the early nineties whiel the honda came later? i dont know the S2000 directly, in terms of in line 4 refinement no one has more experience than Honda. I own 750 inline 4 and it is fabulous. I do prefer the boxster engine for the sound, torque and the overall drivability.

[Don Z.]

at the risk of being accused of snobbishness, would it be helpful to point out that HP = (T*RPM)/5252?

[Yuta]

Thank you guys... I guess I already have a conclusion...it is ...DONT compare Honda with Porsche in front of porsche owners..... HAHAHAH...

[desertsoldier22]

The S2000's F20C motor is an example of shooting for a hp target first drivability second.
The F20C has lightweight pistons and a valvetrain designed to handle 9000+RPMs.
Since Horsepower is a measurement of overall work (Tq*Time)/5252 how a car delivers its power is as much a factor as its overall power rating. An engine like the Boxster S in 1 min delivers 225 ft/lbs of torque 7500 times, an engine like the S2000's delivers 135ft/lbs 9500 times. The car that performs the most work in the time alotted makes more power.

Now look at where the power is delivered. In the Boxster max torque hits at 4000 rpms and holds until redline (due to vario cam), with the S2K it hits at 8000rpms to redline. The Boxster is in its torque band for 2000 rpms more than the S2000. Also the Boxster has more low end torque allowing brisker starts from a stop with less effort. Most people want a good seat in the pants feeling in a daily driver.

The S2000 is a study in specific output (Power/Litre), The Boxster is somewhere in the middle, with good specific output (90 hp/litre), good drivabilty at the expense of pushing the number higher. Remember the 3.2l 290hp Boxster S motor makes Makes more power than the 3.5L VQ35 350Z engine, and 10hp less than the VQ35HR ...it is good engineering.

[UNYboater]

Originally Posted by Yuta

Thank you guys... I guess I already have a conclusion...it is ...DONT compare Honda with Porsche in front of porsche owners..... HAHAHAH...

I'll admit to being a snob...if you'll admit to being a troll! (Kidding !!!)

There are lots of vehicles that are great in one scenario or for one purpose. The Boxster (in my semi-humble opinion) is good in every situation I will put my vehicles in & is GREAT at many of them. I did a lot of research before plunking my money down & became a 'Porsche Snob'! I would have purchased whatever that research indicated was the best in my price range , even if it was a Kia. And Lotus did design suspension systems for Kia...I really did do my research! But handling was only one of the criteria that I was looking for.
And yes, you would have gotten a completely different reaction if you asked the same thing over on the Honda forum. Those Honda snobs....

[mikefocke]

Snob no. Drove about 8 cars looking for my next sportscar. Vette, Jag, S2, Miata, M3, Boxster, 928, 911. Could have bought any of them new, didn't. I wasn't looking for HP (my 914 from 25 years before had 85 and I could get in lots of trouble with just that much..my Alfas were in that range...1.3 and 1.6 litres). What I was looking for was practical that feels right. Most of those cars I knew in the first half mile they didn't fit me or I didn't fit them.

The Honda was small, well finished, limited trunk space, and required too much work to have fun while still driving to work every day in traffic. Wonderful engine for the track where I could keep the revs up and use momentum.

The 201HP Boxster felt right TO ME. Never felt the need to play boy racer at a stop light and it went everywhere from the mountains to the trash run with two trunks full. Enjoyed every minute of a very reliable and economical to maintain car (my experience with two, your experience may vary).

[tcora]

Originally Posted by Yuta

im just curious.....why HONDA S2000 is more powerful than boxster??? The honda 4-cylinder 2liter engine produce 240 hp.... the 6 cylinder 2.7liter porsche engine produce only 217 HP... What is wrong>?? Porsche 986 has bigger displancement and 2 more cylinders,...why it produce less hp??? Is it because of the tuninig? Honda rev at higher rpm? Why cannot porsche rev higher?? Porsche's manufacturing accuracy and reliability not as good as honda??

Back to the original question you asked, and I will provide you with a pretty non-technical answer (and that's tough for this engineer to do, but the answer is fundamentally non-technical).

You asked "why". The answer is really pretty simple. Because that was the goal which was laid on the engineers by management. 100HP/l was the magic number and the S2000 beat it by 20%!

I am quite confident that if the engineers who designed the Boxster engine, in its various incarnations, had been given that requirement, they could have achieved it. I'm equally confident that if the engineers who designed the engine in my wife's Acadia had been given that requirement, they could have achieved it.

Making 100HP/l is not magic, it's just work and it's all about making tradeoffs. And, heck, the Acadia engine makes 80HP/l, not too shabby for a 2 1/2 ton grocery hauler. Just looked, the '13 Boxster is at 98HP/l, for what that's worth.

Is there any way to tune a boxster engine to be as powerful as or more powerful than the s2k?

Sure. All it takes is money. Hotrodding ain't cheap, so bring lots.

[Cajundaddy]

In reality I think the OP came here with the intent to inflame and fully expected to receive a beating. The beating was handed out fairly and judiciously. The S2K and the Boxster 2.7 are actually very well matched rivals with neither one holding a significant power advantage. The Boxster has higher "measured" torque and the S2k has higher "calculated" hp. Under certain conditions like a short 30 second AX the S2k has a slight advantage due mostly to gear ratios and tossability while on longer tracks like the Nordschliefe where the Boxster can stretch it's legs, it holds a slight advantage. They are both great cars but I will still choose the Boxster due to driveability and my inherent snobbishness.

[feelyx]

I have noticed when I drive the S2K, girls say nice car... when I drive the Porsche, guys say nice car....
Different yet both enjoyable driving experiences...
Though the S2K could get me in more trouble....