Porsche's Rumored Flat-Eight Hypercar Is Starting To Look More Real
Porsche's flat-eight hypercar is indeed coming, according to a report in the German business newspaper Handelsblatt. The new car, apparently known internally as the S1, may be unveiled to attendees at Porsche's Capital Markets Day on October 7, 2026. The S1 is expected to cost around 500,000 euros, or about $569,000, and it would be Porsche's first flat-eight road car.
If true, this announcement will come in the wake of serious sales-related problems at Porsche. Parent Volkswagen recently took a $6.9 billion write-down on its 75% stake, driven by Porsche's sales tanking in China and its unsuccessful transition to EVs. It remains to be seen whether the S1 can dig the company out of its deep, dark hole, but one thing's for sure: given its price and engine, it'll likely end up as one of the fastest Porsches ever made.
Porsche is also reorienting production, with alleged plans to reduce output from 350,000 to 400,000 cars annually to 200,000. In July 2026, Porsche CEO Michael Leiters told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the brand still needs to make money despite building fewer cars; whether the S1, which would sit above the 911, will make up for the company's massive drop in vehicle production remains to be seen.
What else should you know about Porsche's flat-eight engines?
Porsche's flat-eight engines date back to the early 1960s, when its 1.5-liter Formula 1 flat-eight powered Dan Gurney to first place at the 1962 French Grand Prix. Porsche enlarged the engine to 2.0 liters and used it to power its endurance racers between 1962 and 1968. That year, it debuted a new 3.0-liter flat-eight, with two detuned versions used in experimental 914/8s. One of these was a test car driven by Ferdinand Piech, Porsche's Head of Development, while the other was a 60th birthday gift from the company to Ferry Porsche, son of founder Ferdinand Porsche.
More recently, Porsche experimented with installing a twin-turbo 5.0-liter flat-eight into a prototype Cayman chassis, but it never became a production car. This particular flat-eight made 750 hp and redlined at 9,000 rpm. Relatedly, exotic car manufacturer (and former Porsche tuner) Ruf has also dabbled in flat-eight engines, with the 1,000-hp B8 Eprober engine debuting in a CTR3 at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
While Porsche will not come close to approaching the prices automakers like Pagani, Koenigsegg, and Bugatti ask for their hypercars, its S1 will still compete in a rarefied realm, one where V12-powered Ferrari 849 Testarossas and Lamborghini Revueltos can be had for around the same price. We will soon see whether Porsche's flat-eight hypercar can compete with these established hypercars or if it'll be another costly misstep for the storied automaker.