It’s that time again; yep it’s time for a new Porsche 911 launch. However, this is no ordinary 911 launch, where the sum total of Porsche’s work equates to some slightly fettled running lights or yet another confusing bundle of letters tagged on the end of the 911 badge. No, this is a special event that only comes around every 6 or so years; a whole new, from the ground up, Porsche 911 is being launched. Unfortunately however, no one really ever notices because Porsche designers tend to use tracing paper when they are coming up with a new car. And once again from a quick glance you’d be forgiven to think that this is just the current 911. Look closer however and you start to see otherwise.
The new 911 confusingly bearing the 991 generation name is a lower, longer and wider 911. The wheels are pushed further out to the corners of the car, thanks to some shorter overhangs and a wider track. The roofline is also lower; all this added up gives the 911 a purposeful hunkered down stance on the road. Personally I think it looks really good, squatter and less flat sided than previous generations have been. Its face is a happy one, with a wide mouthed grin and prominent bug eye headlights set really far apart. A line flows from the lights back through the car giving it a high waistline before swooping around the back to the new re-profiled thinner rear lights. The back still being where the all-important engine lies of course.
After carefully wading through the PR nonsense about “contradictory attributes” and “Doppelkupplungsgetriebe” gearboxes on Porsche’s website, I’m able to give you some of the facts. The new Carrera and Carrera S will feature 3.4 and 3.8 litre versions of Porsche’s new flat 6 engine respectively. Performance is improved from the last gen car with the Carrera producing 345bhp and the S 395bhp. In normal guise without the sport Chrono pack fitted the S manages 0-62 in 4.3 seconds, the Carrera barely slower at 4.6 seconds. This all sounds rather promising, especially given the fact this is the “greenest” 911 Porsche has ever built.
The standard Carrera manages to creep under the 200g/km of CO2 mark producing just 194, quite astounding for a car which can hit somewhere around 180mph. The S manages just a bit higher emissions of 205g/km. Still an incredible feat, which gets even better when the quoted mpg’s are 34mpg (Carrera) and 32mpg (S) on the combined cycle. These figures are managed by an array of clever eco tech, such as stop/start, regenerative electrics, electric power steering and a function when cruising that disconnects the engine and allows the car to coast. The car now also features more aluminium in its construction, so weight is down by up to 45kg across the range and for the first time a 7 speed manual gearbox. All the eco tech listed, however dull it’s typically German engineering is, are all testament to the very clever people Porsche currently have working for them.
So there we have it, the new 991 911… told you it would be confusing. The most efficient and prettiest 911 ever. Only once it’s released for sale in December will we be able to tell how it will drive with its new stance and all that new technology in it. I personally don’t think we will be disappointed. I also cannot wait until a new turbo comes along, but inevitably we will also get a Carrera 4, Cabrio, Targa, GT2, GT3, and a million more variants to choose from too.
