First Drive: The Porsche 911 Carrera GTS kickstarts an electrified future for this sports car icon
By Jack Evans, PA Motoring Reporter
What is it?
The Porsche 911 has always been about incremental changes. From one generation to another, the 911 has never strayed too far from its original stylings, with Porsche changing its central icon in small brush strokes to ensure a common thread between each model. It’s certainly not one to rip up the rulebook, that’s for sure. But this latest-generation 911 – dubbed 992.2 in Porsche-speak – introduces quite a big step- change with hybrid technology being integrated into the 911 for the first time. It’s only being applied to this GTS model, for now at least, but could be the start of a very electrified future for the 911.We’ve been out driving it to see just what has changed.
What’s new?
From the outside at least, you’d be hard-pressed to tell this new GTS apart from the old one. Some key signifiers include the active aerodynamics package which includes adjustable front diffusers that can adjust to aid cooling or close up to help make the 911 as slippery through the air as possible. Fortunately, they’ll close when it’s raining to stop water and grit from flying through the car’s underside. Inside, there’s a similar theme to before, albeit with some more technology to chat about. The pleasant blend of analogue and digital dials of the older 911 have been ditched, replaced instead by a full-size screen that you’ll find in cars like the Taycan. Porsche says that it’s made it easier to see key information and while that is the case, it seems a shame that the 911 has lost one of its last pieces of old-school equipment in favour of yet another display.
What’s under the bonnet?
It’s within the mechanicals of this new 911 GTS where things get interesting.At the heart of the GTS sits a turbocharged 3.6-litre ‘Boxer’ engine which feels tried-and-tested Porsche. But whereas a lot of hybrids have an electric motor assisting the engine directly, the 911 has a series of electrified components, including an electric-assisted turbocharger for quicker boost response and a small electric motor housed within the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.A teeny-tiny battery is fixed within the nose of the car and, thankfully, doesn’t impact luggage space.
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