Modest 911 updates don’t tend to happen anymore. Even everyone’s favourite modern classic Porsche, the second generation of 997 - raved about for its compact dimensions, hydraulic steering and sweet flat-six - saw the introduction of direct fuel injection and the dual-clutch PDK. The 991 facelift went even further, banishing natural aspiration for the Carrera models. However much the looks remain fairly familiar, the tech doesn’t stand still for long in Porsche's world. Yet even with its constant evolution hat on, the step from the 992.1 GTS - nice car, very fast, nothing extraordinary - to this GTS is seismic. The hybridised 911 is here, and it might be an even bigger deal than we first expected.
Just by the numbers, it’s a big old leap. Where the GTS used to receive a small uptick in power over the Carrera S, this car had made a huge stride forward. It makes 541hp from a combination of newly-designed 3.6-litre turbo flat-six (up from 3.0-litres) and electric motor, significantly up on its predecessor's 480hp and in another league to the 394hp of the new Carrera (there isn’t yet a Carrera S in the 992.2 range). We now live in a world where a Carrera GTS can reach 62mph in three seconds flat and very nearly 200mph. The all-new T-Hybrid tech deserves a revisit, too, Porsche approaching the electrification of its icon in a different way to what many expected.
The flat-six is using just one turbocharger rather than two, because the blower is now helped by an electric motor, massively reducing lag while the exhaust gases are on the way. That’s supplied by the 1.9kWh, 27kg, 216-cell battery, which also lends juice to the 54hp/111lb ft electric motor, with regen, coasting and the engine able to recharge. The motor is on starter and alternator duties as well, plus ancillaries like the air con and chassis systems like active anti-roll, so the engine itself goes in the car without any belts. This means everything can respond even faster than before, too, including the nose lift, just in case a 992.1 GTS ever seemed inert or laggy. For the first time augmented reality is actually useful to look around a car virtually, to see the motor in the PDK snug like a little wheel of cheese, a more compact flat-six than ever and the electric turbo in the main ‘charger whizzing away to something like 120,000rpm.
It’s easy to admire Porsche’s approach, in theory eliminating the lag of bigger turbos without adding all the weight associated with a hybrid (just 50kg more means 1,595kg DIN for a 2WD coupe, albeit without rear seats). There’s a certain irony, then, in being allocated a Targa for the first GTS experience on the road, a car with the dubious honour of being the heaviest 911 ever at 1,745kg. As always, it’s quite an easy car to approach with some cynicism, with the Cabriolet also in the range and stablemates surely better suited to make the most of the powertrain - then again, if a T-Hybrid can impress in a Targa, then it’s going to be good anywhere…
Perhaps the most notable immediate change for the new GTS is just how much progress can be made at very few revs. Even at less than 2,000rpm it’s accelerating meaningfully, that electric turbo proving its worth from the off. The PDK was always very good at masking any lag with its shift strategy, though there was always a little delay in the twin-turbo cars if you went looking for it (or opted for the manual gearbox). This car, even with just the one turbo, picks up almost without delay, power building from little more than idle and initially making it feel even stronger than the stats would suggest. Select manual from the PDK, choose fifth, and it’ll haul out from the depths of the rev range like a larger, naturally aspirated engine. Just one that gurgles and whistles and whines like an old Porsche turbo race car.
If the first few kilometres are spooky for the responsiveness and urgency of a hybrid 911 - even a Targa - the feeling turns to mild panic when confronted with the sheer speed. Because any hesitation has now been almost eliminated and the delivery of a chunk more performance is so linear, there’s a real Turbo-like feel to the relentlessness of the acceleration. Only one that picks up from even fewer revs and sounds more tuneful. There’s character, too, the 3.6 willing to rev out to 7,500rpm and with a sports exhaust blare that some might even find a bit too loud (presumably as they used to say it was too quiet). That the PDK feels to shift up even faster, with a more pronounced kick in the back in Sport Plus, only adds to the impression of this being an all-conquering, unflappable, indefatigable 911. And that probably hasn’t been said about a Targa much before.
Once accustomed to the incredible speed, or at least over the initial shock, what comes to the fore is that this 992.2 is probably a better car to drive than its predecessor as well. Of course, Porsche will point to the fact that four-wheel steer is now standard, the PASM dampers again revised and the Turbo brakes now installed - and they will no doubt play a part - though the powertrain feels like the biggest change. Put simply, with more torque available at fewer revs and the increased response of the engine, all that muscle can be felt working the chassis harder than ‘standard’ 911s usually do. Not in a lurid sense - though Nurburgring maestro Jorg Bergmeister confirmed he very much enjoys additional throttle adjustability - but in a way that means you feel the car having to work a bit. Which is nice.
It’s a very, very persuasive road car. The Targa GTS doesn’t exactly shrink around its driver, though never does it feel preposterously heavy, always keen to change direction and delivering plush control of its mass. The brake pedal is damn near as good as any other ICE Porsche, the steering spot on, the feeling of driving something like a Turbo-spec Targa - a car that’s never more than kickdown away from wild - never abating. It’s unexpectedly full-on, proof that the T-Hybrid is really, really about performance above any other metric. There’s really nothing to show up the model's continued wind noise problem like a 911 this fast.
There’s the chance at this event to drive the two- and four-wheel drive GTS on the Ascari track. They’re predictably mighty, feeling no heavier than old Carreras but a whole heap faster - and even more sorted for a circuit. Ceramics and Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport Rs will do that to most things, of course. That being said, the way this 911 rockets from slower speed turns, continues to accelerate gear after gear and brings a properly rousing soundtrack with it are definitely new sensations for a GTS. Arguably nobody is going to need much more track performance than this, with unerring stability and precision, great brake pedal feel (an ever so slight dead spot on the road is gone with bigger inputs), deft assists and an unflappable PDK. Once more, the grudge match between 911 and bulked-up flat-six means the GTS doesn’t have a completely locked down, on-rails feel, in both C2 and C4 guises. There is still some scope for tweaking the car without going full Bergmeister.
It’s a formidable package, all of which serve to make the standard Carrera feel a bit limp straight afterwards. Hardly a fair comparison, of course, switching out to a car with 150 fewer horsepower, less aggressive tyres and a reduced level of chassis tech - though any lingering doubts that once existed about a GTS being a nicely optioned Carrera with 20hp more can be expunged pretty quick. The base car is less willing to turn, more prone to understeer, less confidence-inspiring and not as nice to listen to. Sometimes it can feel like PDCC and the like might not be worth the premium, only for a drive in an options-light Carrera to demonstrate their worth. Of course, a few will say that requiring some effort and adapting to the quirks is what makes a 911 great, but as a modern car that’s not exactly overendowed with feel the investment of effort doesn’t necessarily feel worth it. In isolation, a Carrera will feel great, although anyone with their eye on a few track days will be significantly better served by the GTS. Even without being the keen bean running semi-slicks on their 911.
The flipside to being slightly less awesome on track is that a Carrera makes for an extremely agreeable road car, with less tyre noise than a GTS roaring along on rear 315/30 ZR 21 s and a bit more give in the suspension. If the drive of the hybrid car was very much in keeping with its road racer looks, complete with centrelock wheels and an abundance of Alcantara, then the Carrera - decked out in blue with tan leather and wood trim - does just the same, a mellower cruiser that remains nimble and engaging enough. On a limited test drive, the 992.2 Carrera does what the model has always done and raises the question of why much more would be required. Shame that the GTS has already made anything less feel a bit undernourished. Never before have Carrera and GTS felt so different, which is surely to be celebrated in a sports car that the detractors will always say is too samey.
Perhaps that’s the most notable achievement of the T-Hybrid: far from diluting the character or sterilising the experience, it’s made for the most thrilling ‘normal’ 911 yet. A Turbo remains just that tad more ballistic and a GT3 more feelsome, but in combining all the best bits of what should make a top-tier 911 - it’s fast, it sounds good, it’s exciting, it’s beautifully built, it’s great to drive - the GTS shows that some new technology really can be embraced. It elevates the model to somewhere far beyond the nicely specced Carrera S territory it used to occupy, however pleasant that was. The GTS, thanks to a battery, a motor and an eTurbo, now has a personality very much of its own, one that’s hugely appealing on first experience. At a price, of course, but since when did the best Porsches ever come cheap? Put most simply, the T-Hybrid is a very auspicious opening gambit for electrified Porsche sports cars. Even as a Targa.
SPECIFICATION | PORSCHE 911 CARRERA GTS (992.2)
Engine: 3,591cc, turbo flat-six, 1.9kWh battery, electric motor
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch PDK, rear-wheel drive/ all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 541 (ICE 485 plus up to 54hp from electric motor)
Torque (lb ft): 420
0-62mph: 3.0 secs (with Sport Chrono)
Top speed: 194mph
Weight: 1,595kg (DIN) (1,645kg)
MPG: 26.9
CO2: 239g/km (WLTP)
Price: from £135,834 (£142,334)
(Spec in brackets for Carrera 4 GTS)
SPECIFICATION | PORSCHE 911 CARRERA (992.2)
Engine: 2,981cc, twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch PDK, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 394@6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 332@2,000rpm
0-62mph: 4.1 secs
Top speed: 183mph
Weight: 1,520kg (DIN)
MPG: 28.0 (WLTP)
CO2: 229g/km
Price: from £99,800
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