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Powerful updated 992-gen 911 gets hybrid power with sensational performance but carries a few extra kilos

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The Porsche 911 has had a mid-life refresh and the big news is that the upper-mid-level (there are many levels to the 911 range) Carrera GTS is now a hybrid.

You can imagine the reaction when Porsche first said it was going to hybridise its icon and the online fury at the potential of a two-tonne, pluggable 911. Only it turns out that it’s neither two tonnes, nor pluggable. In fact, it remains at quite a reasonable 1595kg, even if there are a few caveats to that figure.

Then again, with its added complexity, might the GTS be in danger of losing its status as the sweet spot of the 911 range?

Let’s take a look at the changes for the facelifted 911 (the 992.2, as Porsche people like to say) and see if it is still one of the best sports cars on the market. We’ve driven the GTS on road and track abroad, and the standard Carrera on UK roads.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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911 04

The GTS's engine is a newly developed 3.6-litre flat six, 0.6 litres bigger than the familiar 3.0 twin-turbo unit used in the Carrera (and previously in the GTS) but with the same length-to-stroke ratio. 

What’s around it is as significant as what’s inside it, because there’s now a high-voltage (400V) electrical system, negating the need for a belt drive for the air-con compressor (now electric), and there’s no separate starter motor, because there’s an additional drive motor. Saved external space is given over to inverters and converters. The engine revs to 7500rpm and on its own it makes 478bhp and 420lb ft of torque. 

But since the introduction of the eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox in the previous-generation 911 (the 991), there has been room set aside in the gearbox for a permanent magnet synchronous drive motor, which is now fitted and produces 54bhp and 111lb ft. 

There’s more. Instead of twin-turbocharging for the engine, there’s a single, larger turbocharger, but this too has a motor, to help it spin up more quickly or to keep it spinning. 

Both the drive motor and this e-turbo motor are powered by a 1.9kWh battery (under the front bootlid) and can return kinetically recuperated juice to it.

The new powertrain, badged T-Hybrid, has a total output of 534bhp (Porsche works in kW, and rounding fractions to the nearest integer makes it look more powerful than the two figures combined) and 450lb ft. 

The standard Carrera, meanwhile, gets only minor tweaks. It sticks with the same basic twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre engine, although it has gained the charge cooler from the Turbo and the turbos from the old GTS. Despite that, power is up only 9bhp, while torque stays the same. For the time being at least, it’s only available with rear-wheel drive, although you can have it as a coupé or as a cabriolet.

For more choice in drivetrains and bodystyles, you need to upgrade to the GTS, which is offered as a coupé or a cabriolet with rear- or four-wheel drive or as a 4WD Targa. While no version is two tonnes, there is a payback for the extra tech. Porsche says it adds 50kg, thus the RWD coupé sneaks in at 1595kg, but among the changes for the facelift is that the rear seats are now a no-cost option, so you have to factor those in too. And even without them, the Targa 4 GTS weighs 1745kg unladen.

The 911 is still lighter than most sports cars (Aston Martin quotes a dry weight that’s heavier than the GTS for its new Vantage), but it’s clear that nobody but Caterham and the like are exempt from 'progress'. 

All versions have the PDK eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox for now – the GTS because the electric motor is only compatible with the PDK, the Carrera because Porsche is positioning it as the fuss-free 911. If you want three pedals, you’ll need to wait for the manual-only Carrera T, which will become the ‘keen driver’s choice’.

On the chassis side, PASM adaptive dampers are standard across the range. The Carrera gets uprated brakes. Six-piston calipers replace the four-piston items on the front and the discs are 20mm bigger all round. The GTS now features rear-wheel steering as standard and will get roll-stabilising PDCC as an option. This is now powered by the new 400V system.

You can recognise the 992.2 by its quite substantially altered front bumper. The indicators and running lights are now integrated into the main light clusters instead of sitting underneath. This makes room for much bigger air intakes than before. The Carrera has two horizontal spars running across them, whereas the GTS has more distinctive vertical slats. At the back, the characteristic light bar has become a bit chunkier.

INTERIOR

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911 03

So the 992.2 gets a welcome visual and technical freshening up, but the changes on the inside are less positive. Previously, you started your 911 by turning a nice tactile switch, which would make the beautifully wrought analogue tachometer spring into life. Now you just press a button to turn on a screen. Hardly life-altering stuff, but the tachometer used to be such a distinctive feature and getting rid of it has made the car’s interior slightly less special.

That said, the purposeful driving position, which gives you an evocative view over the classic 911 bonnet, remains present and correct, and the interior is still a really pleasant place to be.

Perceived quality remains superb. The 992’s dashboard has a line of metallic toggle switches just below the infotainment screen that look expensively hewn, with a knurled finish. The car’s manual heater controls and gear selector also look like they have been designed with care, and their presence seems mainly to appeal to the touch. There is a bit too much gloss black plastic around the interior but there is plenty of surprise and delight elsewhere.

Infotainment

We may mourn the loss of the analogue tachometer, but it is made slightly easier by the rest of Porsche’s digital tech working flawlessly. The gauge cluster has a number of layouts to choose from, including one that mimics the classic one, and it gives you a lot of choice in terms of which information you want it to display.

The centre screen has exceptionally crisp resolution and graphics and responds pretty much instantly. Its menu structure is also very logical and easy to use on the move. Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto work wirelessly and are nicely integrated into the native interface.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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911 05

The GTS's new power unit is good for a 0-62mph time of 3.0sec and a top speed of 194mph and it officially returns 26.4mpg and emits 244g/km of CO2.

Overtakes are a cinch: it has almost as much power as the current Turbo, and one could imagine that it will provide the basis for the facelifted Turbo – which is surely going to be mind-bendingly fast, because this is borderline there already.

In tamer driving, though, those electric systems aren’t working terribly hard, if at all – and the regular 3.0-litre Carrera seems to get along just fine without them. Without driving it back-to-back with a 992.1 Carrera, it would be a lie to say you feel the extra 9bhp. Basically, it feels like the right amount of power for this car: amply quick but not overwhelming. The PDK is geared so that you can redline it in second without going illegal. The flat six does its best work – and sounds most soulful – in the low- and mid-range anyway.

The PDK is as effective as always, but when we drove the Carrera in the UK, we did notice a slight delay between pulling a paddle and the gearbox executing the command. That said, this might have been a quirk of that particular car, as we didn’t notice it on the international launch.

RIDE & HANDLING

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911 07

We’ve driven new 911 variants on both road and track, and while we wouldn’t normally diarise it like this, we’d like to tackle them in the order that we drove them, because while any 911 in isolation is terrific, hopping from one to another shows notable differences. 

Our day at the international launch starts on the road in a Targa 4 GTS with rear seats. It's as heavy as a new 911 can be, and you can tell. All of the 911 elements are still there, but you’re aware of extra heft, like adding shopping to your bicycle. The new powertrain does a lot to make light of this in a straight line but can’t shake it off when cornering. 

Like all other car makers, Porsche has to fit an overspeed warning and lane keep assist. Both have dedicated buttons to easily disable them, but they’re actually not that intrusive. The speed warning bong is so quiet that it’s often drowned out by road noise.

We arrive at Circuito Ascari for three sessions, and they're in in the order we’d like: first in a Carrera, then a 4 GTS, then a GTS. All will be on track together and there’s a pace car to follow: a current Turbo driven by a hotshoe race driver. 

In such a situation, it’s easy to think you’ve forgotten how to drive on track. The standard Carrera is expressive and joyful, more adjustable and lithe (it’s only 1520kg) than the Targa felt, but keeping up with the GTSs and Turbo is a losing battle. 

Wringing it out is lovely, mind you. You can adjust its attitude to understeer or oversteer with throttle and brake inputs and the steering is communicative.

Then to the next car, and very suddenly it becomes clear. A flat-out gallop in the Carrera is more of a jaunty canter in the 4 GTS. Whatever else Porsche has done to the GTS, it has made it astonishingly urgent. The new engine is louder, gruffer and less nuanced than the old 3.0, and its responses are fabulously fast. The drive motor can pitch in at any engine revs and the e-turbo motor can maintain turbo revs, so there’s no discernible lag. It rips around the rev band. 

Under braking and cornering, you can feel the extra bulk over the Carrera but also that it’s better tied down. In isolation or with a couple of hours between drives, you might not notice, but back to back it’s clear it’s quite different in character from a Carrera – more so than before, perhaps obviously. It’s bolder, brasher and less analogue and takes about 80% of the effort to go at the same speed on a circuit. 

The rear-driven GTS shares the 4 GTS’s urgency but replaces some of its corner-exit stability with a tad extra adjustability and agility. For us, this is where the GTS is at its best, with all of the response of this new engine but as little extra bulk as possible and easier, uncorrupted, feelsome steering.

Since those drives, we’ve also tested a standard Carrera on UK roads, and driving it in isolation, it’s hard to see what more you could need.

Like every 911, it rides firmly and transmits quite a bit of road noise, but pick up the pace and it seems to relax. In the softer suspension mode, it has a hint of the fabled 911 ‘nose bob’ as it breathes with the road rather than trying to emulate a skateboard.

Despite the 911 having grown over the years, it’s still a manageable size, even on narrower B-roads, and the steering lets you place it precisely and reassures you that the grip is there.

In the dry, it basically always is. You don’t bully or provoke a modern 911, because there’s little point. It’s at its best being smoothly flowed along while you enjoy the superb steering and poise and the lovely engine. The brakes are strong and easy to modulate too.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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911 01

The refreshed 911 range kicks off at just under £100,000, and that’s for a Carrera with absolutely zero options – which is a thing that probably only exists in the Porsche configurator, and then only briefly. Porsche’s extensive options list will be a burden to some, but also allows you to spec a car exactly as you want it, and even if you’re not in a position to buy a brand-new 911, it makes the online configurator a delightful procrastination device. Our test Carrera had the upgraded seats, posher leather, nice wheels, fancy stereo and more, pushing the price up to a more typical £124,058.

The new GTS is priced from £136k, up around £10k from before, albeit with more standard kit and of course that hybrid system.

What sets 911s apart from so many exotic sports cars is that they're terrific daily drivers with solid residual values and fine durability. There's no reason to expect different this time, but we will keep an eye on satisfaction surveys.

Thanks to its relatively slippery shape and long eighth gear, a standard 911 is also capable of very decent cruising economy, with MPG in the 30s. We’d need more time in the GTS to see what that’s like, but the hybrid system is there more for performance than economy.

VERDICT

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Having tried four variants of the new 911, it’s the one carrying the fewest kilos, the Carrera, that is the most likeable.

Any new 911 is still brilliant, and the GTS is a sensational performance car in a straight line particularly, but in our view, the sweet spot in the range has moved down a notch.

Illya Verpraet

Illya Verpraet Road Tester Autocar
Title: Road Tester

As part of Autocar’s road test team, Illya drives everything from superminis to supercars, and writes reviews, comparison tests, as well as the odd feature and news story. 

Much of his time is spent wrangling the data logger and wielding the tape measure to gather the data for Autocar’s eight-page road tests, which are the most rigorous in the business thanks to independent performance, fuel consumption and noise figures.

Matt Prior

Matt Prior
Title: Editor-at-large

Matt is Autocar’s lead features writer and presenter, is the main face of Autocar’s YouTube channel, presents the My Week In Cars podcast and has written his weekly column, Tester’s Notes, since 2013.

Matt is an automotive engineer who has been writing and talking about cars since 1997. He joined Autocar in 2005 as deputy road test editor, prior to which he was road test editor and world rally editor for Channel 4’s automotive website, 4Car. 

Into all things engineering and automotive from any era, Matt is as comfortable regularly contributing to sibling titles Move Electric and Classic & Sports Car as he is writing for Autocar. He has a racing licence, and some malfunctioning classic cars and motorbikes. 

Porsche 911 First drives