Anyone expecting the new 911 to be a radical departure was always going to be deluding themselves, and for two reasons.
One: when you’re tasked with replacing the most iconic and successful sports car in history, a conservative approach is preferable.
Two: although this is a new generation of 911, it follows the long-time 911 tradition where generations come in pairs. So just as the 993 generation was a heavily developed 964, and the 997 an optimised 996, so the 992 is derived from and informed by the 991.
So if you want a genuinely all-new 911 with zero design crossover, I’m afraid that you’re going to have to wait until around 2025, when the next 911 will be as revolutionary as was the 964 in 1989, the 996 in 1998 and the 991 in 2012.
Remember, too, that even generations have generations within them, and it looks likely that there will be as much to discuss when the ‘gen 2’ 992 breaks cover in around 2022 as now, because those are the cars that will bring hybridisation to the 911 for the first time.
For now, though, I think Porsche has done a fine job with the car. It looks smoother, sleeker and more modern, but no less characterful. Finding a way to improve upon what was one of the prettiest 911 shapes was never going to be easy but, on the outside, it looks just as good to me.
Inside? I need to find out how well the new interior, with its TFT screens, works in practice, but one of the joys of 911s is that they have remained, in character at least, rather analogue cars in an increasingly digital world. At least they’ve kept the big central rev counter as a real (ie not digital) instrument and actually gone quite retro with its design.
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Newer is not always better....
There was a photoshoot with a
There was a photoshoot with a 992 parked beside an original 911, it looked twice the width. The original you could easily drive down a country road or park without worrying about door dings, the 992 would struggle.
And for being revolutionary - the 928 was meant to replace the 911. Except it didn't happen. A bit like the Mini/MINI outliving the Metro.
The lights going right across
Digital instrument infestation is fundamentally a poor idea and history will not be kind to then when they look old, crap and break.
But none of that matters because it is ruined by turbos.
Sadly, it all ended with the 997.