The legendary naturally-aspirated six-cylinder Porsche motor will soon be a thing of the past. Well almost. Yet another report has surfaced saying the facelifted 991-series 911 will be powered exclusively by downsized tubocharged flat-six petrol engines.
Australian website Motoring is the latest to claim that Porsche insiders have revealed the German carmaker is preparing to reveal its first all-turbo 911 Carrera range at the Frankfurt motor show in September.
The new engines will accompany a facelift of the 991 series that includes an evolutionary new front-end design. According to their sources, the engines will be downsized from the current 3,8-litres to tubocharged 3,4-litres and there’ll also be an entry-level 2.7-litre Carrera – an engine capacity last seen in a 911 some three decades ago. The all new flat-six turbo will put out 300 kW and offer fuel consumption of under 8 L/100 km.
Hybrid power, however, will not be part of the facelift engine range. That can only be expected in the next generation (992?) 911 expected in 2020. The current 991-series 911, says Product Line Director for Porsche’s 911 Turbo, Carrera 4 and Targa, Dr Erhard Mossle, will remain in production until the end of this year. Meaning we can expect the facelift 991 to go on sale in early 2016.
However…
The UK’s Autocar website have come out quoting Andreas Preuninger, manager of Porsche High Performance Cars who says that none of the 911 GT derivatives will be turbocharged. “GT3s are normally aspirated – period,” were his words. As were: “When everyone goes in one direction, I like to go in the other direction.” And that means that the likes of the GT3, GT3 RS and GT2 RS will still use normally aspirated flat sixes. They’re most likely to be based on the 4,0-litre engine unveiled at Geneva this year that powers the GT3 RS.
Preuninger also confirmed that a new GT2 RS would be built but that it would only appear toward the end of the (facelifted) 991’s lifecycle – probably in 2018. That’s good news for Porsche fans who’ll remember the previous 997-based GT2 RS was good for 465 kW in a chassis the weighed in at just 1 370kg, making it one of the most extreme 911 road-going cars ever made.
