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It was probably inevitable, but that doesn’t make it any less of a shock: The next generation of Porsche 911 will reportedly only offer turbocharged engines—some of which will be serving alongside electric motors and battery packs as part of hybrid powertrains.
That’s according to British car magazine Autocar, whose wealth of deep background sources seems to put The New York Times to shame. Autocar states that turbocharging will spread to even the track-happy GT3 models when the new 911—code-named 992—arrives starting in the year 2019.
Turbos have been spreading through the 911 range for years
If true, it would mark the conclusion of an exponential rise in the usage of turbochargers in the 911 family. While the snails have been a staple of the eponymous 911 Turbo since it arrived in 1975, they began spreading rapidly across the lineup with the arrival of the current 991-generation’s mid-life facelift in late 2015, when the Carrera and Targa models swapped their naturally-aspirated flat-six engines for smaller, turbocharged units.
As Porschephiles have come to expect, however, the change in engines is also expected to result in a jump in power. Autocar claims the Carrera and Carrera S models will pick up 10-15 more horsepower over their current 370- and 420-hp outputs, while the 992-generation GT3 will break the 500-hp barrier.
The Porsche 911 will finally gain that long-promised hybrid model
Come 2020, Porsche’s rear-engined sports car range will reportedly expand by one more, when the very first hybrid 911 is expected to join the lineup. (It’s not entirely unexpected; Porsche’s own CFO admitted such a model was in the works in a video last March.) The gas/electric Neunelfer will purportedly pair the turbocharged flat six with a setup that allows limited all-electric driving, as well as a nice little performance boost. It’s unclear whether it will be a plug-in, but considering that’s the direction Porsche went with the new Panamera 4 E-Hybrid, we’d say it seems likely.
On top of the powertrain changes, Autocar reports the 992 will be lighter on average compared with its predecessor, thanks to greater use of aluminum and high-strength steel. The iconic retractible spoiler will supposedly stretch across the car’s entire posterior, and while the car won’t grow in length compared to the 991, it will reportedly have a wider track. But we’ll know for sure in a couple years.
