The new 701bhp Porsche 911 Turbo S launches as fast as a Bugatti

If you want to understand how Porsche has created the new 911 Turbo S, imagine one electrified hybrid turbo from the latest GTS… then double it. Twin hybrid turbos. 701bhp. Meet the most powerful 911… ever.

The 3.6-litre flat-six’s electric turbos are slightly smaller than the GTS’s blowers. That means they spin faster – up to 145,000rpm. As a result, you get maximum torque for more than twice the revs of the old 992.1 Turbo S – and a metric horsepower of 711. Enough to shove you from 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds. 

Well, that’s what Porsche claims. They tend to be conservative – quietly, the engineers reckon a Turbo S wearing warm tyres will be capable of dipping below two and a half seconds to 60mph. That’s Bugatti Chiron pace, in a car with two back seats and a massive boot. 

Still got your foot down? The new Turbo S romps from 0-125mph in 8.4 seconds – half a second faster than the old Turbo S (which was a rocketship) and tops out at 200mph, helped along with a ten per cent reduction in drag if you spec the carbon aero-faced wheels. 

If only we knew how much faster all this tech got the Turbo S around the Nürburgring… Well, thanks to pro Porsche test pilot Jörg Bergmeister, we do. In a secret test last year, he clocked a 7m 03.9s lap. That’s 14 seconds ahead of the old Turbo S. Fourteen!

Like the GTS T-hybrid which debuted all this electrified turbo tech, the Turbo S has a battery behind the luggage space and an extra e-motor secreted in the eight-speed twin-clutch gearbox. It’s still four-wheel drive, and the hybrid tech is there to improve throttle response and driveability, not to whoosh about on silent battery power mocking the CO2 tests. 

Why no plug-in system? Porsche insiders admit it was considered, but binned when they calculated a 911 Turbo PHEV would weigh 200-300kg more than the outgoing car and would’ve flattened the ‘Ring’s Flugplatz jump.

Mind you, the twin-T-hybrid system has upped kerbweight by 85kg, despite weight-saving measures galore. Carbon ceramic brakes (a giant 420mm up front) are standard. So is a titanium exhaust system which saves 6.8kg. Optionally, there’s a carbon roof. And you can have a carbon fibre wiper arm which shaves 600 grams. Seriously. 

You’ll have to get pretty close to spot that. But there are more obvious tweaks you’re looking at the quickest Turbo S yet. The more angular front intakes are shuttered with the GTS’s active slats. The headlight clusters now handle all lighting functions, so no more extra LED trips around the intakes. 

At the back, there are new extractor vents at each corner to make the car look wider and planted. We’ve had a close-up look and are afraid to report they appear to be blocked up and only there for show. In the middle there’s a very real, very huge vent for the intercoolers which looks like a diffuser, only upside down. 

Inside and out, Porsche is leaning into a gunmetallish, faintly purpley hue called ‘Turbonite’ for all the badges and metalwork. It’s only available on the Turbo S. You also get standard 18-way adjustable seats, a Sport Chrono stopwatch, a red ‘sport response’ button on the steering wheel for industrial-strength overtakes and no back seats. They are optional – but free of charge. Apparently it’s so the car looks lighter on the spec sheet. Weird.

Prices kick off around the £200,000 mark, which is a lot for a series production, non-limited 911, but not too toppy for a practical all-weather almost-family car which can keep a Bugatti or Koenigsegg honest up to 100mph. 

Now we wait. Wait to see what Porsche does with the ‘non-S’ standard 911 Turbo. And wait to find out how far the engineers dare to crank up this e-turbo tech for the GT2…