Porsche 911 review

Let’s start with the hybrid GTS since that’s the most forward-looking 992.2. Has electrification ruined it? No, but it has altered it. Despite the fact this is really a fairly modest dabble with hybrid.

OK, so what’s changed?

Because there’s no lag, because response is so strong and immediate, because the PDK gearbox is so sharp, you don’t have to think about the powertrain at all. Overtaking is as effortless as in a fast electric car. In the full house Turbo models (and the regular 911s) you have to manage lag, which means you need to think and plan ahead. We love that, the anticipation of the torque’s thunderous arrival is thrilling, you feel more involved. But for ease of use, there’s never been a 911 to match this new GTS.

Give me some stats…

Okay, as mentioned the whole system output is 534bhp and 450lb ft. As a result, the rear-wheel drive GTS will do 0-62mph in just 3.0 seconds and will run on to a top speed of 194mph. It’s wickedly fast.

There’s a kerb weight of 1,595kg – just 50kg more than the previous GTS – and the centre of gravity is actually slightly lower because the new 3.6-litre engine is flatter than its predecessor thanks to the 400-volt electric architecture taking care of things like the air conditioning compressor, negating the need for the belt drive. The single turbo is mounted right down in the bowels of the car near the right rear wheel.

But what is the GTS actually like to drive?

First impressions of the T-Hybrid system are that it allows for a much smoother startup with the e-motor in the PDK now acting as the starter/generator. There’s less sound deadening inside than in a Carrera, but the new engine perhaps doesn’t quite have the chuntery grumble at idle of the pre-facelift, pre-hybrid car.

There is good news in the noise department though, because Porsche hasn’t tried to hide the sound of the electrically assisted turbo. The sound of it spooling itself up adds some proper aural drama to the occasion.

The major drama comes from the sheer speed and reactions of the thing, though. It responds like a massive capacity nat asp engine, even if it doesn’t sound like one. There’s instant muscle and this heavy, insistent acceleration. It still feels turbocharged though – this is not an alternative to the harder-edged, more rev hungry flat six in the GT3. It does deliver more speed, more easily, though.

Jörg Bergmeister set a Nürburgring lap time of 7m16.934s in the RWD 992.2 GTS, which may have beaten the pre-facelift car by 8.7 seconds, but is still 17 seconds adrift of a GT3, let alone an RS. But the GTS, like the lesser Carreras, is a road car not a track car, and it’s what this technology means in the real world and how effortless it makes overtaking, that’s it’s real genius.

Anything you didn’t like?

Just the one slight complaint from us so far. When you properly stamp on the brakes on track there is a little bit of a step change as the regen and pads try to sort out the best way to slow you down. It’s something most hybrids and EVs suffer from of course, and we weren’t able to replicate it on the road, but the little handover can sap a bit of confidence when you’re really going for it. The actual discs themselves are the same as the pre-facelift GTS and were previously carried over from the 991 Turbo. You can spec monster carbon ceramics as an option.

Beyond that, because it makes everything so easy, the GTS has changed tack slightly. It used to be the ultimate driving mainstream 911, but it now feels more like the ultimate daily 911, because there’s less need to interact with the engine. Splitting hairs here, we realise.

Have you driven the standard Carrera?

Extensively, on road in the UK. Like the GTS, it’s a very polished performer. But so polished you do get a fractional sense that it’s covering things up. This is what we’ve said about other sports cars – that the speeds have got so silly that they’re having to filter information before it reaches you. Even on a British back road the 911 doesn’t bombard you with information, it just flows beautifully along. But perhaps too beautifully. It used to be that all 911s were super-engaging, now we’re starting to see more of a gap open up between regular 911s and the GT3 cars.

The ride is gorgeously damped, the chassis balance favours neither front nor rear, it just scoots along. It’s a matter of personal taste, but most of us quite liked being more aware of the deficiencies in the 911’s basic layout and how the engine levered against the rear axle. Still, we’re being remarkably fussy here. It’s a point worth making, this gradual loss of charisma, but the fact remains that the 911 is still a more rewarding, exciting sports car than any other at the price.

But is it powerful enough?

We know, 389bhp is barely enough to spin a wheel these days, is it? But Porsche has always bred healthy horsepower – or rather has managed to maintain a healthy attitude to weight and not let it spiral out of control. The twin turbo’s power delivery is consistent and rapid across the whole of the rev range and capable of hurling the base 911 to 62mph in 4.1 seconds (or 3.9s if you spec the Sport Chrono package with its Sport Plus drive mode and launch control function).

How much does the 911 weigh?

A base Carrera is 1,520kg, a rise of just 15kg on paper. But look deeper. Why are the rear seats no longer fitted as standard? Because without the 10kg or whatever they weigh, Porsche can claim weight hasn’t risen so much.

Now Porsche is probably the least guilty of passing weight gains on to consumers. Compare the 911’s weight gains over the years with anyone else’s and they’re minimal. But they’re not nothing. Turns out the systems and sensors demanded by legislation add weight in. Who’d have thunk it?

Sum it up, please.

We have one or two minor concerns about weight and the 911 coming across as a more mature, less overt sports car, but in essence there’s still so much to admire and appreciate about driving it that nothing else comes close. From the faultless driving position to the way the steering responds and the gearbox snaps shifts through, this is the most thoroughly engineered sports car of all.