When the 996 generation 911 was introduced, there was a revolt. And for good reason: Porsche blew everything up.
The company was not doing well in the Eighties and Nineties. A plan to replace the 911 with the front-engine 928 failed, and then the cheaper 924 and 944 didn’t increase sales and profits to a level that would save the company. Something had to be done. The solution? A new second model for a roadster-hungry public. That’s right, people wanted roadsters. What a world.
Porsche developed the Boxster to fit that need, a mid-engine model powered by a water-cooled flat-six. And, Porsche co-developed the 996 at the same time, the first truly all-new 911 since that Sixties original. That means the air-cooled engine was gone, the chassis was all new, and it shared parts with the Boxster. It even took lessons in mass production from Toyota to reduce the costs of tooling and manufacturing. It was a lot, too much for some enthusiasts to take. The 996 still gets flak, most of it undeserved.
Porsche learned a lesson from that launch, or at least I think it did. Instead of making massive changes when the new version of a model was unveiled, Porsche saved those for the mid-cycle refresh. So while the 997 visually distanced itself from the 996 and Boxster, the 997.2 introduced the PDK gearbox, which began the shift away from the manual. The 991 got bigger and more powerful, but maintained naturally aspirated engines. The 991.2 ditched N/A engines in the Carrera models and went fully turbocharged across the lineup, other than the GT3 and other special models. Until now, that was the biggest and most controversial powertrain change since the 996.
For the 992, Porsche kept much of what it improved for the 991.2 and put it in a gorgeous package. The 992.2, though? Porsche went further than any refresh before it. The manual transmission is no longer available unless you order a Carrera T or a GT3. The traditional starter switch is gone, replaced by a button. The analog tach is now digital. Rear seats, which were admittedly useless for anyone other than a child, are an option. Colors that used to be free, like Guards Red, now cost $1,550. And then there’s the GTS trim.
The GTS trim has always been a bit more power from the Carrera S engine and a smattering of performance options as standard. I’ve always viewed it as the sweet spot in the lineup if you don’t want a GT3 or a Turbo. This time, though, Porsche threw away the Carrera S engine.
Where the Carrera models have a 3.0 liter turbocharged flat-six, the GTS gets a new 3.6 liter unit with a single turbocharger driven by an electric motor. Then there’s another electric motor between the engine and eight-speed PDK. That’s all linked to a tiny 1.9 kWh 400-volt battery that sits in the front trunk. The weight penalty for this hybrid system? About 110 pounds. And now you have a 911 that produces 533 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque and gets it to 60 in 2.9 seconds. These are numbers that used to be reserved for the 911 Turbo S.
The new GTS isn’t an evolution, it’s the start of a new era. This car is a thrill. Let me tell you why.
Specs:
Engine: 3.6 liter turbocharged flat-six
Gearbox: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Drivetrain: rear-engine, all-wheel drive
Battery: 1.9 kWh lithium-ion
ICE Output: 478 hp @ 6,500 rpm, 420 lb-ft @ 2,000 – 5,500 rpm
Electric Output: 53 hp, 110 lb-ft
System Output: 533 hp @ 6,500 rpm, 450 lb-ft @ 2,000 – 5,500 rpm
Fuel Economy: 17 city, 23 highway, 19 combined
Weight: 3,635 lbs (mfr)
0 to 60: 2.9 seconds (mfr)
Base Price: $174,695
As Tested: $196,185
Criticism First
Sussing out design differences in Porsche’s mid-cycle refreshes is a nearly impossible game of Where’s Waldo. The 992.2 has slightly different taillights, new aero slats in the grille, revised daytime running lights, and I’m sure many other changes that aren’t visible to the naked eye.
I already thought the 992 was a great-looking car that would be hard to improve. I don’t think any of these changes make it look better. The new taillights make it look narrower and slightly taller and the aero slats are too busy. Not that it matters when you’re driving.
The interior changes are more obvious, and, again, these aren’t for the better. The loss of the twist to start with a button that makes a very cheap-sounding click is a mistake. The bigger mistake is losing the analog rev counter. The tach in the 992 was a lovely analog touch, a bit of craftsmanship in a cockpit that had become increasingly digital. Now? It’s another anonymous screen that could be in any car. That’s a real shame, and hopefully something Porsche changes in the future.
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Then we come to the price. That a 911 GTS with a modest amount of options can now be touching $200,000 is wild. The starting price is a near $25k hike over the 992.1 GTS. Granted, this one has gotten a lot of new tech and hardware, but the entire lineup has seen similar increases, and those cars haven’t changed nearly as much. It’s a lot of money, especially considering you can get a 1064-hp Corvette for the same price. I chatted with a 992 Targa owner at a local coffee shop when I had the GTS, and he told me that Porsche was pricing him out. I get it.
Okay. The Good Stuff
All right, now that I’ve done my civic duty of being an old man shouting at a cloud, I can tell you that, shockingly, the 911 GTS is wonderful. A beautiful car to drive. The last three 911s I’ve driven were a GT3, GT3 RS, and an S/T (I know, I know. Sorry?), so this is the first ‘regular’ 911 I’ve been in for quite some time. The breadth of use is outrageous.
On the highway after I pick it up, it sits at 80 mph happily. The ride is firm, not jarring. It deals with expansion joints and filled holes easily. PDK is, as usual, telepathic and wonderful, still the best dual-clutch gearbox on the market.
That hybrid system–dubbed t-hybrid, not thyroid or thybrid–is seamless. The weight penalty is tiny and it has allowed Porsche to use a single turbo, rather than a twin-turbo set up on this new 3.6 liter engine. The big turbo gets spooled by its own electric motor to minimize lag, and works with the motor between the engine and gearbox to create a relentless force of acceleration. If this setup sounds like the MGU-H you’d find in something like the 919 LMP1 car or a modern F1 car, that’s because it is.
I’ve never been in a 911 that isn’t a Turbo or Turbo S (or GT2, I guess) that accelerates like this. This particular GTS is a Carrera 4, which means it has instant bite from a dig thanks to the all-wheel drive and will blitz to illegal speeds in less than three seconds. The really impressive bit is how it responds during rolling acceleration. Lugging up a hill or accelerating out of traffic in a high gear doesn’t necessitate a downshift, just floor it and the hybrid kicks in, the turbo spools, and it flies.
It gets even better on a back road. I can’t stress again how outrageously quick this car is, it’s a massive leap over the last GTS and feels more Turbo-ish than Carrera-ish. The electric steering is not even a talking point anymore. It always felt slightly more muted and distant in a Carrera 4 than in a rear-wheel drive Carrera, and I imagine that’s still the case here even if I can’t drive them back-to-back.
I spent a couple hours on back roads in a state park I’d never been to, fast roads with nobody around. This is what the GTS was made for. Pop it into Sport, firm up the suspension, PDK set to very manual, and it’s a blast. I’m not trying to find the limit, because the last ski run where you try to go just a little bit faster is the one where you hit the tree. That doesn’t make it boring. It still engages below its limits, a willing partner encouraging you to hit those fantastic brakes a little later and hop back to power a little earlier. What a blast.
It still does those traditional 911 things, too. It feels like it pivots from behind you, on the engine, rather than being steered from the front. It needs weight on the front end to get the best turn-in. It asks certain things of the driver, and in return, it is still one of the finest sports cars on the road. Not that I expected it to be a sudden step backwards or a pile of trash; it’s still so good, even with a new engine and a hybrid system Porsche has never used anywhere else. Some automakers might release a car like this, and it’d feel half-baked, not quite ready. This feels like an integration that Porsche has been doing for 50 years; it’s that natural.
The New GTS Doctrine and a Conundrum
While the GTS used to be a Carrera+, it now feels like it kept the Carrera name for tradition more than anything. It has the traditional added equipment, like PASM, center lock wheels, rear axle steering, sports exhaust, sport chrono, and the new variable flaps up front, but the new powertrain changes the GTS proposition. Rather than a development of a Carrera S, it’s a new thing all its own.
The Carrera and Carrera T get modest power increases to 388, but the Carrera S now has 473, exactly what the last GTS had. The GTS has gone from the ultimate refinement of the Carrera S to the gateway drug to the Turbo, a preview of what this hybrid system can do. I’d imagine that the next 911 Turbo will have a more powerful ICE engine linked to a developed t-hybrid system as well.
I love that the hybrid system isn’t used for pure electric range and that it doesn’t balloon the weight. Like McLaren with the Artura, the system is used to aid performance and keep emissions compliance in check. This is the future of hybrid performance cars, not electric range and 1000 pounds of extra weight to carry around.
Not to moan again, since we got that out of the way right up front, but the conundrum is the price; $200,000 is a lot of money, I don’t even make that in a week. Thing is, people who want Porsches won’t care about the ZR1 having double the power or an AMG GT with 805 hp for the same price. They’ll opt for the 911 no matter what you say. And the past few years have proven that people will pay whatever Porsche asks, wait however long they have to wait, and then pay the dealer even more on top of it to get the car.
If you do have $200k burning a hole in your pocket, there are far more irresponsible ways to spend it than on a 911 like this.
Top graphic image: Travis Okulski
Is there a logic behind the nomenclature of 911s or does the people at Porsche just choose random numbers ?
Right pedal down, go really fast. Left pedal down, slow down really fast. Turn wheel, go around corner really fast. Yawn. I would rather spend the money on a ’70s-’80s 911 that would be trying to kill me most of the time. And it would be fun at less than “go directly to jail” speeds.
And the 911 has, to my eye, gotten uglier and uglier with each generation. One of the major joys of the old ones is that they had a big, upright, greenhouse with excellent visibility and a low beltline. This isn’t a Camaro, but it is far more bunker than the old ones ever were. They now look more than a bit stepped on.
I can’t be the only one that considers the 992 the ugliest 911 since the 996? The author of this piece gushes (more than once) about the way the 992 looks. To which I say, gross. It’s the chunky monkey out of the 911 family. They’ve kept weight admirably in check, but not the dimensions. 911’s used to be giant killers but now they’re the giants.
The upmarket march by Porsche (screw most of their former customers) is lamentable, but on the bright side that means I have zero interest in their new offerings anyway! Win win. Now, I will go back to sitting around waiting for PCA to call and tell me I’ve won the Spring 2025 raffle (grand prix 911 GT3).
Two hundred large shocks at first, but Porsche has been on a steady push of their 911 target market from upper middle class to the truly wealthy for the last 15 years now. Ever since the SUVs made them profitable, they could afford to charge what it took to make all of their cars profitable and then some, including the 911. The higher cost made them more of a status symbol, probably opening up more of the high end demographic. When the floor of new 911 entry hit 100k, I think a lot of people on the edge of affording one began shifting their mindset from dream to fantasy and started looking elsewhere. The insane used market only exacerbates the problem.
That narrative of the moderately successful estate attorney or family dentist making a new 911 their ride of choice starting mid/late career is now increasingly rare. Yeah, there are alternatives even within the Porsche brand, but it sucks when a dream just moves increasingly and slowly out of reach.
Absolutely. And when you consider that used 997 GT3 RSes can be found for less money:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/754099272?clickType=listing
(Mostly unmodified!)
this doesn’t look like a great deal for anyone who really wants a Porsche for driving.
I dunno, when the new 996 came out I remember one of my pops friend’s bought one and everyone marveled at how he shelled out 72k for a “fun car”. He was decidedly a middle class dentist, but that is the equivalent of 140k now a days. I don’t think professional salaries have truly kept up with inflation but the base carrera has always (in my opinion) been aimed squarely at the upper middle class professional.
When I had a 964 for a bit, it had the original window sticker and that was about 58k which in 1991 dollars is also about 140k.
Professional salaries have definitely not kept up with inflation. I should have bought a new Porsche before COVID. Oh well.
I thought Fancy Kristen was back for a second.
Oh please. Fancy Kristen makes that in a day!
Fancy Kristen is old money, and wouldn’t even understand the concept of how much she “makes” in a day.
Well that too.
But she never, ever, touches capital.
I’m never going to be able to afford a new Porsche no matter the model. At least I’ve been able to own a few highly-depreciated Cayennes. I have an affinity for the 958s because they are very analog but still reasonably modern. They also have the key slot in the proper location and you still turn a switch resembling a key even if you have keyless entry – that is a correct solution to a fun sports car. I can’t believe the 911 ditched the switch. I also can’t believe they ditched the analog tachometer either.
I don’t like Porsche’s pricing strategy these days. I do remember a time back when Porsche was somehow considered attainable when compared to the Ferraris, Astons and Lambos – something you could actually aspire to on a regular-joe professional salary if you saved up for a while, or treat yourself at retirement. That’s not the case anymore. I bought my Cayennes and now I really am into the whole Porsche brand (surprise, that’s how this car was envisioned – gateway drug!), but I’m not able to step up to the next car because the outrageous prices and artificial supply constraints that Porsche has made up.
One thing that isn’t noted about the fact that you can buy a Corvette with 1000 HP for the price of one of these GTS models is the depreciation. Porsche 911s have very shallow depreciation curves, especially the special models, whereas I’m not so sure that’s the case with a Corvette. All that is to say if you have the means, you can buy a 911, drive it for a couple years, and probably not even lose $30k on resale. It’s a rich man’s game at these prices, but you can buy a 10-20 year old Cayman/Boxster or Cayenne at the bottom of their depreciation curve and basically drive them for free for a few years once you sell them.
I think there’s something to be said for rose-tinted glasses, both in terms of why they used to be more affordable and why they keep getting more expensive.Today, the 911 is the only longitudinal rear-engined car you can get, but back in the day, it was just the performance version of a Renault 8, a Fiat 600 or Name-A-Volkswagen, many of which shared parts with the Porsche models.
The air-cooled models just got faster and more comfortable every generation with almost no increase in weight or loss of engagement, so a used 911 would simply lose value as the new ones kept improving with no perceived downsides.
Now, every generation is the “last” of something that Porsche nerds cherish, such as the last air-cooled car (993), the last cable-throttle car (996.1), the last hydraulic power-steering car (997), the last naturally-aspirated (non-GT) car (991.1), ad infinitum. That means every new model doesn’t inherently devalue the previous one, because there are enough rich buyers who’d rather have the old version.
I highly doubt the C8 ZR1 (or the Z06 for that matter, nevermind the ZR1X) will have much depreciation. The Z06 has been production limited since its debut years ago and one would imagine that Chevy will produce far fewer ZR1/X’s, whether by choice or internal production related restraints. Will it maintain GT3-esque depreciation? I doubt it. But better than a GTS? Almost certainly.
Any time a manufacturer makes a new system designed to broaden the torque curve, it confounds me that they pair it to an 8-speed (or more) gearbox. What’s the point of having a transmission that can keep you above 6000rpm all the time, spun by an engine that can pull hard from 2000rpm?
Give that engine a 5/6-speed manual, and everything starts making sense again.
Because power is a function of engine speed and torque. If you can make the same torque at 6000 RPM and 2000 RPM, you’ll make substantially more wheel torque at a given speed by being in a lower gear at 6000 RPM than at a higher gear at 2000 RPM.
I guess my gripe is more so the other way around, widening the torque curve beyond a specific peak is expensive, complex and heavy, so when you have a transmission that could flatter a 2-stroke’s torque curve, it seems like a waste to add equipment that substantially improves torque off-idle instead of aiming for peak power.
Mind you, I’m not asking for an S2000 that’s dead below 5,000 rpm or a 3-speed column shifter, I’m just a bit unenthused that a lot of work has been put into covering gaps in boost that were already fully covered by the lightning-fast transmission.
Of course, if there was a manual option, the lag-reduction system would be an awesome addition to help keep boost up during shifts or when you’re too lazy to downshift, and it wouldn’t make sense to downgrade the engine for the PDK version.
But as it stands, they could’ve made a much lighter, simpler system with a big, laggy turbo, and the PDK would be able to keep it on-boost most of the time with no added effort from the driver, and a lot more fanfare.
All that to say, I know it makes sense to use an 8-speed, and I’m sure the ability to effortlessly accelerate away in 8th will impress many buyers, but as someone who’s had a torquey 8-speed coupe, it’s just not very fun.
Porsche, now available in Communist Concrete Apartment Grey so you can blend in with all the other grey cars on the road. Nobody buys a Porsche to stand out.
Yep, they’ve come a long way. I can’t paste here, but check Youtube for “993 colors commercial” — it’s a really grainy version, but shows how much things have changed since their 90s attitude.
“Flak,” from the German Flugabwehrkanone, “aircraft defense cannon,” or anti-aircraft gun. A “flack” is a publicity agent or public relations person.
And Jason Cammisa, among quite a few others, argues that the 924 and 944 DID “increase sales and profits to a level that would save the company.” It’s just that the company needed saving several times.
https://youtu.be/6qLwd44C4iU?t=666
A hybrid that gets 19mpg combined. Does the non-hybrid get 18.5?
Here’s what Mr. Google has to say:
Thank you for your service. You live up to your username.
The hybrid is there, as Travis mentions in the review, to boost performance and make emissions reasonable-ish. The use case here is not the same as the Prius.
I guess the silver lining of Porsche making all their cars so much more expensive is that they are also making them so undesirable as well. So at least I don’t regret not being able to afford one.
Plus, a porsche will never, NEVER, be as fun as an LS-swapped Geo Metro. That’s a hill I’m willing to die on.
As we all know, if you won’t have a Porsche, you’re obliged to drive an LS swapped Metro. No other options, no middle ground.
I would expect the EU/UK models offer electric-only operation. What’s the point of a car like that if you can’t show it off in town?
I’m a lifelong Porsche fan and definitely not a purist, but there is something off about this. As you mentioned, the lack of mechanical gauges feels cheap to me (even though many buyers mistakenly think screens are an expensive upgrade, I still see the elimination of switchgear to be a cost cutting effort. Does your average 911 buyer not see a Rolex as nicer than an Apple Watch?)
Also, the greenhouse just feels off. Too chopped. High beltlines. This is just too mainstream a design trend for them to chase; honorable mention to the putty-ass grey and black wheels. If I take off my glasses, it’s a Honda Civic.
If you showed me the 996 and said it was the new design, I think I’d believe you.
Something I have always loved about Porsche is the abundance of buttons. So many buttons! My VW doesn’t have any buttons– just a touchscreen and a bunch of haptic crap. Sad that Porsche is following such a terrible trend.
In my experience there are two distinct types of Porsche buyer.
The first type is more traditional in the historical sense and wants a Porsche because they love driving and how the cars handle and perform. They could easily afford something else with a bigger engine, more cylinders, higher horsepower etc but love the mid/rear engine driving dynamic and stress how these drive on a track or twisty road. The idea of a drag race is just boring.
The second type of Porsche buyer is the status buyer. They see Porsche as somewhat unattainable to most, a more rare car they can buy that will be more unique and a brand image that fits with how they see themselves. To this buyer, more expensive=better. Having the best thing means having the most expensive thing as it is more rare and better than what their coworker or neighbor can have. It doesn’t matter that their lifestyle fits more seamlessly into having a base model Carrera or, even better, this Carrera GTS. The GT3 RS is the most expensive and therefore better.
It does seem Porsche is courting the latter type of buyer solely now. It’s hard to disagree as a business model. But the former type of buyer has to now find something else or look to the used market because the types of vehicles craved by that buyer are slowly dying. No more lightweight, nimble cars that are mostly analog, to say nothing of the state of the manual transmission.
I am curious if there will be any sort of new vehicles that can be produced in a world where regulations increasingly mean the death of the manual and a lack of volume production means only the very wealthy will be able to afford the more niche products, if they’re offered at all.
It is sad but (also sadly) expected.
Been talking to the yoots (teens and 20-somethings) more recently. Having done so, I’d say it was with the 991 GT3, where some 911s started to garner enough attention that it increasingly became an “influencer-mobile.”
The GT3 RS is very much an influencer-mobile right now. The ADMs are gone as wallets are closing in our K-shaped economy, but it still is.
The turbocharging hurt Ferrari a bit (not much, but some) on its bread-and-butter mid-engine cars since they don’t sound as wild as they used to. Yet there’s not a ton of stuff competing with the motorsport 4.0L flat-6s sound. It’s why I’m convinced GM did the LT6 as they did, because they know that sound is an important part of the experience, and creating future interest.