2012 Porsche 911 will be larger than outgoing model, built to accommodate hybrid powertrain

2012 Porsche 911 Portotype

Porsche has been one of the very few manufacturers who have relied on evolving their signature 911 rather than revolving it. So it’s no surprise that the next generation 911 is pretty much the same minus the usual body treatments and upgrades in kit.

Codenamed the 991, the new 911 will debut in September of this year and will be larger than the outgoing model and built to be able to accommodate a hybrid powertrain. This may be troubling news to the Porsche purist, but rest assures, the Porsche 911 will still be as wonderful as it always has been.

August Achleitner and Bernd Kahnan, the sole individuals in charge of the entire 911 lineup and specifically, the 991 project gathered for a press conference for a sneak-peak at the latest and greatest of the squashed, hyped-up Volkswagen Beetle.

Click here for more news on the Porsche 911.

The 991 so far comes out to be 2.2 inches longer than the outgoing 997 with the wheelbase growing quite a bit at four inches longer. But to keep the length down, the front and rear overhangs were reduced. The roof too also gets lowered by about a half an inch and because the car that the two Zuffenhausen boffins were showing off was spec’d out to be a 911 S, it sits about .07 inches closer to the ground. Despite the growth, the new 991 loses about 55 pounds when compared to the 997, which uses more high-strength steel. The future hybrid model will also weigh less than the 997 by 22 lbs thanks to heavier use of aluminum.

The results are again evolutionary. The new Porsche 991 has a more aggressive stance and a more streamlined look that hints at cues from the Panamera. The inside continues with a new design that is reminiscent of the Panemera and Porsches of the past.

As usual, the Porsche 991 features a 3.8L flat-six, one that we’re all used to. Equipped with direct injection, the engine peaks at 400hp and revs until 7600rpm, with the power peaking just shortly before at 7200. The cog swappers can either be Porsche’s PDK dual-clutch seven-speed system or a seven-speed manual—yup, you’ve read correctly.

Porsche said the 991 S will get from 0-60 in 3.9 seconds with the manual. The base 911 uses the Boxster S’s smaller, but still direct-injected 3.4L flat-six. The base model is still no hung as it makes 350hp and 280 torques and can be mated to the same transmissions. The 0-60 time for the base model is estimated at 4.5 seconds. Still, not shabby, but would you expect otherwise from the signature P-Car?

– By: Chris Chin

Source: CARandDRIVER