Wednesday 14th September 2011

Frankfurt: New Porsche 911

All-new 911 gets its motor show debut

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A new 911 might not attract quite the amount of attention that some of its glitzier, showier concept brethren achieve, but there's little doubt the new 911 (getting it show debut in Frankfurt today) is one of the most significant new performance cars of the year.

The new 991-generation 911 is still unmistakably a 911, but with a lower, longer, wider stance, more distinctive front lights and slimmer, more sleek tail lamps. The wheelbase is also 100mm longer, though both front and rear overhangs have been reduced.

Engine-wise, the rear-mounted, flat six cylinder engine in the Carrera is a 3.4-litre, 350hp affair, while the S version gets 3.8 litres and 400hp. The 3.4-litre Carrera with PDK accelerates from 0-62mph in 4.6 sec, 0.1 sec quicker than the old car (cut to 4.4secs with the Sport Plus button on the optional Sport Chrono Pack). The 3.8-litre Carrera S with PDK can accelerate from 0-62 mph in 4.3 sec (Sport Plus 4.1 sec), 0.2sec quicker than its predecessor.

Inside, the car is still recognisably 911 (including, mercifully, the retained central revcounter), but with cues from the Carrera GT and (more obviously) the Panamera, with its rising centre console.

A combination of steel and aluminium allows the car to weigh up to 45kg less than its predecessor, that and a low drag coefficient helping the standard car to return 34.4mpg on the combined cycle (and making it the first Porsche 911 to dip below 200g/km CO2) while the chassis does all sorts of clever things, incorporating active roll control on the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) for the first time on the Carrera S.

Gearbox options are either the seven-speed PDK twin-clutch system or, most intriguingly, a seven-speed manual.

The new car will hit showrooms a couple of months after that, as it's due to go on sale in the UK from December. The new 3.4-litre Carrera will come in at £71,449 (that's a hike of £4179 over the outgoing model), while the 3.8-litre Carrera S will cost from £81,242 (a jump of £5070).

[dave stew]

The pic from an earlier show report with all the previous generations of 911 lined up on stage means that they won't be playing the 'heritage card' then...

Lovely car though. And, unlike the new Jag, you can get your kids in the back!

[smele]

7 Speed Manual... That's more then my push bike.

[BadSanta]

Well, 7 gears great, but it comes with a hefty price increase!!!! Autsch!!!

[kambites]

Sounds like a sensible update - lighter, still has a manual gearbox and N/A engine, not too much of a price hike,... I still think it looks ungainly, but 911s always have.

[Lordbenny]

Can someone please explain why it's called a 991. Is it officially a Porsche 991 911 or is Porsche not allowed to mention that it's is based on a car called a 911 coz it certainly looks like one?

[tedzwedz]

4.1 seconds..... thats pretty incredible. For the only super car that can be used every day

[kambites]

991 is the chassis designation, just like it was 997 for the old car. I'm not sure why they've jumped backwards rather than going into four digits, mind.

[tedzwedz]

Lordbenny said:

Can someone please explain why it's called a 991. Is it officially a Porsche 991 911 or is Porsche not allowed to mention that it's is based on a car called a 911 coz it certainly looks like one?

The last 911 was called a 997, the one before that 996, the one before that 993, the one before that 964/965, the one before that 930, the one before that 911...

They are just the Internal model numbers for that vintage of 911.. every car manufacturer does this (BMW E30, e46, e21 etc)

quite what happened to 994, 995, 998, 999 etc is a mystery however! ;-)

[kambites]

tedzwedz said:

4.1 seconds..... thats pretty incredible. For the only super car that can be used every day

"The only super car that can be used every day"?

[thewheelman]

New 911 you say,........so, i'm off to the buffet.

[MrDarkBlack]

991 is just the internal designation of the new model. Such as BMW have e36, Merc have W126 etc...

I'm keen to see one of these "in the flesh", as the photos can't portray properly how it's going to look compared to the 997. Not to me, anyway!

[hornetrider]

Thanks for mentioning the updated interior... and then providing no shots!

[Lordbenny]

tedzwedz said:

The last 911 was called a 997, the one before that 996, the one before that 993, the one before that 964/965, the one before that 930, the one before that 911...

They are just the Internal model numbers for that vintage of 911.. every car manufacturer does this (BMW E30, e46, e21 etc)

I kinda new all that, what I was getting at was....why 996 then 997 then...991?

[George H]

tedzwedz said:

For the only super car that can be used every day

How is a Carrera S a supercar?

And there are several other rival sports/GT cars that could be used every day.

[BadSanta]

Well, 7 gears great, but it comes with a hefty price increase!!!! Autsch!!!

[Guyr]

Some previous options are now standard, such as the £2k+ SatNav, so the real price jump is much smaller.

[sleep envy]

tedzwedz said:

The last 911 was called a 997, the one before that 996, the one before that 993, the one before that 964/965, the one before that 930, the one before that 911...

They are just the Internal model numbers for that vintage of 911.. every car manufacturer does this (BMW E30, e46, e21 etc)

quite what happened to 994, 995, 998, 999 etc is a mystery however! ;-)

the last number generally relates to the last number of the year it went on sale

[kambites]

Guyr said:

Some previous options are now standard, such as the £2k+ SatNav, so the real price jump is much smaller.

The real price jump is only smaller if you want a 2k sat nav system.

[mat205125]

For a company continually critisised for their lack of imagination when launching 911 models, they've hardly gone to a lot of effort to show off their brand new creation - hyper bland colour / spec combo.

[lgomgf]

such a innovation.... such a ground breaking design... what a waste of design... just give us the old 930 back and we will be all happy...