What with so many derivatives having been launched one after the other, it’s been easy to forget that the 992 era of 911 has been around for a little while now. Hard to keep track when one week it’s Heritage Design Edition, then it’s Sport Classic, Carrera GTS Lightweight, Dakar… essentially, we’re not far off five years since the eighth generation made its debut in LA at the end of 2018. Which means it’s update time.
Likely to be a 992.2, the new model has been previewed in these spy shots by, pleasingly, a GT3 Touring - the exhaust pipes being the dead giveaway. As is Porsche tradition when it comes to facelifts, this is going to be a modest tweak for the existing 911. For the moment, the clearest giveaway is the indicator being incorporated into the headlight unit, with the front bumper redesigned to accommodate it. Notable for this car as well is some additional cladding around the rear, which would imply another mild styling change back there. It’s still going to look a lot like a 911, put it that way. And why would Porsche change it?
Expect more significant changes inside and under the skin, potentially incorporating more screens as per the Taycan and latest Cayenne refresh. GT3-specific modifications are often incremental, with small aerodynamic and powertrain improvements; given how the future looks for high-revving combustion engines, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a lot of 992.1 GT3 carried over wholesale to 992.2 GT3. Helps that it’s pretty great already, of course. Further down the range, expect the turbo flat sixes to be reworked for a little more power, and perhaps one or two chassis options included as standard. Porsche is understood to be working on a hybridised 911, although it's unclear whether or not that will launch as a 992.2.
Either way, with the wild limited editions of the current car coming on stream, we won’t be far away from the new generation. Remember the old 991 Speedster arrived after the new Carreras had been announced, so there may well be some overlap again. If Porsche fancies, say, an S/T Spyder? There's a thought.
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