The GTS's engine is a newly developed 3.6-litre flat six, 0.6 litres bigger than the familiar 3.0 twin-turbo unit used in the Carrera (and previously in the GTS) but with the same length/stroke ratio.
What’s around it is as significant as what’s inside it, because there’s now a high-voltage (400V) electrical system, negating the need for a belt drive for the air-con compressor (now electric), while there’s no separate starter motor, because there’s an additional drive motor. Saved external space is given over to inverters and converters. The engine revs to 7500rpm and on its own it makes 478bhp and 420lb ft of torque.
But since the introduction of the eight speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox in the previous-generation 911 (the 911), there has been room set aside in the gearbox for a permanent magnet synchronous drive motor, which is now fitted and produces 54bhp and 111lb ft.
There’s more. Instead of twin-turbocharging for the engine, there’s a single, larger turbocharger, but this too has a motor, to help it spin up more quickly or to keep it spinning.
Both the drive motor and this e-turbo motor are powered by a 1.9kWh battery (under the front boot lid) and can return kinetically recuperated juice to it.
The new powertrain, badged T-Hybrid, has a total output of 534bhp (Porsche works in kW, and rounding fractions to the nearest integer makes it look more powerful than the two figures combined) and 450lb ft.
You can have the GTS as a Carrera coupé or a Cabriolet with rear- or four-wheel drive or as a 4WD Targa. While no version is two tonnes, there is a payback for the extra tech. Porsche says it adds 50kg, thus the RWD coupé sneaks in at 1595kg, but among the changes for the facelift is that the rear seats are now a no-cost option, so you have to factor those in too. And even without them, the Targa 4 GTS weighs 1745kg unladen.
The 911 is still lighter than most sports cars (Aston Martin quotes a dry weight that’s heavier than the GTS for its new V8-engined Vantage), but it’s clear that nobody but Caterham and the like are exempt from 'progress'.
Rear-wheel steering is now standard, it should be noted. Also, the GTS has 10mm-lower suspension than the Carrera and PASM adaptive dampers as standard. Roll-stabilising PDCC is an electrohydraulic option powered by the new 400V system, to follow late in 2024.
The wider rear tyres are 315/30 R21s, while the fronts are 245/35 R20s. There’s also now active aero via the slats on the front and under the car, new headlights and a redesigned rear light strip.
I will mostly detail the GTS here, because it receives the bigger changes. But on the Carrera front, its 3.0-litre engine now gets turbos from the old GTS and a charge cooler from the Turbo, giving it 9bhp more (at 389bhp), and bigger brakes. It does without the fancy front aero slats but does get rear-steer as standard and the same interior adjustments.
Inside, for the first time the instruments are purely digital (although the rev counter remains front and centre), and there’s a start button rather than a twisting dial.
Otherwise, the 911 interior remains as true to form as it has always done - with a great driving position, good forward visibility (a little more restricted to the rear than was once the case) and solid-feeling materials.
The GTS's new power unit is good for a 0-62mph time of 3.0sec and a top speed of 194mph while officially returning 26.4mpg and emitting 244g/km of CO2.
Overtakes are a cinch: it has almost as much power as the current Turbo, and one could imagine that it will provide the basis for the facelifted Turbo – which is surely going to be mind-bendingly fast, because this is borderline there already.
In tamer driving, though, those electric systems aren’t working terribly hard, if at all – and the regular 3.0-litre Carrera seems to get along just fine without them. We will tackle more on the way they deliver their power in the next section.
I drove several new 911 variants on both road and track, and while I wouldn’t normally diarise it like this, I’d like to tackle them in the order that I drove them, because while any 911 in isolation is terrific, hopping from one to another shows notable differences.
My day starts on the road in a Targa 4 GTS with rear seats. It's as heavy as a new 911 can be, and you can tell. It has been a long time since I last drove a Targa, and while all of the 911 elements are still there, you’re aware of extra bulk, extra heft, like adding shopping to your bicycle. The new powertrain does a lot to make light of this in a straight line but can’t shake it off when cornering.
I arrive at Circuito Ascari and will have three sessions, and in the order I’d like: first in a Carrera, then a 4 GTS, then a GTS. All will be on track together and there’s a pace car to follow: a current Turbo driven by a hotshoe race driver.
I quickly think I’ve lost whatever little track driving ability I ever had. The new Carrera is expressive and joyful, more adjustable and lithe (it’s only 1520kg) than the Targa felt, but I can barely keep up with the GTSs and Turbo.
Wringing it out is lovely, mind you. You can adjust its attitude to understeer or oversteer with throttle and brake inputs, the steering is communicative and no other car melds rear-steer into the mix so deftly. It reminds me of the time Toyota let us drive a prototype GR Supra but had a GT86 on hand as a support car: brilliant as a way of showing that less is more but not strictly the idea of the exercise.
The Carrera has all of the purity that a 911 should have, but with very sweaty palms and nearly binning it, because I’ve clearly forgotten how to drive one.
Then to the next car, and very suddenly it becomes clear. A flat-out gallop in the Carrera is more of a jaunty canter in the 4 GTS. Whatever else Porsche has done to the GTS, it has made it astonishingly urgent. The new engine is louder, gruffer and less nuanced than the old 3.0, and its responses are fabulously fast. The drive motor can pitch in at any engine revs and the e-turbo motor can maintain turbo revs, so there’s no discernible lag. It rips around the rev band.
Under braking and cornering, you can feel the extra bulk over the Carrera but also that it’s better tied down. In isolation or with a couple of hours between drives, you might not notice, but back to back it’s clear it’s quite different in character to a Carrera – more so than before, perhaps obviously. It’s bolder, brasher, less analogue and I’d say about 80% of the effort to go the same speed on a circuit.
The rear-driven GTS shares the 4 GTS’s urgency but swaps out some of its corner-exit stability for a tad extra adjustability and agility. For me, this is where the GTS is at its best, with all of the response of this new engine but as little extra bulk as possible and easier, uncorrupted, feelsome steering. Any model has terrific gearbox response (they all use a PDK auto) and unburstable brakes.
The rear-driven GTS is lastly what I drive on the road again, too. The ride is settled, if firm. Road noise is higher than in some grand tourers but allowably.
The new GTS is priced from £136k, up around £10k from before (albeit with more standard kit), while the Carrera now starts at £99,800 (up a few grand).
What sets 911s apart from so many exotic sports cars is that they're terrific daily drivers with solid residual values and fine durability. There's no reason to expect different this time, but we will keep an eye on satisfaction surveys.
Having tried four variants of the new 911, it’s the the one carrying the fewest kilos, the Carrera, that I liked the most.
Any new 911 is still brilliant, and the GTS is a sensational performance in a straight line particularly, but for me, the sweet spot in the range has moved down a notch.