Porsche doesn’t stand still with the 911 – but these spy photos of the new 998-generation 911 remind us that it prefers evolution at a glacial pace. You can almost feel the weight of four decades’ continuous development hanging over the new 911…
CAR Online’s new scoop photos capture the next-generation 911 during a development shakedown at the Nurburgring. The 998 model, due in 2011, has visibly wider tracks front and rear – the biggest giveaway this is an engineering mule for the new model and not a 997 derivative – but the package and forms are clearly all pure 911. But then we weren’t expecting a radical redesign, were we?
So if it’ll look the same, what’s new on the ‘new’ Porsche 911?
We hear there will be an emphasis on the aero package of the new 998, with active systems that can trim the car’s aerodynamics on the move. Ferrari announced it was working on similar systems with its 2007 Mille Chili concept.
Expect also a further development of Porsche’s latest six-cylinder, direct-injection engines that were ushered in with the ‘second-generation 997’ facelift in summer 2008.
The 911’s new boxer engines represented the biggest change for the sports car in ages – bringing Porsche’s first roadgoing twin-clutch transmission dubbed PDK and impressive performance and economy gains that see combined economy climb to a teetotal 29mpg on the base Carrera.
So Porsche is trying to position the 911 as the eco sports car?
You could say that, yes. And the engineers at Zuffenhausen are working their magic to improve the crucial green stats even more. The days of the profligate sports car are seemingly numbered.
While low-volume manufacturers like Ferrari and Lamborghini may be able to get away with eye-popping CO2 and mpg figures (and even they are trimming their cars’ appetite), Porsche is now a 100,000-cars-a-year business and knows it has to adapt to the zeitgeist.
Click here to read CAR’s first drive of the new Porsche 911
Click here for the full tech lowdown of the latest eco Porsche 911 Carrera and Carrera S