GTS electric-enhanced types set to lift performance punch - for a price.

AN updated Porsche 911 line introducing hybrid technology to the iconic type has signed off for New Zealand, though the headline-making battery involved kind that carries a $75,000 premium over an ongoing pure petrol equivalent is not here until 2025.

The biggest news of a revamp of the 992-generation line is the adoption of an innovative new hybrid system, in models with GTS badging.

Those start with a 911 Carrera GTS Coupe with a starting MRP of $343,900. The 911 Carrera coupe with orthodox, smaller capacity but also six-cylinder petrol power is going to cost $268,900.

First deliveries of the latter are anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, whereas the hybrid, which ostensibly is a mild type given it uses a small battery that is not mains-replenished (so you’ll never see a 911 at a Chargenet zone) will start to avail from the first quarter of 2025.

The regular and GTS types also avails in cabriolet and the latter can be provisioned with a Targa body. The GTS cars can also avail in all-wheel-drive. All 911s now come with with Porsche Doppelkupplung dual-clutch transmission as standard. 

While the petrol-electric introduction helps with emissions and economy, Porsche is at pains to enforce their system is foremost a “performance hybrid,”. Using the GTS badge part of that gambit - the badge has traditionally attached to emphatically sporty variants, but below the all-out GT3 and Turbo cars.

Earlier this month the make proclaimed the hybrid was 8.7 seconds faster around the Nurburgring Nordschleife than its predecessor.

In Porsche technical-speak, the new system is  a ’T-Hybrid’. It delivers a 1.9kWh, 400-volt battery, a 40kW electric motor in the eight-speed PDK and another electric motor sandwiched between the compressor and turbine wheel of the single turbocharger fitted to the flat-six engine, which is now a 3.6-litre.

The company claims that, on its own, the uprated six-cylinder matches or just about eclipses the old 3.0, with figures of 361kW and 570Nm. Factor in the T-Hybrid gear and the GTS delivers peaks of 403kW and 610Nm.

That means that the GTS can run 0-100kmh in three seconds dead and achieve 312kmh overall.

The pure petrol 911 Carrera, meantime, sticks with the same 3.0-litre biturbo flat-six as it had before, but Porsche has fitted the turbochargers from the old 911 GTS to it, as well as the intercooler from the 911 Turbo models. That sees peak power raised from 283kW to 293kW now, although maximum torque remains 450Nm. Zero-to-100kmh is under four seconds, albeit only when the car has Sport Chrono and launch control.

The updated cars achieve styling changes. The front has lost driving lights and now all forms of illumination incorporate into one-piece light clusters. Porsche says in addition to delivering a cleaner look, there’s a gain in aero efficiency.

The GTS looks different front-on to the Carrera in that it has five vertical active air flaps in its front airdam. Other visual changes for all 911s include a five-vane grille on the rear deck, between the screen and the retractable spoiler, a redesigned light strip at the back and - for the GTS - a meatier diffuser with centrally mounted dual-outlet sports exhaust. 

All models roll on either 19-inch front, 20-inch rear or 20/21-inch mismatched alloys, while the Carrera can be optionally fitted with Exclusive Design alloys which come with carbon blades that reduce aerodynamic drag.

All revised 911s have rear-axle steering. The GTS T-Hybrid, with its 400-volt architecture, also gains the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) active anti-roll system as standard, which allies with its 10mm-lower sports suspension with Porsche Active Suspension Management variable dampers.

The cabin now features the 12.6-inch digital instrument cluster - also common to the Cayenne, Taycan and Panamera - alongside a 10.9-inch Porsche Communication Management infotainment. There’s an engine start-stop button next to the steering wheel and a wireless smartphone charging pad with device-cooling functionality in the lidded centre console.

One other thing. It’s now built, and homologated, as something it ostensibly always has been: A two seater. This time it comes out of the factory that way, unless you order a rear bench, as a no-cost option.