The Porsche 911 will come in a hybrid form in the 2025 911 Carrera GTS. The 3.6-liter T-Hybrid engine in the Porsche 992.2 has an electric motor/generator and a blower that works better with electricity. The base form of the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera currently costs $122,095, while the GTS version costs $166,895. Since the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius came out more than 25 years ago, we’ve become used to hybrids that gave up speed to use gas more slowly than a drunk person. Most notably, we’ve seen Ferrari, McLaren, and Porsche make only a few hybrid hypercars, which were then bought by the richest 0.1 percent and left to slowly break down in static collections while collecting prices on par with Picasso paintings. Also, we’ve heard for years that Formula One cars use hybrid powertrains. Where are the performance blends for the rest of us? Even though the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray is faster, it only has an electric motor that powers the front wheels. To improve things, Porsche is entering the market with the 2025 911 Carrera GTS, a performance hybrid that is also the top model of the 992.2 generation of the 911, which is getting an upgrade in the middle of its life cycle. The new GTS has a 9A3B6 engine instead of the 3.0-liter 9A2B6 twin-turbo engine. A 3.6-liter engine, an electronically improved turbocharger, and a powerful electric motor/generator are all inside. The motor is hidden behind the eight-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission case. The T-Hybrid, which stands for “Turbo Hybrid,” is what Porsche calls to set it apart from the company’s plug-in hybrid electric cars, or E-Hybrids. Even though it’s bigger (from 3.0 to 3.6 liters) and has more boost pressure (18.6 to 26.1 psi), the new engine only adds five horsepower (473 to 478). Also, the peak power stays the same at 420 pound-feet. Lambda 1 is the problem. Lambda is an abbreviation that engine builders use to talk about a specific fuel-to-air ratio that is always used in engines. Because there isn’t a rich mixture available when the boost level is high, the ignition time has to be greatly slowed down to keep the engine from detonating. At full strength, there are some good things, like less smog. The 9A3B6 is also getting a lot of changes that will make it smaller and lower from the top of its intake pipe to the bottom of its plastic oil pan. This makes room for the power control electronics, which are placed above the engine and handle all the different hybrid parts. The flat-six engine has to be completely rearranged so that the catalytic converter and particulate filter are placed between the big muffler on the left and the single, heavy, electronically boosted turbo on the right. Another change is that the extra drive is no longer used. The motor on the transmission works as both a starter and a generator. The high-voltage hybrid circuit now powers the 400-volt motor that runs the air conditioner compressor. The water pump, which used to be inside the engine, is now powered by an extension of the oil pumps. After the changes, the engine weighs 40 pounds less than it did before. This Borg-Warner single turbocharger has a 27-hp electric motor between the compressor and the exhaust side. When the RPM is low, this motor cuts turbo lag by a huge amount. For example, the new GTS makes a full boost in just under a second when the throttle is closed and the engine is sped up to 2000 rpm, while the old GTS took over three seconds to do the same thing while keeping the pressure much higher. The new electric turbo does not have a wastegate. Instead, when the rpm is high, the motor turns into a generator that makes up to 15 horsepower while adding enough drag to keep the turbo from speeding up too much. At full speed, this electricity is sent to the electric motor, which raises its total power output from about 5700 rpm. The last source of power comes from the electric motor/generator built into the eight-speed PDK, which replaced the seven-speed transmission when the 992 came out. The engine can produce up to 54 horsepower and about 110 pound-feet of torque. The output ranges from 478 to 533 horsepower, and the torque ranges from 420 to 449 pound-feet. To make things even more important, the electric turbo gives 110 pound-feet of torque to improve engine performance at low speeds before it even starts to spin up. A lithium-ion battery has a net energy of 1.5 kWh and is driven by 400 volts. It weighs 60 pounds and is about the size of a 911 lead-acid battery. A small, separate lithium-ion battery gives 12 volts to the systems that need it when the engine is not working. Even though Porsche is trying hard to make the engine lighter, all of this extra stuff costs money. With a 992.1 PDK, the GTS coupe’s curb weight goes up from 3433 pounds to 3536 pounds. The new guide is 187 pounds heavier than the old one, which is no longer available. The base 992.2 Carrera, which has a much less advanced engine, was also shown by Porsche. It keeps the 9A2B6 engine but also uses the Lambda 1 theory to cut down on pollution from the fumes at full power. This time, the peak boost goes from 12.0 to 17.4 psi, which is more than the 992.1 Carrera S. The engine gets the bigger intercooler from the 911 Turbo as well as the bigger turbochargers from the S and GTS cars that came before it. Peak power goes up slightly to 388 horsepower at 6500 rpm from 379 horsepower, but peak torque stays the same at 331 pound-feet. Changes inside and outside the company Both cars have many improvements in how they look and how they work inside. Every car has new headlights that do everything a front-facing light should do. It is now possible for radiators placed in the front to have bigger air intakes. Active grille guards that are very noticeable and stand out are only on the GTS and not the base model. These doors control how much air comes in and out. There is also an active front diffuser on them that helps control the flow of air through the radiators. The license plate hole is a bit bigger, the engine grille has fewer strakes, and the back bumper, full-width light bar, and Porsche logo are all better put together. When the GTS has the normal sport exhaust, the two tailpipes are closer together. The GTS comes with 20—and 21-inch wheels, but many other wheel styles are offered in 19—and 20-inch widths that are spaced out. Tire sizes are the same, except for the GTS rear, which has a wider profile (305 mm vs. 315 mm) to handle its more powerful engine. Inside, the big news is a 12.6-inch set of fully digital gauges. The displays have different layouts, such as the standard five-gauge, center-tach scheme, which is unique to each person. To do this, turn the tachometer so that it shows 7000 rpm straight up. The Handling Track Tour for One Person Only Some quick runs in the GTS on the handling track at Porsche’s development center in Weissach were the only thing we could do instead of driving the new cars. One of Porsche’s resident hotshots, Jörg Bergmeister, was behind the wheel and showed how well he knew this very difficult road with very little runoff. As expected, given its high rpm, the car sped out of turns with lightning-fast throttle response, strong brakes, and great grip. On the longest straightaway, which was about 2200 feet long, we reached our fastest speed of 155 mph. Porsche says Bergmeister got the new GTS to finish the Nordschleife lap in 7 minutes and 16.9 seconds, which is 8.7 seconds faster than the old GTS when it had the optional aero equipment, which included normal tires and a fixed rear wing. Porsche also says that the top speed goes up by one mph to 194 mph, and the time it takes to go from 0 to 60 mph drops from 3.2 seconds to 2.9 seconds. We found that the 992.1 GTS took 2.8 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph so that the new model will take about 2.5 seconds. Also, a time of 10.6 seconds for a quarter-mile in the low 130s seemed possible. However, the most important change may have been in how people drive on the street. According to Porsche, the old GTS took 47.6 feet to go from a full stop to a distance of 70.5 feet. The new GTS does it in two and a half seconds. This huge rise should mean good street performance because it means the throttle is responding better. The standard Carrera has much smaller improvements. It takes 3.9 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph without the Sport Chrono package and 3.7 seconds with it. The top speed goes up from 182 mph to 183 mph. At this time, no numbers are known for any car’s fuel efficiency. Costs The cost, however, has been made public. The base Carrera now costs $122,095, which is about $6,000 more than it did before. It’s not a surprise that the GTS costs $166,895 instead of $14,000. It’s because it has better technology. It costs an extra $13,300 for a convertible model and $7,800 for all-wheel drive (only available on GTS cars for now). After that, there are a huge number of choices that can take you to tens of thousands of feet. We’re used to these ridiculously high prices if we are not happy with them. To be more accurate, Porsche is able to keep the unique driving experience that 911s offer while making each new version faster. We can’t wait to drive these cars and figure out how to pay for one.
