New Porsche 911 due mid-2019

The brave new Porsche 911 — the eighth generation of the world’s most successful supercar — will reach Australian showrooms from mid-2019 with heightened performance, new safety technology and, for the first time, a hybridised drivetrain.

Motoring.com.au understands the all-new 992-series 911 will get its first public viewing at this year’s Los Angeles motor show in late November, ahead of its global launch early next year.

Images of prototype versions reveal the new Porsche 911 will bear some resemblance to the upcoming Taycan electric sedan, which should beat the next 911 on sale here in early 2019, particularly around the rear-end.

But while styling changes to Porsche’s hero model are evolutionary — as you can see from these well-informed renderings and spy shots of a range of virtually undisguised 911 variants — the changes under the skin go much further.

Porsche started its official teaser campaign for the 992 911 in March and now more tech details have emerged via media outlets invited to pre-production prototype drives.

Autocar reports the new 911 will begin dabbling in autonomous technology, albeit with a clear caveat from 911 model director August Achleitner: “a 911 will always have a steering wheel… the 911 will be one of the last cars to drive autonomously”.

Lane assistance, which comprises small automated steering wheel inputs to keep the car in the middle of its lane, is one such example of the 911’s new tech arsenal.

“The customer has to make the choice to use them,” Achleitner said of such functions, “and above all, be able to switch them off when they’re not desired”.

Porsche has ruled out an all-electric version of the next 911 — the all-new Taycan sedan is set to fill that space for the brand, and rival Tesla’s Model S — but at least one petrol-electric plug-in hybrid version is certain to become part of the 992-series line-up.

Porsche Cars Australia spokesman Chris Jordan declined to comment on speculation regarding the new 911.

Contrary to some reports, however, there is the possibility a hybridised version will not be part of Porsche’s initial 992 911 model rollout, but will likely form part of the car-maker’s 992.2 mid-life update.

There is likewise some conjecture over reports the entire 911 line-up will be turbocharged. Some insiders suggest there will still be scope for a naturally-aspirated variant such as the GT3, especially when it can be offset by the lower emissions of an increasingly turbocharged and hybridised line-up.

The regular 2019 Porsche 911 line-up will comprise all the usual suspects, headed by a flagship Turbo S model producing approximately 470kW of power.

The relatively garden-variety Carrera and Carrera S variants will likewise receive a circa 10kW power hike over the current versions.

With more power will come more speed; some insiders are suggesting a 0-100km/h time closer to 2.5 seconds in the case of the maniacal Turbo S. Only the Taycan will be quicker.

And with more speed comes better chassis performance, based on running changes to the 911’s MMB structure including a wider footprint. The car’s length is said to be unchanged.

The biggest pointer to the 911’s dashboard, meanwhile, stems directly from the new Panamera and Cayenne.

Watch this space for more details as we uncover them.