Next Porsche 911 Turbo must redefine performance

The man who leads the development team for Porsche’s new generation of four- and six-cylinder boxer engines says the next-generation 911 Turbo must redefine its performance advantage.

With the twin-turbo engines in the upgraded Carrera and Carrera S models delivering more performance than ever to the cheapest 911s, Director Development Boxer Engines, Thomas Wasserbach, says the next-generation Turbo needs to be a step-change in both performance and efficiency.

A facelifted 911 Turbo and Turbo S (pictured here in testing) will arrive later this year  powered by tweaked versions of the existing 9A1-generation turbo boxer six, but an all-new 911 Turbo is not expected to arrive until 2019-2020.

It is now almost certain the next 911 flagship will use a powered-up, larger-capacity version of the new 9A2-family boxer engine featured in the latest Carrera.

Wasserbach says the new engine can be built in variants of up to around 4.0 litres. In the case of the Turbo, the pick is the next generation will not be downsized but will retain the existing car’s 3.8-litre capacity. How it will achieve that capacity will differ, however. The new generation uses a 76.4mm stroke in place of the old boxer-turbo’s 77.5mm dimension.

“You have to look that the next-generation 911 Turbo [performance] gap will [must] still exist,” Wasserbach told motoring.com.au.

“We have to look at what is the right way between power and efficiency… But you cannot say the new model [Turbo] can arrive with worse efficiency. It goes with more performance and better efficiency,” Wasserbach stated.

The outgoing 911 Turbo set new benchmarks with 383kW/710kW outputs, 0-100km/h acceleration in 3.2 seconds and fuel consumption of just 9.7L/100km, while the 412kW/750Nm is just as efficient yet hits 100km/h in just 3.1 sec.

But the upcoming entry-level 911 will move several steps closer to Porsche's circa-$400K flagships with outputs of 272kW/450Nm, consumption as low as 7.4L/100km and a 4.2-sec 0-100km/h time, while the twin-turbo Carrera S will deliver 309kW/500Nm, 7.7L/100km and 3.9-sec 0-100km/h pace.

The boxer development chief also hinted the next 911 Turbo would retain its unique character in terms of power delivery and sound.

Significant engineering resource was invested in delivering an ‘atmo-style’ aural quality to the new Carrera and Carrera S turbo sixes. This is not as much of a concern with the Turbo.

“It has its own personality,” Wasserbach stated.

Porsche is entering a particularly busy time for what remains a relatively low-volume manufacturer.

A new generation of mid-engined sports cars enters the public arena powered by turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engines based on the Carrera’s 9A2 six with the debut of the new Boxster at the Geneva motor show next March (2016). The new Cayman could follow as soon as the New York show in April.

The next major model line renewal is the all-new Panamera premium sedan late in 2016, most likely at October’s Paris show. Then follows the next-gen Cayenne SUV at or soon after the 2017 Detroit show.

The updated 911 Carrera 4 and Targa are next in line for reveal, at next week's Los Angeles show.