SPY PICS: Porsche reveals next-gen 911 details

You almost certainly haven’t heard of Erhard Mossle. Yet he’s the man with one of the most important jobs in the sports car universe, as engineering boss of the more powerful versions of the Porsche 911.

When we caught up with him at the Detroit show we were keen to talk about both the revised 911 Turbo and Turbo S – which we drove last week – but also about the company’s plans for the longer term future of its most iconic model.

One thing that caught our eye was the fact the new Turbo S is claimed to be able to lap the Nurburgring Nordschliefe in a time of 7:18. That makes it officially quicker than the 911 GT3 RS, which is seriously impressive, but the very fact Porsche was publicising a ‘Ring time had us confused – there have been speed limits in place on two sections of the track for most of last year.

It turns out there’s some digital simulation involved. “Some parts are driven and compared to the previous 911 Turbo,” Mossle explained “and [in] the limited sections where you’re not allowed to do top speed [times] are calculated.

"We will go and check it later this year in spring when the speed limits are removed, but the 7:18 we’re sure to meet as we are normally very conservative with times.”

It’s when talk turned to the future that things got interesting. Mossle isn’t quite as willing to discuss future plans as some of his former colleagues; recently departed engineering boss Wolfgang Hatz used to give what was practically a model-by-model breakdown. But there were still some fascinating nuggets.

First what’s pretty much confirmation that Porsche is working on a plug-in hybrid version of the next-generation 911, which will go on sale around 2020.

“We are working of course on different solutions,” he said. “We are developing a pure electrical car like the Mission-E and of course we are discussing plug in solutions as well for the 911. But I think that takes some time to bring that to market, with the packaging problems of the car. There’s a lot of things to solve before.”

It quickly transpired that Porsche is doing more than just discussing such a car, confirming work is underway on finding space and reducing weight for a hybrid’s battery pack within the next-generation 911, an early prototype 'mule' version of which is pictured here.

“It will take some time to bring that to market, with the packaging problems of the car,” he said. And he was also keen to reassure that any part-electric 911 will be adding speed, not just reducing emissions: “Of course, with the 911 we would see a plug-in hybrid as a performance car — it will always be about performance.”

What about following the lead of Mercedes and Audi with a pure electric 911? Mossle plays that one with the German equivalent of a straight bat.

“When you saw Mission E delete two doors and you can imagine how such a car could look,” he said, “but if that happens it’s very far in the future.”

Like many sports car makers, Porsche sees the battle to reduce weight as being critical to maintaining performance levels while hitting increasingly tough emissions standards.

“Our goal is always that the 911 is really light compared to the competition,” Mossle told us.

"Technologies like turbo engines or crash regulations will make the car heavier. Therefore we are fighting hard… especially as if we are discussing plug-in hybrid then there’s the battery weight.”

Rivals have switched to part-carbon structures, something Mossle admits the next 911 could do, but only when there is no alternative. “When you have no other choice you have to do it, but carbon is expensive and brings complications.”

Interestingly, one of the problems he cited with using it on the 911 is the fact the car is produced in significantly higher numbers than any of its competitors, meaning it is harder to find suppliers to justify longer cycle times for bonding carbon components.

The recent arrival of the turbocharged Carrera, and Porsche’s decision to switch the renamed 718 Boxster and Cayman to four-cylinder turbo boxer engines, has led to speculation that we might see even more downsized engines in the 911 shell, creating a latter-day 912. It’s one that Mossle is happy to comprehensively deny.

“As far as I can see we will stay with six-cylinder engines in the 911,” he confirmed.

"We have good positioning, the 911 will have six and the 718 [Boxster and Spider] will have four.”

Finally, Porsche remains fully committed to making the 911 with the option of manual transmission for as long as there’s demand for it. This is slipping — apparently just 15 per cent of global 911 sales had a clutch pedal last year — but for the company, continuing to offer the choice is a point of principle.

“It’s a USP for Porsche to have a manual 911 and we will fight for it for as long as possible,” he said, “I think we should definitely keep it for the next generation also.”

Both manual gearboxes and six-cylinder engines are likely to be thin on the ground in 2020, so both of these promises should be reasons to be cheerful.