Porsche offers power-up kit for 911 Carrera S

Porsche has announced it will offer a new power upgrade to buyers, and existing owners, of the current turbocharged 911 (991.2 series) Carrera S.

The new power kit, which can also be fitted to the all-wheel drive Carrera 4S, including Coupe, Cabriolet and Targa models, is available through Porsche Exclusive, the German car-maker's aftermarket personalisation department.

Ordered via your local Porsche dealer, the factory-fitted upgrades raise power from the standard car's 309kW/500Nm to a mightier 331kW/550Nm -- similar outputs to the more expensive 911 GTS.

To squeeze the extra 22kW/50Nm out of the Carrera S' twin-turbo 3.0-litre flat-six, engineers have added the GTS' larger turbos that run at higher boost pressures.

The mechanical upgrade also includes the GTS' centrally-mounted sports exhaust and comes standard with the Porsche's Sport Chrono pack that also adds dynamic engine mounts, a sport mode and the dash-mounted lap timer.

Porsche hasn't released performance claims for the more powerful Carrara S but it's thought the upgraded 911 4S Coupe should hit 100km/h in the same 3.6 seconds as the all-wheel drive GTS.

What you don’t get as part of the upgrades are the GTS’ chassis changes that include a wider rear track and lower suspension, plus Turbo-style centre-lock 20-inch alloys.

From June 2017, the power kit will also be available from Porsche Tequipment as a retrofit option for 911 S models already fitted with the Sport Chrono package.

Australian pricing has been confirmed to start at $24,580 depending on vehicle specification, which makes the upgraded 911 Carrera S only slightly cheaper than the full-blown GTS.

The 911 S power-up kit arrives as part of a 2018 model year line-up that also brings "slight price adjustments across the Porsche range", exclusing the recently priced 2018 Panamera Sport Turismo and 911 GT3.

Also new for MY18 is Porsche Connect Plus, which is now available for the first time in Australia across all Porsche model lines.

Until now, Porsche Connect Plus only offered Apple CarPlay, but now adds the LTE telephone module with SIM card reader as well as Wifi hotspot functionality and the Porsche Connect App, giving customers access to specific smartphone content via the integrated Porsche Communication Management (PCM) system.

Porsche Connect App features include My Calendar, My Destinations, Contacts, Picture Navigation (navigation to GPS coordinates in picture), and First Mile / Last Mile navigation which provides navigation outside the vehicle (ie: on foot).

Other MY18 changes include new interior and exterior colours across all model ranges, including 'Crayon' for all 911 and 718 models.

Reserved for the 911 is four-coat paint in Saffron Yellow Metallic with intermediate sanding, while an optional sports exhaust system is now also available with tailpipes in high-gloss Black and, for the 911 Turbo S Exclusive, customers can choose Golden Yellow Metallic and a Black/Yellow Gold interior.

Cayenne colours for the new model year now include Purpurite Metallic, as well as Palladium Metallic as a special colour, while the leather interior of the Macan is now available in Black/Luxor Beige.

For the Panamera, the new exterior colours of Burgundy Red Metallic and Ristretto Brown Metallic are now offered, and the leather interior can also be ordered in Black/Luxor Beige and the club leather interior is available in new Cohiba Brown and Truffle Brown cpolours.