I had the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS on test when news broke that Chuck Norris had died.
It was the end of the road for an actor who’d starred as an action hero for decades and spawned jokes about his mythical toughness.
Norris was an old-school tough guy and a bona fide legend, much like the Porsche 911, and his passing made me reflect on the end of the 911’s era as a car using strictly old-school tech. Having been a purely piston-driven sports car since its birth in 1963, the 911 is using supplemental electric muscle for the first time in the new Carrera GTS, the first street-legal 911 with a petrol-electric powertrain.
It combines a 3.6l turbocharged flat-six “boxer” engine with a T-Hybrid system featuring an electric turbocharger. The electric motor in the turbocharger also functions as a generator that delivers up to 11kW of power, providing the new GTS with combined total outputs of 398kW and 610Nm. That’s a big jump over the previous GTS, which had a six-cylinder, 3.0l twin-turbo engine with 353kW and 570Nm, yielding performance figures of 0-100km/h in 3.3 seconds and a 311km/h top speed.
The Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) anti-roll stabilisation system is integrated into the high-voltage system for more flexibility and precision. Other standard handling enhancements in the new GTS include sports suspension with a variable damper system (PASM) and a ride height lowered by 10mm.
The suspension has also been revised and for the first time rear-axle steering (not fitted to the test car) is available to increase high-speed stability and reduce the turning circle. The 911 Carrera GTS rolls on widened 315/30 ZR 21 tyres at the rear and 245/35 ZR 20s up front.
New active aerodynamics on the GTS comprise active cooling air flaps in the front bumper and adaptive front diffusers in the underbody. The flaps automatically close to optimise aerodynamics but when power demand is high — for instance, when driving on a track — the flaps open to direct more air to the radiators.
The hybrid drivetrain in the newcomer has added 50kg, but Porsche has assured drivers that this has not offset the benefits of the extra power. The hybrid GTS Coupé is 8.7 seconds faster around Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife and accelerates from 0-100km/h in 3 seconds.
We put the latter claim to the test at the Gerotek proving ground outside Pretoria, where our Vbox recorded a 3.2-second 0-100km/h sprint, just slightly off the factory-quoted figure. At sea level the three-second sprint may be attainable.
Score one for extra straight line speed, but the question is whether the hybridisation waters down the car’s character? For some drivers, particularly of an old-school bent, any mention of “electric” can trigger notions of diluted driving charisma.
The new electrically assisted GTS revs to a 7,200rpm redline, and though its flat-six doesn’t wail as emotively as the normally aspirated 911 GT3 (nothing does), it is acoustically characterful, especially with the exhaust set to sports mode, where it barks a deeper, louder timbre.
It makes the grade aurally. Box ticked.
What makes modern 911s so appealing is how accessible their performance is, and the Carrera GTS’s charisma is wrapped in layers of slick engineering finesse.
The PDK transmission is a quick-shifting joy that seems to read your mind, and getting this car to achieve three-second-ish acceleration times is child’s play with the user-friendly launch control system. Hold the brake with your left foot, rev it up, release the brake — no buttons to fiddle with.
In the 911 heirarchy the GTS is positioned between the Carrera and the GT3. It has more power and personality than the entry level Carrera but is less gung ho than the GT3, which is essentially a street-legal racing car.
The ride is firm, making little concession to commuting comfort even with the adaptive sports suspension in its softer setting. The ride is yielding enough on smooth roads and undulations, but driving bumpy roads feels like going a few rounds with Chuck.
In the test car, drive is to the rear wheels but the GTS is also available as an all-wheel drive Carrera 4 which will prove more grippy and confidence-inspiring on slippery roads.
I spent a lot of time driving the rear-wheel-drive car in the rain and those wide 315mm rear tyres proved impressively grippy in corners, but they’d quickly spin up if you got too frisky with the throttle.
The 50kg added by the hybrid system wasn’t apparent in the car’s handling. The GTS swept through sharp turns with a lithe feel, anchored by a rigid body, sharp steering and powerful brakes. Sportier modes are selected by a knob on the steering wheel, which progressively dials up the fun with transmission, chassis and stability control interventions.
The tester returned 12.4l/100km in an urban-freeway mix with occasional bouts of exuberance, and 9.7l when driven with more restraint.
Inside the 2+2 seat cabin, the ergonomics have been upgraded with a start button and a fully digital instrument cluster. The 12.6-inch curved display offers up to seven views, including a Classic display inspired by the traditional five-tube Porsche dial design with a central rev counter.
Verdict
Some purists might cry into their bratwurst over the notion of a hybrid 911, but the electric assistance doesn’t dilute the character of the new GTS, which is faster than its predecessor and sounds like a sports car. Like Norris, its legend endures.
The Porsche 911 Carrera GTS coupe is priced at R3,625,000 with a two-year/unlimited distance warranty and five-year/100,000km maintenance plan.
This article was first published in Business Day.
