The original Porsche 911 Turbo was one of the primary cars that pushed turbocharging into the modern era, establishing forced induction as a way to add crazy performance to a modest engine. But times are changing, and turbos have a lot more to do with downsizing and efficiency now, so the rest of the 911 range may get them. Turbo all the things!
That's what the UK's CAR magazine reports. It sounds like a crazy rumor, but their European editor Georg Kacher — a man who's pretty well plugged in to the Volkswagen Group happenings — claims it's a fact that the entire 911 range will get turbos soon.
The magazine says that with the 2015 refresh of the 991 line, the basic Carrera and Carrera S will switch to turbocharged power. For the Carrera S, at least, that means a helluva lot more power:
Keen to reduce CO2 and increase mpg, Porsche is downsizing the Carrera's flat six by half a litre - from 3.4 to 2.9 in capacity. Our information suggests it'll develop around 400bhp and 400lb ft, a significant increase on today's boggo 911.
The 2015 Carrera S won't shrink in the hot wash, but its 3.8 boxer six will also be breathed on by a turbocharger, swelling power and torque substantially. Our sources suggest a punchy 530bhp and 520lb ft, meaning that even lower-peg 911s are getting seriously muscular.
I'm of two minds on this report. On one hand, more efficiency and more power together is always good, and it's not a terribly surprising decision when you consider how prevalent turbos are these days. The Boxster and Cayman are almost certainly getting turbo fours soon as well.
On the other hand, naturally aspirated flat sixes feel and sound amazing and have loads of character. I'd be sad to see them go.
What exactly does this mean for the higher end 911 models? Well, they think the GT3 might stay naturally aspirated, but it's kind of funny if they still call the Turbo a Turbo when most of the 911s have turbos.
As with all rumors, take this with a big grain of salt until it's confirmed, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turned out to be true.