Porsche fans are very passionate, and so each change - however minor - to any element formulaically tied to how the company’s flagship, the 911, is comprised, is almost always met with concern and outcry.
This pattern has repeated many times in this past 2 decades alone, where technological progress has pressured automakers into devising new ways to conform to stricter regulations and societal expectations of what a car is and should be. In memory, the 911 has switched to water-cooled engines, electric power steering, and most presently the turbocharging of the Carrera range.
However, the next major turning point for the 911 may be just around the corner as a report by Autocar suggests that the next GT3 variant - one that’s more track-focused - will ditch its signature naturally aspirated flat-six in favour of a turbocharged (and probably downsized) version of that same engine.
Porsche has yet to confirm any of the sort, of course, but a source close to Porsche’s Motorsport branch with inside knowledge of its GT series cars, has revealed to the British publication that both the GT3 and its lighter weight sibling, the GT3 RS, will adopt newer versions of today’s 3.0-litre and 3.8-litre bi-turbo flat-sixes - the latter of which is deployed in the 911 Turbo and the Nurburgring lap record-breaking GT2 RS.
Naturally, much higher power and torque outputs are expected from engines with forced induction, but Porsche will likely hold back these figures from matching or exceeding the 522kW benchmark set by the GT2 RS in favour of pursuing much finer throttle response and higher maximum revs to make the resulting experience somewhat resemble the current 4.0-litre naturally aspirated engine.
A similar shift was made by Ferrari not too long ago with the 488 GTB, whose predecessors were all powered all high-revving atmospheric V8s. A similar solution was sought by Mercedes-AMG, which shifted away from large capacity engines for the most popular performance model to a twin-turbocharged motor.
Clever implementation of turbocharger technology has allowed both these aforesaid manufacturers to reap the benefits of forced induction while retaining much of the visceral sensations that a naturally aspirated one offers. There’s no reason to believe an even more ingenious method will be (has already been) found by Porsche for use in the next-generation of 911s.
The source also told the publication that the less expensive variants of Porsche’s rear-engine sports car are also in for some big changes, namely the addition of hybrid power to supplement their turbocharged engines. While the 3.0-litre flat-sixes are expected to remain largely untouched, it could well be supplemented by an electric motor and 11kWh battery capable of providing short power boosts of up to 70kW.
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