When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Given that Porsche has went public, I'm sure a lot of engineering constraints are set to save costs and maximize return.
In that way, they have done well with the 992.2. The complexity of the GTS "justifies" the increased 10% in price, and the base getting GTS turbos and Turbo intercooler justifies its own price increase.
But if we can dream, I will take a shot at it.
Make a modern day 912, with the focus of driver experience and nothing else. So focus on de content and light weight and lower cost.
Start with a NA 2.5L H4 or 3.0L H6. It does not need a lot of power. 280HP for the H4 and 320HP for the H6 will do.
Make it 6 speed manual only, to save development cost and not having to worry about emission with PDK.
PTV
No PASM, standard spring and damper, just tune it well.
No RAS
Base LED headlight
Standard cloth sport seat with all manual adjustments and no motors, standard steering with no buttons
No driver assistance unless legally required (backup cam)
Rear seat optional
A/C optional
Regular roof
No active aero
Smaller wheels and tires combo 17/18 or 18/19
Smaller brakes
Start less than 100k
Given that Porsche has went public, I'm sure a lot of engineering constraints are set to save costs and maximize return.
In that way, they have done well with the 992.2. The complexity of the GTS "justifies" the increased 10% in price, and the base getting GTS turbos and Turbo intercooler justifies its own price increase.
But if we can dream, I will take a shot at it.
Make a modern day 912, with the focus of driver experience and nothing else. So focus on de content and light weight and lower cost.
Start with a NA 2.5L H4 or 3.0L H6. It does not need a lot of power. 280HP for the H4 and 320HP for the H6 will do.
Make it 6 speed manual only, to save development cost and not having to worry about emission with PDK.
PTV
No PASM, standard spring and damper, just tune it well.
No RAS
Base LED headlight
Standard cloth sport seat with all manual adjustments and no motors, standard steering with no buttons
No driver assistance unless legally required (backup cam)
Rear seat optional
A/C optional
Regular roof
No active aero
Smaller wheels and tires combo 17/18 or 18/19
Smaller brakes
Start less than 100k
With regards to the hybrid drivetrain, the engineering effort on that was huge - people seem to forget that the government regulators, especially in the EU, are trying to destroy cars like this. The "crisis" related to a button is overstated in my opinion.
Like you, I am also very impressed with Porsche engineers using both F1 style MGU-H and MGU-K hybrid technology in a production car to boost performance as opposed to decrease fuel consumption and reduce emissions. All enthusiasts should applaud that. Will I buy one? No….but I am still impressed. The rejection of the Le Mans key in favor of the Kia Start-Stop button, on the other hand, is concerning because it is symbolic of the big picture. In one very small and minor change, PAG-VW has stated to the enthusiast world that Porsche values $ , EPS and profit over 70 years of racing and performance heritage and tradition. The accountants trump the engineers and historians. Dr. Ferry must be rolling over in his grave. Take away the heritage and tradition from Porsche and I am out. Porsche becomes Toyota. After owning 10 Porsches, I will just go buy a 2025 Mustang Dark Horse for half the price (sound is awesome and a MT available). Ford is now embracing and returning to its racing heritage and tradition while Porsche is turning away from it. Very sad.
If I were the head of Porsche and I was forced to change the Le Mans key, I would have doubled down on the Porsche racing heritage and tradition and gone to the following race car style switch in the Le Mans key location.
I would have cleaned up the interior some and fixed known issues ( seat pull straps, LW glass) , added more base exterior colors, added some engine power across the range, improved the base radio, offered bigger brake options for all trims, kept all heritage features, and definitely kept the manual in at least one or two trim levels of the Carrera line - and announced that fact at the reveal. But no one asked me.
The 911 would still be an air cooled glorified go cart as they were years ago if there was no evolution and upgrading. The overwhelming majority of us wouldn't last a week with one of those old, ill mannered, underpowered, sports cars from a bygone era.
Todays 911 is the best of times whether the "purists' believe so or not.
Agreed, the hybridization is just another step in the evolution. i.e. air cooled > water cooled, NA > turbo.
If people are truly motoring purists they would insist on a manual crank to start the engine and no use of anything other than steel for the chassis and body.
Isn't that switch exactly what was there before? It just isn't labeled 'ON' and 'OFF', and it springs back when you let it go. Fact is, the pushbutton concept is fine. It just needs to not look/feel like it came from a Kia. If I were HMFIC I would try to bear one thing in mind above all else: the 911 buyer is not looking for "cheap." Customers can and will go elsewhere for that.
I would have moved the Norelco nubbin to the dash, given that nobody minded it there in the 918, and used the freed-up space in the console for more physical buttons. The end result would look a lot like a 9x1 console but without the gear selector. If they are going to ditch the manual option in the Carrera lineup, which I imagine they will, there is no longer any reason to leave room for it in the central console. The nubbin is not a shifter and it never made any sense to pretend otherwise.
I don't know enough about the regulatory environment to say what should or should not have been done with the engine, or what could or could not have been done to keep the weight under control. The 9A3 seems pretty well-engineered at first glance. The aftermarket won't like it because of how tightly-integrated everything is, but that's not who buys the cars. I will say that the internal water pump makes me nervous given Porsche's track record in that department. But if I'm wearing the HMFIC hat,that's not my problem. Overall, willing to reserve judgment on the engine.
I would have had the courage to leave well enough alone on the exterior design, keeping the changes even more conservative than they did. The vertical slats in front are hideous, but maybe the 9A3's cooling requirements made them inevitable? I don't know, and neither does anyone here, most likely.
For all of the sports cars that followed the 991.1 and 981, the central problem faced by Porsche's exterior designers has been, "Well, $#!+. We're done. Now what?" That question hasn't been answered because it has no answer. But here again, regulation forces their hand to some extent, with side-impact and frontal-pedestrian impact requirements being incrementally ramped up over time. So who knows. They will sell all they can make, and for every one we don't buy in the US or EU, the Chinese will buy two or three. They hope so, anyway.
i'm only bummed about the push to start. the 992.1 twist to start is a nice way to implement current keyless starting.
that said, i've had a few times where i've put the car in park only to have it turn off and require a manual restart. that process with the twist key is awkward. do i just bump it right? do i have to turn it to off then bump it again. i still don't know. just fumble with it.
Hybrid is the worse of both worlds for 911, taking away what makes ICE fun to drive, more complexity, harder to maintain and less performant than equally well-engineered pure EV. They should have cleanly separated these into 2 sub-product lines with ICE staying lower cost and retain what's good about ICE, lighter and more fun to drive, and put EV on top to stay in the runnings when it comes to Ring time.
GT line will be tricky due to regulations, but for Retail, I'd hope they'd have separate GT ICE and GT EV for us to choose from, or just GT ICE.
If I were the head of Porsche and I was forced to change the Le Mans key, I would have doubled down on the Porsche racing heritage and tradition and gone to the following race car style switch in the Le Mans key location.
05-30-2024, 10:11 PM
It just isn't labeled 'ON' and 'OFF', and it springs back when you let it go. Fact is, the pushbutton concept is fine. It just needs to not look/feel like it came from a Kia. If I were HMFIC I would try to bear one thing in mind above all else: the 911 buyer is not looking for "cheap." Customers can and will go elsewhere for that.
