Slowly but surely, camo is coming off 992.2 prototypes. Our spy photographers have captured a plethora of them doing hot laps at the Nurburgring, with said prototypes ranging from a Carrera Coupe to the Turbo S Coupe and Turbo S Convertible.
As far as the Carrera is concerned, the revised front intakes and headlights will help the 992.2 stand out from the pre-facelift model. A new taillight design is on the menu as well, and the cockpit is widely believed to integrate a few goodies from the second-generation Macan and the facelifted Taycan.
The Neunelfer in Turbo S flavor also gets a revised front end, new headlights, and new taillights. Equipped with a quad-outlet exhaust as opposed to dual tips for the Carrera, the stupidly capable Turbo S is expected to drop the 3.7-liter H6 in favor of a new 3.6-liter engine. Said engine could be downrated for the GTS, and its free-breathing variant will allegedly replace the 4.0-liter screamer in the 992.1 GT3 and GT3 RS.
According to information that has yet to be confirmed or denied by the German automaker from Zuffenhausen, the 911 Carrera and Carrera S will soldier on with the pre-facelift's 3.0L boxer engine. Of course, look forward to slight bumps in power and torque to keep things interesting. At press time, Carrera and Carrera S are good for 379 and 443 horsepower, respectively, whereas the 3.0-liter boxer in the GTS offers 473 mechanical ponies.
The most heavily-anticipated change in the offing for model year 2025 is the introduction of the first series-production 911 with hybrid assistance. Chief executive officer Oliver Blume let it slip that the 911's hybrid system takes inspiration from that of the 919 Hybrid LMP1 endurance race car. More recently, Blume said that the 911 hybrid will debut sometime during the summer of 2024.
Photo: Baldauf
Rimac, which entered a development partnership with Porsche back in 2018, reportedly helped the German automaker develop the hybrid system. A 400-volt setup rather than 800 volts à la the full-electric Macan and Taycan, the hybrid system of the 992.2 presumably comprises an integrated starter generator, an electric motor driving the front wheels, and 2.0 kilowatt hours' worth of battery.
Apparently compatible with both the 3.0- and 3.6-liter engines, the hybrid side of the powertrain spells the bitter end of the manual transmission. While it may not be discontinued for model year 2025, the stick shift could be dead by the end of 2028, the year the 994 is expected to debut.
We can further imagine said hybrid system in the 992.2-generation GT2 RS, helping the most powerful 911 of the bunch crack 700 mechanical horsepower. The 991.2 GT2 RS, for reference, makes 700 ps or 690 hp.
There's plenty of talk about Porsche going mostly electric by 2030, with Porsche's final combustion vehicle to be the 911. It's not clear if the 994 will be offered in the form of a battery-electric sports car but we're pretty sure the 998 generation will be.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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