There's a new Porsche 911 and as usual, a few things are true. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine. It's hard to spot the differences with its predecessor. And there are a pair of vestigial backseats. These are hallmark qualities for the 911, as constant as gravity. But while the first member of the new 992 family doesn't stray from the classic formula that's been in use for decades, it continues to refine the ideas and traits that have made the Carrera a legend. Chief among those is the output from its horizontally opposed engine. The 911 Carrera S and Carrera 4S - the first two members of the 992 generation - pack a 3.0-liter turbocharged flat-six engine with 443 horsepower, an increase of 23 ponies over the outgoing car. Porsche hasn't revealed torque output - the current 991-based Carrera S has 368 pound-feet - but who cares? The real-world performance will be impressive.
According to Porsche, the two-wheel-drive Carrera S can hit 60 in just 3.5 seconds, while the all-wheel-drive Carrera 4S will do the deed in 3.4 seconds. Add the Sport Chrono Package - you should always add the Sport Chrono Package - and 60 arrives two-tenths of a second faster. Let's reiterate: the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S can hit 60 miles per hour in just 3.2 seconds. 293,000 911 GT2 RS. That's just silly speed. Relatively unchanged top speeds offset the 992's quicker acceleration. The two-wheel-drive model tops out at 191 mph, just a point above the PDK-equipped 991. The C4S sees a bigger improvement, going from 188 to 190 mph, compared to last year's car. But there is a caveat. See, the new 992 comes standard with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (we'll reserve judgment on the annoyingly stubby shift lever until we drive the new 911 in January). Before you reach for the pitchforks, though, it's worth noting the new 911 will offer a manual transmission鈥?eventually. As for the other improvements Porsche has made, we covered most of them in the ride along we published in October. The 992 gets a standard wide body, with wider tracks fore and aft. There are pop-out door handles. And the active safety systems get a big improvement, with a dedicated Wet Mode for slippery conditions. 1,050 to each of those prices to cover destination and handling. Orders are open, but deliveries won't start until summer of 2019 in the U.S. Until then, check out our first official images of the 2020 911, and keep an eye open for more from the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show.
Don鈥檛 know how Jaguar does it for less than 拢30,000. Only Germany (with 11) and South Korea (six) have more World Car contenders than Britain. Japan and Sweden each have two, France, Spain and the US are on one apiece. With this in mind, the South Koreans and Brits have made the biggest gains, while the Japanese and Americans have dumped themselves in the mid-to-low table territory they really shouldn鈥檛 be bogged down in. Japan is seeing only the quirky Suzuki Jimny and comparatively bland Honda Clarity go through to the Finals. Significantly, no Lexus, Nissan, Toyota or Subaru contenders made the cut. And that鈥檚 sad and bad for those firms, plus Japan PLC. Ford is the only American-based firm to get through, with just one model - the Focus - which is more of a European car, and one its maker will not sell (wrongly, I think) in its US homeland. Who鈥檇 have thought it, eh?
Little Britain boasting more World Car Finalists in 2019 than Japan and the US put together! More impressive still, South Korea has twice as many contenders on the shortlist as Japan and America combined. None of this was in the script. The belligerent Brits and upstart Koreans aren鈥檛 supposed to be designing and building better, more desirable cars than the respected Japanese and confident Americans. But that鈥檚 exactly what they鈥檙e doing, and have been recognised as doing by the World Car jurors, whose numbers, incidentally, include yours truly, as well as Auto Express鈥檚 editor-in-chief, Steve Fowler. To summarise, 2019 is the year when the Koreans have finally arrived on the world stage. At the same time, the Brits are back, taking on and often beating allegedly stronger rivals. Japan is down in the dumps, but will surely live to fight another day. The US continues its retreat into building trucks, pick-ups and utility vehicles for itself, rather than cars for the big, wide world. And that, God bless it, is where America has got it horribly wrong. What do you make of Mike's claim that the UK car industry is still thriving?