There鈥檚 no tougher design mandate than keeping something the same while simultaneously making it better. That has been the mission of Porsche for decades: to keep 911 purists happy while making the car faster, safer, and more comfortable. Ferdinand Porsche penned the design for the vehicle in the early 1960s and one wonders if he could have imagined the car as a 2020 model. Facing the totally new, eighth-generation 911 in Valencia, Spain recently, we recognized the iconic silhouette immediately. Though the car looks different than the original from 鈥?3, it is without a doubt a 911. This new generation is known as the 992 model, and the turbocharged, 3.0-liter flat six engine is still located in the rear. At launch consumers will be offered both the S and AWD 4S models鈥攅ach with a stirring 443 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque, a sizable increase over the previous generation. We can confirm that it鈥檚 quick on legal roads and the racetrack鈥攁 pleasure to drive.
The car turns beautifully, while the latest suspension provides a cosseting ride that should handle even the winter-carved potholes that make up roads in the American Northeast. It鈥檚 the kind of ride you could live with daily. So Porsche has met expectations of more speed, better handling, and extra comfort in one fell swoop. The quiet engineering revolution inside the car includes an extra eighth gear on the superlative PDK automated transmission, and semi-autonomous driving capabilities. The 992 gets a new 鈥渨et mode,鈥?in which acoustical sensors listen for sounds of moisture splattering the inside of the wheel wells and alert the driver. Engage that setting and the car becomes more attuned and sedate on wet roads. Design, though, is the major element that draws so many generations of drivers back to the 911 again and again. Now we鈥檙e getting to the aspect that makes purists nervous. This time, the car is bigger than ever before; not necessarily a good thing. The compactness of the original鈥攕o easy to take in as a whole with a sweep of the eyes鈥攊s one of the elements that has been lost a long time ago.
But the 992鈥檚 wheelbase is actually the same length as the outgoing 991.5 car. The hood juts out further and lower, drawing the eye toward the ground. The body has been widened front and back and, for the first time, the wheels are physically larger on the rear鈥攔einforcing the sloping, ready-for-action attitude. The rear makes the biggest exterior departure from previous designs, with a brake light that runs the entire width of the back. The new interior is the 992鈥檚 best reinvention. Until the mid-鈥?0s, the dashboard and controls were laid in a horizontal fashion, but when digital screens made their appearance, the 911鈥檚 interior got a stacked, vertical design. This time, designers have gone back to the horizontal motif, with a long sweep of glass from the driver to the extreme right of the cabin. The driver still gets an analog gauge in the very center screen and a number of 鈥渉ard鈥?buttons, cleverly integrated with digital gauges and haptic touchscreen controls. It all works gloriously. There鈥檚 also a curious lip that runs on the underside of the digital screen, which can be outfitted in aluminum or wood or carbon fiber. It鈥檚 pleasing to the eye and the touch鈥攚ith a fine dose of whimsy. Even at the end of a long day of driving, we just wanted to get back in the car. Wanted to spend more time over more miles, going faster and faster. That鈥檚 how we鈥檝e felt over many generations of the 911, which proves the designers have again hit that impossible mandate. Making it the same鈥攐nly better.
Official debut is rumored to be sometime in 2013 as a 2014 model. Tuning experts 9ff from Germany have transformed this heavily modified Porsche 911 to what they call the GT9 Vmax. The 4.2L flat-six engine produces 1400hp and has a 6-speed PDK style transmission. The carbon fiber body reduces the curb weight down to just 2,954 lbs, and 0-62mph takes only 3.1 seconds with the top speed of 186mph in 13 seconds. Audi RS1 Finally Coming? Images have surfaced of a new Audi reportedly filed with the European trademark office. These photos look very familiar of an Audi RS1. Obviously based on the A1 with aggressive bodywork and wing. If these are real, the Audi RS1 could be closer than we think. The A1 Quattro concept was powered by the 2.0L turbo four-cylinder with 256hp. The RS1 is rumored to have a detuned version of the 2.5L five-cylinder turbo. Perhaps the long awaited RS1 will soon be here to please the masses. The latest from Vorsteiner for the 991 Carrera S features a new front spoiler, side skirts, carbon fiber diffuser, and rear deck lid spoiler. In a recent report from Auto Express, it states that VW will introduce a new top-down approach styling with the 2015 Phaeton. VW styling boss Klaus Bischoff admitted the current (Golf) bottom-up styling theme is a mistake.