992.2 Porsche 911 Turbo S Goes Hybrid, Becomes The Most Powerful 911 Ever

Take a good, long look at these pictures, because they’re just about the only chance you’re going to get to take in the updated Porsche 911 Turbo S without it being a blur. Packing 701bhp, it’s quite simply the most powerful, quickest production 911 of all time.

It follows the Carrera GTS to become the second 911 variant to go hybrid, although the experience is still very much dominated by a flat-six engine slung out aft of the rear axle. It shares the GTS’ T-Hybrid powertrain, pairing a 3.6-litre engine with a small electric motor tucked away inside the eight-speed PDK gearbox and a dinky high-voltage 1.9kWh battery. All-wheel drive is standard, as it has been on 911 Turbos for several decades now.

Where the GTS only uses a single turbo, though, the capital-T Turbo has two of them. They're uprated versions of the e-turbo found on the GTS, each getting a little electric motor sat between the compressor and turbine that allows them to spin up near instantly regardless of how much exhaust gas is flowing in.

This all means that not only should turbolag be almost non-existent, but that the ridiculous 711bhp of peak power – 60bhp up on the outgoing car – is available for a full 500rpm window between 6500 and 7000rpm. The 590lb ft torque figure may be unchanged over the 992.1, but it’s now accessible right the way from 2300 to 6000rpm.

Combined with the fact that, despite the extra electrical gubbins, the new 911 Turbo S only weighs 85kg more than the old one, and the results are plain to see. In Coupe guise, the new car will hit 62mph in a quoted 2.5 seconds, 124mph in 8.4 seconds. A prototype has already lapped the Nürburgring in 7:03.92, shaving some 14 seconds off the old car’s time. All that said, though, the official top speed drops from the pre-facelift’s 205mph to 200mph.

The net performance gain isn’t just down to the extra shove. New tyres, uprated brake pads and bigger discs for the carbon ceramic brakes – up to 420mm at the front and 410mm at the rear – also contribute, as does a new electrohydraulic version of Porsche’s Dynamic Chassis Control active suspension. This is fed by the hybrid system’s high-voltage electrical system, and uses cross-linked coupling rods to cancel out pitch, roll and yaw.

There’s lots of clever aero at play, too. The Turbo S gets the same active front cooling flaps as the GTS, plus a deployable front diffuser and its predecessor’s variable front spoiler lip and rear wing. This all works in tandem to slash 10 per cent from the old car’s drag coefficient with everything in its slipperiest position.

The usual Turbo spotter’s guide rules apply for the new car – wider body, whaletail wing and, obviously, many Turbo badges. Also look out for the redesigned titanium tailpipes, signifying the new standard-fit sports exhaust system which Porsche says both saves weight and works together with the engine’s asymmetrical firing order for an “even more emotional sound image.” We’ll be the judges of that.

Like other hardtop 911s, the Turbo S is now a two-seater as standard, with the rear buckets thrown back in as a no-cost option. It’s the other way around for the Cabriolet, and other interior tweaks include lots of accents in Porsche’s ‘Turbonite’ metallic grey hue and an exclusive embossing pattern on the seats that nods to the original 930 Turbo.

In time, we expect a ‘regular’, non-S 992.2 Turbo to join the range, for those who merely want their insides to hurt rather than be turned into mush from the G-forces at play. For now, though, it’s the hotter S spearheading the refreshed Turbo range. Available to order now, the coupe starts at £199,100, with the Cabriolet commanding a nice, round £10,000 on top of that.