UK Drive: Porsche’s 911 Carrera GTS is a hybrid but not as you’d know it
The new GTS is one of the first mainstream Porsche models to gain hybrid technology. Does it change the usual 911 experience? Jack Evans finds out.
What is it?
This is why electrification poses a unique problem for this Stuttgart manufacturer. How do you go about implementing battery-assisted power into a model as reputable as the iconic 911? Well, that all starts with this car – the Carrera GTS – and its hybrid-assisted powertrain. Is the 911 we all know and love? That’s what we’ve been finding out.
What’s new?
Prices for the new 911 Carrera GTS start from £132,600 for the standard Coupe, or £142,600 for the Cabriolet. Naturally, you can go to town with the options list and with a smattering of extras, our test GTS Coupe came in at £145,543. Add-ons included the £4,622 bucket seats, £2,562 tinted HD Matrix LED headlights and a £1,233 Bose sound system.
What’s under the bonnet?
The result is an impressive 533bhp and 610Nm of torque, equating to a sub-three-second 0-60mph time and 194mph flat-out. Despite this performance, Porsche says that you should still get up to 26.9mpg alongside CO2 emissions of 244g/km.
What’s it like to drive?
It’s a chilly day that we get to test the GTS out on the UK’s roads and unleashing all 533bhp takes a lot of caution. However, add in some bravery and you can quickly see the plus-points of having that electrification on board; the GTS surges ahead without any delay and the gearshifts are near-instantaneous. It would be nice to have some slightly longer and wider gearshift paddles, though, as the ones on the GTS feel a little stubby. It’s a minor niggle, however – this is one resolved and fine-tuned powertrain.
How does it look?
There are plenty of ways to customise the look of the GTS, too, from a near never-ending range of exterior colours to alloy wheel choices and special decal packs. These options can quickly ramp the car’s price up, mind you.
What’s it like inside?
You’ve got 135 litres of boot space on the ‘nose’ of the GTS, too, and with this car’s lack of rear seats, there’s acres of room behind the driver and passenger.
What’s the spec like?
The main infotainment system is slick and works nicely with Apple CarPlay, though we did have a few grumbles when connecting our smartphone to the car’s display, which required us to switch the car off and on before trying again successfully. As we’ve mentioned earlier, go easy with the options if you don’t want your car’s price to skyrocket, though there’s thankfully enough equipment included as standard to get by.
Verdict
The 911 Carrera GTS is just as you’d expect a hybrid from Porsche to be. The electrical assistance isn’t distracting nor overbearing but has been integrated in such a way as to give the GTS an incredible amount of performance. But it’s performance that is easy to access and usable day-to-day.
In fact, that a GTS is able to go this quickly makes things tricky for the rest of the 911 range. But as an overall package, the GTS is fearsomely competitive.