The Porsche 911 Turbo S has gone hybrid, and unsurprisingly, it’s very quick. With 701 horsepower alongside significant chassis and aerodynamic tweaks, Porsche claims a 14-second improvement over its previous Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time. Porsche factory driver Jörg Bergmeister piloted the new Turbo S to a 7:03.92 around the German track.
As the Nürburgring recommends, and as is standard practice for Porsche, the automaker fit this 911 Turbo S with a full roll cage, a containment seat, and a harness for driver safety. The car also appears to be missing some interior trim, too, which would help offset the weight of the cage. It also explains why the car seems loud for a 911 Turbo.
A Porsche spokesperson confirmed to Motor1 that Bergmeister’s car was equipped with standard production Pirelli P-Zero R N-spec tires. The other tire option is a Goodyear Eagle Supersport 3R. Both are sticky tires to be sure, but not track-day specials, which makes the Turbo S’s lap time that much more impressive.
The new Turbo S features a similar “T-Hybrid” powertrain to the new 911 Carrera GTS, albeit with two turbochargers to the GTS’s one. These turbos are electric, with a motor on the shaft connecting the turbine and compressor wheels. The motor can either spin the turbo up to achieve full boost pressure almost instantly, or slow it down to recover energy that a wastegate would normally dissipate.
Porsche pairs the Turbo S’s twin-turbo 3.6-liter flat-six with an additional electric motor sandwiched between the engine and eight-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. Total output is 701 hp and 590 pound-feet of torque.
The new Turbo S gets updated active aerodynamics with shutters in the grille, a deployable splitter, an adjustable front diffuser, and a deployable rear wing. Porsche updated its Dynamic Chassis Control adjustable anti-roll bars to work on the Turbo S’s 400-volt hybrid system for quicker response. The new Turbo S also gets slightly wider rear tires than before, 325/30ZR21s and larger rear carbon-ceramic brakes.
This is the quickest lap time for a 911 outside of a GT2 or GT3. The Turbo S’s time is about 7.6 seconds slower than the 6:56.294 Bergmeister achieved in the new 911 GT3, though that car was equipped with much grippier Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. The Turbo S’s 7:03.92 is a ways off the 6:52.072 of the Ford Mustang GTD, and the 6:50.763 and 6:49.275 of the Corvette ZR1 and ZR1X, respectively. Though again, those cars all have a lot more aerodynamic downforce than the Turbo S, and wear grippier tires, too.
In a world of many sub-7-minute cars—including many Porsches—the Turbo S’s lap time might not seem all that impressive. But consider that this isn’t the most track-focused 911. As ever, Porsche is pitching the new Turbo S as a sort of everyday car, one that just happens to be balistically quick. It’s not a GT3 RS. Also consider that this is on a great tire, but not one that’s meant to set a quick laptime or two before falling off.
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