2026 Porsche 911 Turbo S | Godzilla Performance and Price

The all-new 911 Turbo S. This is the 992.2 generation, and it's now a hybridized sports car. And sadly, Mark will not be joining me for this video as I'm currently in Spain for its launch right outside of the Ascari circuit. Mark is currently working on bringing back fine dining to Italy. Now, what do you need to know about the car? Well, we're going to be speaking to some engineers responsible for the vehicle, but here's a brief overview. As you're probably expecting, it is now much quicker slash faster than the prior generation 911 Turbo S. They've accomplished that through e-turbos. This car now does zero to 60 in the mid to low twos, and that's with a full load of luggage and a passenger, and it will run the quarter mile in the mid tens. In the real world, honestly, you're looking at much faster times than that. This is now running a bi-turbo e-turbo setup. It's taking the 3.6 liter you find in the GTS with some internal changes. It's now running two e-turbos for a total system output of 701 US horsepower and 590 foot-pounds of torque. It puts its power down through an 8-speed PDK, and it is all-wheel drive as standard. The suspension systems, just like in the GTS, are run off the 400-volt battery that lives in its frunk. The battery is built by Rimac, and it powers the rear steer and the PDCC, or active sway bars. Now, from an exterior perspective, again, you're going to have to be a Porsche man to probably notice, but there are some relatively noticeable changes in the front and rear fascia versus the old Turbo S. The car has, of course, grown in price. This thing starts at about $270,000 US dollars. If you end up with a convertible, it's like $14,000 or $15,000 more. Reasonably equipped, you're at around the $300,000 mark, and you can easily go well past that. Porsche is far from a value brand. However, what you are getting is the biggest bump in performance when it comes to lap time, which puts us at a, let's call it, low seven minute in some change lap. Now, from an interior perspective, it's 992.2. You have a digital gauge cluster, probably one of the best seating positions of modern sports cars. A very customizable interior with now more luxury features as standard as you're expecting for the Turbo model. I think with all that said, it's time for us to go speak to some engineers who's going to walk you through what they've done from a technical perspective. I'm here with Michael, and if you recognize him for our GTS video, he is the head of the 911 Carrera lineup. You're the director, I believe, and I'm sure I've screwed up the title, but please introduce yourself, sir. Jake, nice to meet you again after the GTS introduction. My name is Michael Roessler, and I'm the director of the model car line 911. Not a bad title, sir. Thank you. The 911 Turbo S is a very big deal, to say the least, internally at Porsche, and this is now the eighth generation of the car. You're now at sort of an interesting point in the automotive space. You have to make a car faster than the last model. I know that's an engineering challenge to begin with, and you also have to make it emissions compliant and then make wealthy people accept a hybridized sports car. You have three very difficult tasks to accomplish all at once, so before we talk about how you've done it, what is the Turbo from an internal perspective? I experienced your presentation yesterday where you walked us through sort of it has to be everything to all people. It has to be a supercar, it has to be daily drivable. Is that how you guys approach it internally as well? Yes. On the one hand, it has to be a supreme luxury car. On the other hand, it's the biggest threat in between the model car line and between the Carreras because it has to be the most powerful 911, also do racetracks, and do every situation in a daily mode. And from an engineering perspective, most of those things are counterintuitive one another. Luxury cars aren't good track cars and vice versa. So from a leadership side of things, how do you direct the team into making something compromised on purpose without making it bad at both of those things? How are you accomplishing that? Mainly, it's doing no compromises. Very German of you. Okay, explain. Yes, I think the 911, as it gets heavier over the decades, because it has to be bigger because of the reasons, safety emissions, etc. But it has to be as light as possible. And on the other hand, it has to be as powerful as possible for the car, but usable for the customer. So it's not the maximum power of the car, it's the usability. If you get there as a driver, you have to feel safe in the car when you get in. The car has to make it easier for the driver. And then you have confidence, you have trust in driving the car. So I think most of the people are capable of driving the car more or less fast and safe. And that's the main goal to develop a 911. And that's special for the 911 Turbo S. This comes up a lot with my colleagues and I on philosophies of sports cars. And what is honestly spectacular about at least the GTS, as I've not driven your turbo yet on track, is as a driver, when you're on track, it is a very straightforward driving experience. Basically, every other car in its class that is hybridized in any way makes you manage the battery on track. And a lot of other OEMs, E-Ray comes to mind, for example, or upcoming 01X. They have a mode where you can seek maximum performance for one lap and it will completely discharge the battery. Then you have to do a cool down lap, go back out, maybe recharge the car. Why did you not do that in the GTS or this 911 Turbo? Because you could theoretically pull more power from the battery and discharge the car for one spectacularly powerful lap. Why didn't you do that? It's a kind of customer experience you have because our customers, when they're using the car on a track, doing a track day, you're driving for three laps, four laps, and you don't want to get annoyed to get out and charge up the battery. So what I think we all have in common, including the customers, we don't have one thing. Time. That's what it is. So we simply want to use the car and not think about it. Yeah, the last thing you want to do is go to a track day and think about not doing a track day, or at least in parts. No, I think I genuinely, and this isn't me just blowing smoke, I genuinely appreciate the philosophy of taking a complicated technology and making it seamless for the end user. Because I mean, honestly, the people who are buying your cars aren't 17-year-old kids who spend a lot of time with tech. They're probably a little older than that. And they just want to get in a car and drive. It has to fit for at least all people driving the cars. Complexity is my job, not the job of the customer. Welcome, I'm Guido Achenbach. I work in the chassis development at Porsche, and I'm responsible for the vehicle dynamics of 911 Turbo S. And my colleagues and I are applicating all the mechatronical systems in the 911 Turbo S to make it feel natural, but also good drivability and stability. One of the things that you're responsible for is making these cars drive so transparent to the driver, meaning a lot of the other OEMs we talk to, they all say the same thing. Porsche probably has the best balance in doing a lot for the driver while also the driver not knowing it's being done for them. How do you accomplish that? What's sort of your philosophy internally with your team? So we try to use all the advantages of these systems, but we also want to create a natural driving feel. And Turbo S has a big spread of normal driving stability and also track driving. And we have to do a lot of iterations for applications, you have side effects of the systems. And so we have a crew of two to three more engineers, and we're all driving the cars to find the best solution for every driving style. And so we do a lot of iterations to do the applications of each system. We have a specialist for each system, but every one of us knows also the effects of the other systems. And so we do a lot of driving together and discussing how to applicate all the systems that it feels in the end natural. What does natural mean? I guess that becomes sort of my question. Natural means different things to different engineers. I would say that your systems are incredibly natural feeling. They feel normal. But in your words, what does that mean as an engineer to say, my very complicated electromechanical systems are natural? So we want that the customer gets in the car, he drives, and he doesn't need to learn how the car behaves. So let's say some intuitive driving. So it should feel like a mechanical car with all the mechatronical systems. So the systems you have in place, you have rear steer, you have a very sophisticated all-wheel drive system, and you have the 400 volt system. How are you getting them to talk to one another? You have a central ECU that coordinates all of them together? We have a central ECU where all the logic is running from the Porsche Active Suspension Management, the Porsche Traction Management is running on it, and also the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control is on it. And we are calculating every five milliseconds what we need for this driving situation. We had a lot of sensors in the car which include in our logic, and we go on developing our logic with every new 911. So we are searching for a balance. So we try to make the 911 really rear biased, also the all-wheel drive cars. We play a lot with the PDCC. So PDCC are the full adjustable sway bars. So we can change balance depending on driving situations. And then I check wheel slip, and then I additionally add some torque to the front. So it's managing a lot of logic. A lot of spinning plates. Yeah, yeah, that's right. But that's the fun at the job, of course, and we are proud of the result. Also, you mentioned that it feels natural. What do you want the balance of the car to be? Is it a car you drive more off the rear? Yeah, it's really rear biased. We are looking at the slip, especially at the rear axle. And if we detect slip, of course, we put some torque to the front to make it easier to drive, to surf around. It should be playful. So you want a car where you feel rotation. Yeah, yeah, it should rotate. Because you have all the weight in the back, and you have a high inertia of the car. And it's not that easy to let this car rotate, especially at low speeds. How do you balance that with the approachability of the vehicle? Obviously, you're on a McPherson front multi-link rear car. It's not one of your GT cars with double wishbone all the way around. But how do you keep the car fun, where you have some rotation, while also acknowledging the fact that it's an i11 turbo? It's not a big drift car. How do you find the right balance of approachability versus fun? Because they're often not the same thing. Because we have all the systems in the car, and there's the possibility to make a big spread between the modes normal and sport plus. In normal, we put full focus on normal driving, stability, comfort. So with all the sensors, we can detect how the car is behaving and the driver is driving. And you switch the modes, so the baseline changes to more fun, more agile, more neutral balance. Interesting. Thank you. I really, really appreciate that. And again, this is the thing that a lot of our viewers don't understand, or a lot of people in general don't understand. How much work it takes to get all of these systems to talk to one another, to make the experience normal or cohesive to the driver? Normally, development time is around about two and a half to three years. And as I said, we are a team of three to four engineers, and we are traveling from proving ground to racetrack. We're driving on public roads, and we try to find the best solution for every system, for every driving situation. How much of your development is simulator versus on-road at this point? Adam's models are getting so good. What is that spread for your team? Obviously, you're on a proven architecture that's been around for five, six years. Yeah, we're using it for a longer time. Is it very quick now to go from models to actual driving on the real roads for you guys? We get a lot of support from the simulation department. As you mentioned, we are experienced in this platform right now, and so we have knowledge from the predecessor. And we're driving a lot with the car to get this result. My last question for you, and forgive me for not putting these in order. Coming from the 992.1, that's a car I've spent a lot of time with, what would I, other than the power, from a chassis perspective, what am I going to notice? A, B, you drove one versus the other. What are you going to notice? Is it the improvements in damper technology? Is it the speed of the PDCC? Is it the rear steer? What sticks out the most from a chassis perspective? It's a combination of all, but we increased the tire grip up to 6%. So that's a lot. More mechanical grip. Yeah, it's really good in dry handling right now, and it's stable. So temperature consistency is improved a lot. And the tire is the base of all. And we all use the systems to focus on the tire and what we can get from the tire. And we try to involve it in the application of our system. So it's a combination based on the tire. It's a real performing tire right now. And we did the whole setup based on the tire. The amount of available grip that you have. Yeah. We increased the spring forces around about 10% in the rear compared to the former car to get more platform. And then we played with the balance in both modes. So your spring rate in the rear went up by about 10%? 10%. Weight increased at the new car, so we had to. So now we're at the limit of what is possible from our supplier. Is the ride frequency about the same between the old car and the new car? It's nearly the same because of the weight increase. Yeah. Wow. Well, other than that, sir, I think you've answered all my questions. Hopefully this hasn't been too bad. No, no, it was fine. Thank you very much. Of course. Thank you for the good feedback. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right, Chris, are you ready to launch a 992.2 Turbo S at the Ascari circuit? Jesus. Needless to say, the new Turbo S is very proficient at doing exactly what you expect a 911 Turbo S to do. And it can power slide, sir. As I activate my voice assistant going sideways. I do not want that. All right. So you and I have spent a little bit of time with the engineers. You and I spent a little bit of time with it on the road and more time with it on track. And while this is not its primary intention, this car was designed to do everything. It's meant to be a GT car that you can do 200 miles an hour on the highway on. Something you could drive in the city, drive in bad weather, and then occasionally take out here. And what I will say is the first thing I'm going to talk about is the drivetrain. It's faultless. Yeah, absolutely. Hot take. The 911 does things well. That's crazy. Yes. The hybrid drivetrain, this twin turbo flat six. If you've driven a new GTS, it feels like that car just more. You have far more power. You have the same general feel of instantaneous response. I don't want to say it feels naturally aspirated. What it does is it feels like a very, very big flat six. You have torque everywhere. You have power everywhere. It makes power all the way to redline. Really, it's only fault is the noise it makes. You can argue it's not quite as sonorous as some of the old Porsches of yesteryear. But that said, it's still a very, very entertaining drivetrain to interact with. And the eight speed PDK that Porsche now has making even more electric power with its e-motor is still essentially faultless. You never notice it's there when you want to shift gears manually. You can carry two hundred thirty kilometers an hour to a braking zone. The brakes in this car, while they are EBB or electronic brake booster because they have to blend in some region, blend in some region. They are very, very powerful. They stop you. You have no concerns. And this is a street car, not a GT car after all. The chassis dynamics, right? Mark and I talk about this all the time, Chris. These cars are ultra digital, right? They have a lot going on. And credit to Ito and his team. You don't really notice the systems. They're just there in the background, making you do absolutely insane things with your car. I mean, how do you feel, sir? I mean, it's a it's a it's a it's a masterclass in controls. Everything is tight, but it lets you well, do this and then drive on the street. Yeah. And then it rides great on the street, which. Yes, I would. Well, I'm doing I'm speechless, but that's a good thing because there's really nothing. It's good that there's nothing really to say. It's no, I mean, it's a typical Porsche thing, right? I mean, you and I have spent enough time with these cars, Chris. We've driven every iteration of the new 992.2 at this point and basically every 992.1. You've driven one of them. You've driven them sort of all and that, you know, you're going to get this inner of improvement generation and generation. The hybridization of this car has made it better, not worse. You don't notice any of the electrification when you're driving on track. You don't notice it on the street. It's just a really, really good car that honestly, you know, in the past, I would say the 911 Turbo was known for not being the most dramatic car in the world. If you get your drama from pure mechanical proficiency and unbelievable speed, dude, what's not to like with this car, sir? I thought the GTS, like driving that on track, I thought that was overkill. I don't know what this counts as. All right. So with that, Chris, let's head into the final thoughts. Final thoughts on the Porsche 911 Turbo S, the 992.2 generation. First off, huge thanks to our sponsor Bridgestone tires. Without them, videos like this would not be possible. Also, thanks to our Porsche PR friends here in North America. They still are one of our very favorite teams to work with. And thank you to all the Porsche engineers. I troubled with all my various technical questions. So what about the car? Well, first off, Chris and I were very jet lagged. So this was probably not our finest work to be entirely honest. But what I will say is the current Turbo S or the new Turbo S delivers the promise that all prior 911 Turbo S's have, which is an everyday supercar. And if you've driven basically any modern 911, they do everything incredibly well. You have great steering calibration, essentially in line with all the other 992.2 cars. You have tremendous chassis calibration. You have a good mix between road feel and suppleness. And you feel what the car is doing. The front and the rear axle. You have very, very good inputs. All the electromechanical systems in this car feel natural. Something that is not common in this space. Particularly as cars become more and more digital, this still feels somewhat connected. Now, sure, the brakes in this car are incredibly capable. Really the only con dynamically is the brake pedal itself does not have the most feel. Porsche will tell you this as well and basically everybody else. EBB or electronic brake booster cars, particularly because this is brake regen, strips away some of the feedback and it's in its place. You have, however, a progressive pedal. That's why GT Porsche 911s use a vacuum based system, not EBB. So what are the cons? Well, there are definitely some. First off, noise. This car doesn't sound great. Porsche will tell you, honestly, that's something they struggle with. Given current Euro regulations with noise regs will blow by and the fact that cars need to be quieter on the inside. It doesn't sound that inspired. It sounds like a flat six, but they're using some digital noise to the speakers to augment it, which is a shame in this class of car. And most of its rivals, things like the Vantage, McLarens, Lamborghini, as hell, the 01X Corvette all sound better. They just have a better noise that make it feel a bit more engaging. The other con is while this car is clinically proficient, it is clinically proficient, which means it doesn't have the drama of its competitors. Something like a new Aston Vantage is more exciting. And that leads me into the last con as these are all tied together. Price. Yes, this car is $270,000 or $284,000 as a convertible. In the real world, you're pushing well past $300,000. That is a steep price increase versus the 992.1 911 Turbo S. We drove that car a couple of years ago and you could buy it last year. And those cars are well equipped for like $230,000, $235,000, base price of $225,000. So within a year, these things have grown in like $70,000, $80,000 in price, which is insane on one end. And on the other side of things, sure, you can argue with residuals and everything else, it may be worth it. It puts you in a price category now for this car that you're going to be looking at other exotic, expensive vehicles that you could argue feel more special than the 911 Turbo. I'm not going to say they're better, they just have more drama. And that is something you're definitely going to have to consider. And the other thing is the regular GTS is excellent. It has a nearly very similar, almost identical feeling drivetrain, albeit with less power. It has the identical chassis calibration, uses the same subsystems, the same ride frequency. It looks like a 911, which means they look very, very similar. And that car is $100,000 less in the real world. And I think that car is the strongest reason not to buy the Turbo S unless, you know, $100,000 isn't a big deal. So that, thanks for watching. Hope to see you again soon.