New turbocharged Porsche 911 Carrera to ‘feel’ like a naturally aspirated model

Speaking to CarAdvice at this week's Tokyo motor show, Porsche 911 product line general manager Erhard Mossle dismissed any notions the new 2016 Porsche 911s will lose any character or soul as a result of their move away from naturally aspirated engines.

“I think first of all, you have to drive the car before you discuss whether turbo is right or not right,” Mossle said.

“When you drive the car you will see that the turbo is not a devil's thing and it’s a great engine in this car and I think we did all [that we could] to make it feel like a normally aspirated engine.”

Turbocharging is of course not new to the 911, but the updated cars mark the first time in the iconic sports car’s 52-year history that forced induction has outright replaced natural aspiration in the mainstream range – a move no doubt motivated by ever-tightening emissions regulations.

For both variants, the switch to forced induction sees a drop in capacity from 3.4 litres (Carrera) and 3.8 litres (Carrera S) to 3.0 litres, but – as is the case with smaller turbocharged engines – power figures are up while acceleration times and fuel consumption are down.

The new turbocharged flat-six engines list power figures of 272kW in the 911 Carrera and 309kW in the 911 Carrera S – an increase of 15kW for both. Torque is likewise increased, growing by 60Nm in both models for new figures of 450Nm and 500Nm, respectively.

Apart from toughening emission laws, Mossle says the move to turbocharge is necessary in order to keep up with where the market and competitors are heading.

“I think its fuel economy of course and performance on the other side. When you see competitors, all of them use turbo engines actually, so you have to keep up the performance and power and it’s of course easier to do [this] with a turbocharged engine than a naturally aspirated engine.”

Porsche will continue to keep its 911 GT3 cars naturally aspirated to appease purists. The refreshed 2016 Porsche 911 Carrera models are available to order in Australia now, ahead of a market launched scheduled for mid-March next year.