L.A. Auto Show 2018: Porsche lifts veil on the 8th generation of its 911 sports car
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Porsche has unveiled the newest iteration of its iconic 911, celebrating the 55th anniversary of the vehicle’s birth with an eighth generation of the signature two-door sports car.
The new 911 will be powered by a twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engine and will produce an estimated 450 horsepower — up 25 to 30 horses from the current model.
The refreshed cars will feature the company’s new eight-speed PDK automatic transmission and, like almost all Porsches, will also come in a seven-speed stick-shift version.
The first styles offered will be the 911 Carrera S and Carrera 4S coupes, as model year 2020 cars, and will be available for sale next summer, Porsche said. The company will likely produce a cabriolet, or convertible, version within the first production year.
Body styling will be highly reminiscent of 911 lineage, but this outing will bring back a 1980s-era hood design. The body will also be wider on standard versions than current models – the same width as the current Carrera 4 911s, with wider rear-fender arches.
The car will feature different wheel sizes as standard equipment, with 20-inch wheels mounted in front and 21-inch wheels in back. This will allow for more rear-end stability and put more engine power to the wheels, Porsche said. (Current and past models, except for the track-ready RS 911s, came standard with 19-inch or 20-inch wheels all around.)
The 911 is Porsche’s essential model, especially in California. A quarter of all Porsches sold in the U.S. are sold in the state, the company said, and about a fifth of all Porsches sold in the country are 911s.
The company has not released pricing or fuel economy numbers.
