I can’t believe it’s not butter anymore

It’s constantly said that money doesn’t really change people, it just enhances who they already were. When electrifying a car, especially one with a legendary nameplate like the Porsche 911, one should certainly not fundamentally change the car, just enhance what it already was. With the hybrid 2025 911 Carrera GTS, Porsche has accomplished this.

Of course, if you haven’t heard, the Porsche 911 now comes as a hybrid. But it’s definitely a type of hybrid that you wouldn’t know about unless you knew it used to be a hybrid. In a sports car that has famously maintained the same status since 1964, this is arguably a good thing. Whether it was the move to liquid cooling, turbocharging, automatic shifting, or power steering, the 911 has changed and modernized itself with the times, but it has always worn ancient technology to advance its personal schedule, Subscribe Now Does not take for any other person.

The GTS is also now a hybrid, although the G in the GTS no longer increases to green.

Underlying things

Building on the 992-generation that first arrived on the scene in 2018 (oh my god, has it been that long already?), the 2025 Porsche 911 sees the sports car get a facelift. In terms of taste, the adjustments in the traditional 911 model are relatively naughty. The fascias are a bit different, the back lights are a bit different, and there are more common devices than before.

Inside, the 992.2 is largely unchanged except for two things: the analog tachometer is now gone and replaced with a display, and the key-style starter transfer is now a handy button. I’ve already written a whole article about it – and, yes, I know I just wrote about how the ancient generation doesn’t want to spoil the 911’s 911-ness – although both changes are definitely a It feels like steps backward. And now after driving the ancient 911, I will say in any case: yes, I have outgrown the setup used. Alternatively, I’m sure the dentists and lawyers who buy those ancient automobiles will respect that the Sprint in their 911 now fits in their only Cayenne, so there you go.

After all, the main attraction is based on this new hybrid GTS variant. Purists needn’t worry, however, because Porsche has electrified the 911 in a way that doesn’t replace the sports car on any primary level. In fact, when it comes to how the “T-Hybrid” GTS actually drives, I’d even name the optional incremental. And that’s through design.

The T-Hybrid is composed of two electric motors: one dedicated to spooling the ancient exhaust turbocharger and the other embedded in an eight-speed PDK transmission. This exhaust is helping the *newly-developed* 3.6-liter flat-six drive the wheels without any delay, putting out approximately 53 horsepower and 110 lb-ft of torque. Both e-motors draw energy from and will send energy back to a 400-volt, 1.9-kWh battery located on the front axle for better weight distribution – the engine is in the back, remember? This battery weighs only 60 pounds and is not much larger than a traditional automotive battery that you would be able to replace at a place like AutoZone.

An entire electric motor dedicated to helping the turbo, an ancient, large-displacement internal combustion engine, and, unlike the field’s Acura NSXs and McLaren Arturas, no electric-only torque converter. This is how you build a hybrid sports car when you want the “hybrid” section to be at least part of the experience. Ultimately, it all delivers up to 532 hp and 449 lb-ft. That’s 59 hp and 29 lb-ft from the former, non-hybrid GTS, though weight increases by only 103 pounds. The 911 Carrera GTS Coupe accelerates to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds with speed control and has a top speed of 194 mph.

enjoy the ride

The first thing to understand about the experience of using the hybrid 911 is that it is not a plug-in hybrid. According to Porsche, a plug-in 911 was never in the cards because of its insistence that the car have usable front and rear seats. In fact, it is much less hybrid than the Toyota Prius because there is no situation in which it runs on untested electric power. Light it and the real fireplace will always be on. This mischievous technique of electrification colors the experience for everyone, because overall, the GTS really doesn’t feel all that different from the standard 911. It just looks like a 911 that has been beefed up.

Electrification is mischievous, even uninterestingly mysterious. That electrified turbo (that’s what the T in T-Hybrid stands for in the best possible way) is probably the unsung hero of this powertrain. Turbo lag has been successfully eliminated and, not for nothing anymore, making it a completely enjoyable goof and Pashah Makes noise that this is a modified Subaru. Find it and it has somewhat of an EV-like ease and immediacy in the way the GTS accelerates, but if it weren’t for the hybrid-specific gauges and “T-Hybrid” sticker on the door, the Max driver probably wouldn’t. Do. No way to know if it was a hybrid at all.

No other indicator of its hybrid status is the fact that the GTS can still be available with either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. (In most optioned cars, the option for hybrid is almost always close to AWD.)

Without reference to the push-wheels, despite this fact, the hybrid 911 still drives, handles and cruises flawlessly – as any 911 should. The GTS features wider 315-section rear tires around ancient centre-lock wheels in addition to brakes borrowed from the 911 Turbo that are now capable of receiving power from hybrid batteries (the required ceramics are larger than before). . Rear-wheel steering is now normal, the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Monitor (PDCC) which reduces roll has been made more sensitive and accurate, the Porsche Energy Device Control (PASM) lowers the game car by 10 mm from the bottom ( ?) lowers the Carrera and is more impervious than before to modifications for higher curb loads. That ancient flat-six sits 110 mm lower than the engine that came before it, thanks to pulse inverters and DC-DC converters.

Both on the road and musically, the 911 GTS is quite a weapon. Predictable and nimble, it bombs, grips and dives with unmistakable, granite-like stability that other cars don’t have. The guidance isn’t overly chatty (you’ll probably want to look for a giggle almost indistinguishable from the GT3 or so) but it can be very precise and well-balanced. Brakes, speed, frame controls, it’s all exceptionally well organized but at the same time adjustable. Given the abundance of space and privacy, this car reaches prison speeds with supernatural poise like no other. Braking and certainly any deceleration now results in regeneration for the hybrid battery, although you would never know it if the presentation didn’t inform you of this. The left pedal is a nice, precise software that reins in the GTS with commanding authority.

The PDK is astonishing in terms of its personal equipment and looks like a particularly strong piece of equipment, although on track the Guide Shifts themselves aren’t very supercar beyond the paddles – although they feel very powerful – perhaps not the most exciting. Issues for understanding accumulation. Plus, as effective and delicious as it is, it doesn’t make the motor vehicle “shrink around you.” The fashionable 911 is and looks like a heavy car, this reality is enhanced through the slender Spanish switchbacks we had as a proving garden for this test.

Despite this fact, the hybrid 911 seems perfectly shaped, given the roominess of a closed-door. Circuito Ascari is 3.37 miles long with banked turns, straights that barely rise as turns, and autocross-tight chicane. GTS created entertainingly attractive paintings of all of these. That’s why the Porsche 911 is to sports cars what the iPhone is to hand-held electronics. With careful iteration over the coming years, the flamboyance factor just works.

Cool that I’m sick and considering I’m a daily driver, it’s surprisingly manageable – everyday efficiency is what the 911 is known for, after all – but somewhat less, harsher touring sure. Can be felt effectively, especially when using it back-to-back with the bottom Carrera. For this reason, an undecorated car is your only option if you’re not planning on going to the racetrack, although I’ll have more detailed thoughts on that car on this web page shortly.

preliminary decision

With the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Maserati Gran Cabrio Folgore being among the most comical EVs, we’ve generally pushed back on the fact that they hide their EV-ness very well, a theme starting with the electrified performance. Cars do: The most efficient cars don’t feel electrified at all. The Porsche 911 isn’t an EV yet, but its first steps into the world of electric power are already a good step in that direction. The fact that the GTS is a hybrid isn’t in your face, nor is it the centerpiece of why it’s stress-free. On electrification, the 911 doesn’t become an uncontrollably big or quiet snoozer.

The GTS is exactly what it’s always been: a more serious beast than the standard Carrera but no longer so serious as to be harsh, unmanageable or end up turning out to be. Ergo, the core Porsche 911 personality remains and everyday Porsche 911 decisions are nevertheless exercised. There are many great cars available in the market, and many great engines are also available in the market. However, the 911 GTS probably does business in the most used software among its peers: so cast, really easy, so fast. On the same occasion, you’d be hard-pressed to call it “boring” because it’s not at all.

This is managed drama; Beautiful motoring.

When you take that into account, the Porsche 911 has always been a hybrid: one section music software, one section grand tourer. And the ancient GTS’s status as a hybrid within powertrains has not changed its status as a hybrid in purpose. This has made it even higher.

Was the author given a tip or question regarding the 911 GTS? You can get it here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com