New Porsche 911 is here

2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S, Carrera 4S Debut With 443 HP
There's a new Porsche 911 and as usual, a few things are true. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine. It's hard to spot the differences with its predecessor. And there are a pair of vestigial backseats. These are hallmark qualities for the 911, as constant as gravity. But while the first member of the new 992 family doesn't stray from the classic formula that's been in use for decades, it continues to refine the ideas and traits that have made the Carrera a legend.

Chief among those is the output from its horizontally opposed engine. The 911 Carrera S and Carrera 4S – the first two members of the 992 generation – pack a 3.0-liter turbocharged flat-six engine with 443 horsepower, an increase of 23 ponies over the outgoing car. Porsche hasn't revealed torque output – the current 991-based Carrera S has 368 pound-feet – but who cares? The real-world performance will be impressive.

According to Porsche, the two-wheel-drive Carrera S can hit 60 in just 3.5 seconds, while the all-wheel-drive Carrera 4S will do the deed in 3.4 seconds. Add the Sport Chrono Package – you should always add the Sport Chrono Package – and 60 arrives two-tenths of a second faster. Let's reiterate: the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S can hit 60 miles per hour in just 3.2 seconds. Put another way, the C4S is six-tenths of a second faster than the current GT3 and it's only half a second behind the $293,000 911 GT2 RS. That's just silly speed.

Relatively unchanged top speeds offset the 992's quicker acceleration. The two-wheel-drive model tops out at 191 mph, just a point above the PDK-equipped 991. The C4S sees a bigger improvement, going from 188 to 190 mph, compared to last year's car.

But there is a caveat. See, the new 992 comes standard with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (we'll reserve judgment on the annoyingly stubby shift lever until we drive the new 911 in January). Before you reach for the pitchforks, though, it's worth noting the new 911 will offer a manual transmission… eventually. All Porsche is saying is that a do-it-yourself shifter “will be offered at a later date.” We'd suspect that when that later date arrives, we'll be hearing about another seven-speed manual unit, like the one found in the 991.

As for the other improvements Porsche has made, we covered most of them in the ride along we published in October. The 992 gets a standard wide body, with wider tracks fore and aft. There are pop-out door handles. And the active safety systems get a big improvement, with a dedicated Wet Mode for slippery conditions. Prices for the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S start at $113,200, while adding all-wheel boosts that sum to $120,600. Plan on adding $1,050 to each of those prices to cover destination and handling. Orders are open, but deliveries won't start until summer of 2019 in the U.S. Until then, check out our first official images of the 2020 911, and keep an eye open for more from the 2018 Los Angeles.