Feast your eyes on the new Porsche 911 next month
New 911 will be joined by 918 RSR concept for Dubai Motor Show
By Shahzad Sheikh
The Dubai International Motor Show represents the first time most of us in the Middle East will get to set eyes on the all-new Porsche 911 – known to aficionados as the 991 series. And as if it wasn’t enough to present us with the latest evolution of what many regard as the ultimate sports car, Porsche are giving us another special treat – the first UAE showing of the 918 RSR Concept car.
But first the 911 which was premiered at the Frankfurt show in September. This really is an all-new car, and that will be most obvious in its longer, wider, and lower stance which makes its looks flatter, curvier more ground hugging. And those extra dimensions mean it also gets an entirely new interior – more spacious and certainly much more contemporary than before with a style similar to the futuristic Panamera interior.
The new car will be offered with a super-quick PDK sequential transmission but where most rivals are moving towards auto-only sports cars, Porsche will continue to offer a manual transmission and not just any manual – this car gets the world’s first seven-speed gearbox. The only problem will be remembering which gear you’re in!
The body is lighter and with its wider track and more planted dynamics the handling is sure to be up to the task of handling the 350bhp delivered from the traditional boxer engine in 3.4-litre guise for the Carrera. It also has a 0-100kph time of just 4.4 seconds (with optional Sport Chrono pack) and a Porsche says it will run the fearsome Nurburgring’s Nordschleife circuit in just 7 minutes and 40 seconds – that’s 14 seconds faster than the previous car.
A standard Carrera could be yours for $91,041 (if you can put up with the already inevitably long waiting lists) with the Carrera S fitted with the 400bhp 3.8-litre (three-tenths quicker to 100kph) is priced at $107,796. The latter also gets 20-inch wheels, adaptive suspension, limited slip differential and Torque Vectoring, which varies power to individual wheels during hard cornering.
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The 918 RSR – known at Porsche as the ‘experimental racing laboratory’ is a stunning mid-engined race car that combines the technology of the 911 GT3 R hybrid racer with the sexy looks of the 918 Spyder hybrid supercar which is set to go into production for 2013.
For the racing concept it features a hybrid flywheel set-up and two nose-mounted electric motors each driving a front wheel and which act as generators under braking charging the flywheel accumulator sitting right alongside the driver and spinning up to 36,000rpm! You’ll need balls of steel, not to mention invulnerable skin to be brave enough to sit next to that in a race!
Its petrol V8 develops 563bhp at 10,300rpm and combined with the motors there’s a total of 767bhp available when the flywheel dumps its power. Painted in ‘liquid metal chrome blue’ the carbon-fibre bodied car features scissor doors and 19-inch racing slicks on the wheels.
