Porsche 911 range to go all-turbo

Have we seen the last of the naturally aspirated Porsche 911 Carrera?

Apparently so, according to MOTOR's European correspondent, Georg Kacher.

As reported in the latest issue of CAR magazine, Kacher states that both the Carrera and Carrera S will switch to forced induction with the arrival of the 991.2 facelift, due to launch in Europe in the third quarter of next year.

While it's well known that Porsche is developing turbocharged engines, it was believed that the Cayman and Boxster would be the first to receive boost in four-cylinder form.

According to a source within Porsche, the base Carrera will switch from a naturally aspirated 3.4-litre atmo flat-six to a 2.9-litre turbocharged flat-six, with the Carrera S remaining at 3.8 litres but with the addition of a turbo.

The move is said to be a result of Porsche's desire to improve fuel economy and cut emissions, possibly in a move to boost sales in Eastern markets, where high CO2 cars are subject to much stricter regulatory measures.

If there is a silver lining to this cloud, it's that performance will improve markedly. The Carrera is now expected to produce around 298kW/540Nm, up from the current 257kW/390Nm, while the Carrera S will best AMG's forthcoming GT S with 395kW/700Nm, a large increase over its current 294kW/440Nm outputs.

We'd expect the new engines to also slot in to the Cabriolet and all-wheel drive Carrera 4 models, which would appear to make the 911 Turbo, in its current form at least, redundant.

Thankfully, the hardcore GT3 is expected to remain naturally-aspirated, with a greater focus on lightweight construction.

Porsche Australia had no comment when contacted on the matter, so fingers crossed our Euro sleuth has jumped the gun.