2012, 911 Carrera Coupé, Type 991, 3.4 litre
The maturity factor – Internally known as the 991, this sports car embodies the greatest engineering leap in the history of the 911. For generations the benchmark in its class, this 911 generation sets the bar another notch higher in terms both of performance and efficiency. A completely new chassis with modified wheelbase, greater track width and beefier tyres, plus an ergonomically optimised interior produce an even sportier and more comfortable driving sensation.
In engineering terms this 911 is all about Porsche Intelligent Performance: even lower fuel consumption and even more power – created, for instance, by reducing the engine size to 3.4 litres on the base Carrera model (yet still delivering 5 hp more than the 997/II) and using a hybrid construction method (steel/aluminium), which leads to a considerable reduction in weight. Also new: Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control and the manual 7-speed transmission. There has been great praise for the design of the 991 as well. With its low, stretched silhouette, its bristling surfaces and precisely shaped details, the Porsche 911 Carrera – in the seventh generation as before – continues to be unmistakably a 911 and is thus once more setting new standards in automotive design.
2011: Intelligent aluminium-steel design
In the 991 series of the 911, which was introduced in 2011, Porsche has further perfected lightweight design for sports cars. It achieves a number of goals: improving vehicle dynamics while reducing fuel consumption, as well as enhancing safety and raising levels of comfort in comparison with earlier vehicles. The engineers chose a concept which puts the right material in the right place, using the right construction method. The current vehicle generation is therefore lighter than its direct predecessor for the first time, by approximately 40 kilogrammes. And this despite the additional weight originally expected due to the longer wheelbase, the more stringent safety requirements and the enhancements to the overall package. The largest proportion of the weight saved (around 80 kilogrammes) was due to the new body-in-white with mixed aluminium-steel construction. With the exception of local reinforcement parts, the front body section and large parts of the floor and the rear section are made of aluminium. This is also true of the lids, wings and the door structure. The coupé is 44 per cent aluminium and the cabriolet 43 per cent. A significantly larger proportion of the steel parts are made of super high-strength and ultra high-strength materials. The hot forged, press hardened steels provide a particularly high degree of occupant protection. The intelligent mixed aluminium-steel construction also changed the production process at the Zuffenhausen plant. While resistance spot welding was the dominant production method in the age of steel bodies, today’s mixture of materials requires different joining processes. And this with up to 400 individual parts which a body-in-white is made up of. The key areas are the many steel and aluminium joints – they cannot be welded. The increased use of structural adhesives, which also prevents bimetallic corrosion between the two materials, is one solution. However, new mechanical joining processes are also used, such as clinching, punch riveting and friction drilling. The ideal joint is selected in each case.
2011: Seven-speed manual gearbox
The world’s first seven-speed manual gearbox is used in series production of the 911 – again in the 991 series. It gives the 911 a new, crisp shift characteristic. The new gearbox was designed on the basis of the seven-speed Doppelkupplung and provides excellent shifting comfort and sporty shift forces. The new 911 cars reach their top speed in sixth gear. The seventh gear has a long ratio and helps to save fuel – a high cruising speed is attained at a lower speed. The high level of efficiency and the optimised weight of the gearbox help to make the vehicle more fuel efficient. It is also combined with an automatic start/stop function as standard. As the seven-speed Doppelkupplung is designed as a modular system, many of the same parts could be used for the construction of the seven-speed manual gearbox. However, one particular challenge had to be overcome – due to the concept of the Doppelkupplung, the gears are arranged differently than with a normal “H” shift pattern. Therefore converted shift actuators were developed especially for the manual gearbox version. They enable the traditional “H” shift pattern to also be achieved with the Doppelkupplung gear sets. A patented system prevents the wrong gear from being engaged. For example, the seventh gear can only be engaged directly after the fifth or sixth gear.
2011: The 911 design enters a new era
The 991 series of the Porsche 911, which was introduced in 2011, is the current version of this sports car par excellence. No area was left unchanged in the design concept. This 911 boasts a flat, elongated silhouette, taut surfaces, razor-sharp sculpted edges and precisely designed details but it is still immediately recognisable as a 911.
The starting point for the new design was the modified proportions of the sports car. The 100-millimetres longer wheelbase, the wider track at the front and the reduced height, coupled with the up to 20-inch wheels are the foundations of a new Coupé with an even more athletic appearance. From this basis, the designers developed the new 911 shape with an optimised height/width ratio. Without changing the overall width, a sports car was created that sits even lower on the road.
The standard bi-xenon headlights have also been reshaped and reflect the traditional circular headlight outline of the 911. Following tradition once again, the new 911 does not have a radiator grille but side air intakes – a characteristic feature of the Porsche sports car with rear engine. The other front lights (LED indicators, daytime running lights and position lights) have been moved to the very outside and have been extended around the front to the side; they therefore emphasise the powerful effect of the width of the 911 front end.
The exterior mirrors have found a new home on the top shoulder. From the side, the 911 features precise lines with a taut, dynamic look. The more prominently arched and flatter outline of the windscreen plays its part in creating the low, fast silhouette. The typical 911 distinguishing feature is still the characteristic side window design with the triangular window which is now even more tapered towards the rear. In this way the Porsche “flyline” is retained; the roof line slopes downwards towards the rear, ends above the rear wheels and therefore emphasises where the power of a 911 is transferred to the road.
At the rear a continuous ridge above the new, strikingly slim rear lights structures the rear end across the entire width of the vehicle for the first time, thus giving an impression of width. This effect is further enhanced by the powerful shoulders of the sturdily shaped rear wings. The rear spoiler below the air intakes of the engine cover has been redesigned and is now wider. Furthermore, LED technology has been used for all the rear lights.
The 991 series Cabriolet is another masterpiece of the current design. The fabric hood follows the contours set by the Coupé roof almost exactly and gives this 911 Cabriolet a look that is as perfect as that of the Coupé. The credit for this mainly goes to the roof designers who have developed technology for retracting and putting up the roof which can create exactly this shape.