Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS: The first hybrid 911 in the test

With the new 911 Carrera 4 GTS T-Hybrid, Porsche is bringing a new, very passionate approach to the electrification of the combustion engine. We were convinced in the test.

As if intoxicated: The Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS T-Hybrid in the test

With the 911, Porsche never looks backwards, only forwards. What is good remains. And when there are new technologies that make the 911 better, they are used. It’s that simple. Porsche is perfecting the present and has already opened the door to the future. No matter the era: every new 911 was always better than its predecessor. Even if the changes in the past – such as the switch from air to water cooling, the switch from hydraulic steering systems to electric or the profound changes in the front end, which gave the 911 in its sharpest form as GT models a famous double wishbone front axle – always were controversial, not only refined this sports car icon, but also made it the undisputed best athlete in the world. And that’s exactly what’s happening again with the Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS T-Hybrid, which we’re driving up here for an individual test.
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The Porsche 911 GTS (2024) in the driving report (video):

The T-Hybrid does without electric range

With the T-Hybrid drive unit in the new Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS, the sports car manufacturer is electrifying its flagship model. We assume that reason has triumphed over passion, but we are wrong. Hybrid here does not mean that the 911 now creeps silently and purely electrically through the city center. The T in the name T-Hybrid stands for Turbo and suggests that this is about performance – and pressure in particular. As a T-Hybrid, the GTS celebrates the art form of the combustion engine in all its facets. More displacement, larger turbo, more power and torque (difference in horsepower and Nm explained): This engine is the crowning achievement of the six-cylinder boxer history to date.

Of course, it should work more efficiently in keeping with modern times, which it succeeds in doing according to the technical specifications and consumption measurement (old model in the 2022 test: 11.3 l/100 km; new model 2024: 11.0 l). But what reaches the person behind the wheel is, above all, dramatically maximized driving pleasure. Yes, the naturally aspirated drive unit of the GT3 RS or the massive pressure of the unit in the Turbo S are fantastic in their own right. But what this T-Hybrid has sparked here in the individual test is fueling expectations of what else will be built on this basis.

A displacement of 3.6 liters is pressurized by just one – admittedly quite large – turbocharger. It is supported by an electric motor between the compressor and exhaust turbine wheels. This electric machine brings the charger up to speed immediately when the throttle is commanded and thus builds up boost pressure almost without delay. The last unpolished, tiny dents in the throttle response are smoothed out by the permanently regulated electric synchronous machine integrated into the eight-speed dual clutch transmission. Even from idle speed, it provides a drive torque of up to 150 Nm and provides a maximum of 40 kW (54 hp).

Porsche couples both electric motors to a light and compact high-voltage battery with up to 1.9 kWh of energy (gross). The electric motor in the exhaust gas turbocharger also works as a generator. It generates a maximum of 11 kW (15 hp) of electrical power, which it draws from the excess exhaust gas flow that builds up in front of the exhaust gas turbine and is converted into energy by the turbine wheel. These are then used by the electric motor in the transmission or are stored in the battery instead of – as usual – being discharged unused into the exhaust system via a wastegate valve.

The competitors:

The ghost of the 930 Turbo haunts the GTS

How did the new arrangement in the Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS T-Hybrid feel in the test? Like a rev-hungry GT3 RS, only with even more power – and pressure! Porsche has done an excellent job of smoothing out the turbo lag, filling it with electrical power and giving the turbo’s giant blade wheels with the small electric motor lightning-fast response. And yet the ghost of the 930 Turbo, considered invincible and the one that shattered so many egos in the 1970s, still haunts this place.

When the single turbo is fully breathed, the GTS pulls forward incredibly. The drive train whistles its excess pressure, which builds up in front of the throttle valve, especially during spontaneous full-load interruptions in the partial load range, loudly and unabashedly through a diverter air valve. The fact that Porsche has managed to unlock the new, large boxer engine with such an authentic, mechanical six-cylinder boxer sawing of the early years, as if a fan wheel was providing cooling for the six cylinders, crowns the effort with the T-Hybrid.

“Only” 541 hp (398 kW) system output is supposed to be at work here? Never. Not only the feeling, but also the measured values ​​of the individual test speak a different language: 2.8 s from zero to 100 km / h – that sounds impressive. But the way in which the all-wheel-drive GTS snaps forward from the spot is unrivaled and cannot be topped even by significantly more powerful super athletes. Above 5500 revolutions the T-Hybrid is out of control, but in contrast to the turbo of the 70s it can still be dosed extremely sensibly.

Just enjoy and follow the melody of the road

Pressing the Sport Response button trims the response of the engine and transmission to maximum performance for 20 seconds. And then? Just enjoy and follow the melody of the road. Also because the Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS T-Hybrid is not solely defined by its engine. Even if there was nothing wrong with the previous performance of the chassis, many details were intensively refined. The result is a little more connectivity, rear-axle steering that is now standard for the GTS and subordinated to agility and stability, and a spring-damper setting that takes on comfort in a sporty manner and offers uncompromising dynamism at the limit.

Even the person in the front passenger seat can recognize a 911 the first time they turn blindfolded. The person in the low-positioned driver’s seat with the perfectly positioned, upright steering wheel in his hands is even more so. And why exactly? Because no one else in the sports car cosmos scans the ground so delicately with the front axle and no one – once centered in the radius – supports themselves so intensively and builds up mechanical grip as enthusiastically as a 911 when circling the curve, but especially when accelerating out of it. And This Carrera 4 GTS T-Hybrid in particular, which we drove to the limit in individual tests.

Not everything is better than its predecessor

However, whether you always have to follow every trend is questionable, at least when you look at the revised interior. After all other round instruments had already been digitized, Porsche has now taken the previously beautiful, analog tachometer from the 911 and digitized it. Large navigation maps can now be displayed directly in the field of vision. It’s a shame – because that’s just a tribute to the mainstream, which the 911 has fortunately avoided so far. We can only hope that he can continue to be himself, at least when it comes to his highly emotional traits.

Measured values ​​& technical data of the Porsche Carrera 4 GTS T-Hybrid

AUTO NEWSPAPER 26/2024	Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS T-Hybrid
Positive	Very good driving performance, quick response, agile handling
Negative	Very high entry price, comfort with a sporty touch
Technology
Motor	6-cylinder, 4-valve, turbo; 3591 cm³
drive	8-speed dual-clutch transmission; All-wheel drive
Performance	541 hp (398 kW)
Max. torque	610 Nm
body
External dimensions (L/W/H)	4553/1852 (2036)*/1294mm
Curb weight (factory/test)	1570/1696kg
Trunk volume	373-508 l
Driving performance
Acceleration 0-100 km/h (test)	2.8s
Maximum speed (factory)	312 km/h
Braking distance from 100 km/h cold/warm (test)	32/31 m
Consumption per 100 km (test/WLTP)	11.0/10.5 l
Prices
Basic price	€178,800
Test car price	€217,582
*Width with exterior mirrors