If Porsche’s 911 catalogue wasn’t confusing you enough, it has added yet another one to the mix. Meet the all new 911 GTS!
The GTS range includes the Carrera (rear-wheel drive) and the Carrera 4 (all-wheel drive) models – available as both a coupe and a cabriolet – and the Targa 4 model (AWD only) as well. Yes, that’s a total of five new variants added to a list that already has sixteen! Which makes you wonder, where does the GTS fit in? Well, it isn’t as soft and easygoing as the everyday Carrera, and isn’t as hardcore (or as fast) as the Turbo or the GT3. Simply put, it is the middle child of the 911 family.
Does that mean it is a bit ‘neither here nor there’? Not really. In fact, it seems like a rather nice upgrade for an existing sports car owner, where the standard 370PS Carrera wouldn’t cut the mustard. The GTS gets the same new 3.0-litre turbocharged flat-six as its brethren, but power is bumped up by a full 80PS – to 450PS. That is thirty more than the Carrera S, and twenty over the outgoing GTS. With 550Nm of twist on tap, the motor can be had with a manual transmission or Porsche’s PDK automatic.
Numbers? The quickest of the lot is the automatic all-wheel drive coupe, which gets to 100kmph in just 3.6 seconds. That’s nearly half a second quicker than the older one. In terms of outright top speed, every GTS can break past the 300kmph barrier. For the record, it’s the rear-wheel drive coupe that’s the fastest, with a claimed top speed of 312kmph.
As they say, the devil is in the details. And it’d take a keen eye to tell a GTS apart from its siblings. Differences are subtle enough to go unnoticed, but include a reworked front and rear bumper, centre-lock 20-inch wheels and a slightly wider body. Also, the Sports Chrono Pack that consists of the dynamic engine mounts, sports exhaust and the mode selector on the steering wheel, and the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) tech is standard for the GTS range.
Porsche have announced prices for the UK market, and global deliveries are set to begin by March. A India debut for the GTS is highly likely, simply to bridge the gap between the Carrera S and the Turbo.
