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There are a certain type of people that are drawn to the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS. It’s the sort of car you would consider buying if you want either a 911 Turbo or a 911 GT3 but can’t commit or stretch to either, and want an equally appealing badge that has no equal. No matter how you look at it, the new Porsche 911 GTS is hard car to beat for the price and what it offers as the ideal performance variant in the road-focused 911 range. Most importantly, if you happen to get it in a manual, it’s also perhaps one of the most enjoyable of the modern-day analogue cars money can buy. Having tested and reviewed all previous generations of the 911 GTS, we had a pretty good idea what to expect and although the GTS has always been a superb package and driver’s car (specially the naturally-aspirated 991.1), our expectations with the new model were still set pretty high. We drove the new 911 GTS in rear-wheel and all-wheel drive format with a manual and dual-clutch PDK gearbox around Norwell’s racetrack and also through the twisty mountain roads of Brisbane’s Mount Nebo and Glorious and after a week with the car, we can reassure you that the 12 month or so wait list is worth it. But the decision to pick the right GTS for you is harder than you might think. How much does the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS cost? There are five variants of the GTS with the standard RWD coupe available in both the seven-speed manual or the eight-speed PDK. The all-wheel drive (4 GTS), Cabriolet and Targa models are only available as a PDK, unfortunately. 2022 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS pricing Porsche 911 GTS Coupe: $314,800 Porsche 911 4 GTS Coupe: $334,000 Porsche 911 GTS Cabriolet: $347,700 Porsche 911 4 GTS Cabriolet: $366,900 Porsche 911 4 GTS Targa: $366,900 Our primary test car was a manual rear-wheel drive GTS Coupe packed with the following options: Race-Tex interior package, with extensive items in leather, Black: $8,350 Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC): $6,750 Interior trim package with decorative stitching in contrasting colour Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: $6,500 Adaptive sports seats Plus (18-way, electric) with memory package: $5,910 Lifting system front axle: $5,070 Rear-axle steering $4,720 Electric slide/tilt glass sunroof: $4,720 Tinted LED Matrix main headlights incl. Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (PDLS Plus) Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: $4,020 Roof lining in Race-Tex: $2,440 Porsche Design Sub-second clock Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: $2,110 Brake calipers painted in Black (high-gloss) Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: $1,720 Light design package: $1,050 Seat belts in Racing Yellow Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: $930 Sun visors in Race-Tex Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: $860 Vehicle key painted in exterior colour with key pouch in leather Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: $780 Tachometer dial in Racing Yellow Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: $720 ‘PORSCHE’ logo LED door courtesy lights Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur: $300 All up, the final price for the vehicle you see here is $371,750 before on-road costs. What is the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS like on the inside? The GTS range is best known for lots of black. From the bodywork highlights outside to the wheels, to the interior… GTS is the new black. The 922-generation 911 has by far the best interior of any that has come before. It’s a well-thought-out cabin that allows for a near-perfect driving position while also providing all the key requirements of the driver within easy reach. Jumping inside, it’s pretty easy to tell this apart from the lesser 911 models. Apart from the embroidered black GTS script on the front-seat headrests, the GTS models add inlays of brushed and black anodised aluminium on the centre console, the door panel and sill guards as well as the trim strips on the dashboard. Like other GTS models in the market today, the standard-fitment Race-Tex interior package brings further black touch points to the 911’s steering wheel rim, gear lever, centre console storage compartment lid (partially) as well as the seat inserts (front and rear), door handles and armrests. We didn’t get a chance to test the standard seats (Porsche calls them Sports Seats Plus) as our cars had the optional Adaptive Sports Seats Plus (18-way, electric) which were surprisingly supportive and comfortable both on track and for daily use. As for the infotainment system, the 911 GTS comes standard with the company’s sixth-generation Porsche Communication Management, known as PCM 6.0. It’s fast to load and use and the 10.9-inch touch screen is crystal clear. We love the seamless integration of wireless Apple CarPlay and don’t mind the BOSE sound system. The rear seats themselves are, well, useless. They are best used for kids under seven and even then, not for long drives. You can, perhaps, fit a small adult in the back if the front passenger is willing to forgo blood flow to the lower part of their legs for the journey. We found it impossible to have an adult sit behind the driver’s seat and find a safe driving position. If you want to delete the rear seats and go over the top and give your GTS that GT3 touch, you can always option up the carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) full bucket seats that have a gorgeous carbon-weave finish. There’s 132L of luggage space at the front, which although sounds small, is actually shaped very logically with a deep rectangular shape that will easily fit couple of soft overnight bags. What’s under the bonnet? The 3.0-litre bi-turbo flat-six is the staple of the majority of the 911 range bar the GT3/RS and Turbo. It’s in its most powerful guise in the GTS, with 353kW of power and 570Nm of torque, giving it 22kW and 40Nm more than the Carrera S. It breathes through a sports exhaust as standard. It comes with the Sport Chrono Package as standard (which is unusual for Porsches going back a generation) and has a 64L fuel tank that will see it sip 98 RON fuel somewhere between 10.1L/100km (coupe RWD PDK) and 10.7L/100km for the manual. The fastest variant is the Carrera 4 GTS PDK, which will do the 0-100km/h in 3.3 seconds. The slowest is the manual rear-wheel drive that does the same run in 4.1 seconds (3.4 seconds with PDK). The all-wheel drive Cabriolet and Targa quote 3.5s (PDK), while the rear-wheel drive Cabriolet claims 3.6s (PDK). Despite being the slowest, the manual RWD GTS Coupe is the lightest at 1510kg, with AWD adding a further 50kg. Chop the roof off and the underbody strengthening will set you back another 70kg. The Targa is the heaviest at 1685kg. The difference between the PDK in the GTS and lesser models is a new oil pump with better oil pressure regulation that also takes lower-friction oils. Porsche has also uprated the dual mass flywheel over the Carrera S to deal with the higher torque output. How does the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS drive? We drove the rear-wheel drive manual and all-wheel drive GTS Coupe, with the Cabriolet and Targa models yet to arrive in Australia. The all-wheel drive Carrera 4 GTS with the eight-speed PDK is the fastest of the five variants and it definitely feels it. On track the car was chasing a GT3 being driven by a pro and it kept up with relative ease, while the manual RWD struggled a fair bit giving chase. We like the all-wheel drive, it feels more stable out of corners and is definitely quicker off the line, but we’re not sure it’s worth the extra $20,000 and since it doesn’t come in a manual, we are really drawn to the base coupe. Don’t get us wrong, the PDK gearbox is utterly faultless as usual. With 570Nm of torque on tap, the GTS moves at rapid pace – 0-100km/h in 3.3 seconds (4 GTS) is proper supercar fast – but it’s the rolling 60-100 run that feels utterly ballistic. It has so much mid-gear pull you really have to wonder why you need the Turbo? Just remember the naturally-aspirated 991.1 GTS (which we love), only had 440Nm of torque, the difference between that screaming naturally-aspirated generation and the latest turbo monster is monumental. The 992 911 GTS has only 30Nm less torque than a RWD V10 Lamborghini Huracan, and that’s saying something. So if you absolutely want a PDK, you will not be disappointed as there is no better dual-clutch gearbox in the market. But we can assure you without a shadow of a doubt, you will be disappointed that you didn’t pick the world’s second-best manual gearbox (the first being the six-speed in the 911 GT3). The manual is the highlight of the 911 GTS (and GT3). Apart from, perhaps, the AMR Aston Martin Vantage (which has a very ordinary dog-leg manual gearbox) the 911’s option of a manual is super unique in this segment and as far as driving feel goes, it’s the best in market. Compared to the previous-generation, the 992 has a shorter shift action and the gear lever is 10 millimetres shorter than before, and it feels superb in your hand. For whatever reason, we initially thought the manual wouldn’t live up to the PDK in terms of the overall experience, but it takes about 20 minutes of driving to realise you would happily sacrifice 0.7 seconds to 100km/h to shift gears yourself. After a solid week, we didn’t want to give it back. Although it has seven gears, you only need six in Australia. The last gear is definitely for the autobahn and doesn’t feel comfortable at 110km/h. The six that you will use are very well spaced out, unlike say, a GT4 which has really long ratios for its torque range. The one annoying aspect is that rev-matching only works in Sport and Sport Plus, with the GTS starting each and every time in Normal mode, which means you will be shifting the driving mode switch as part of your startup process. Gearbox aside, the steering is our second-favourite feature of the GTS. The directness and the way it communicates the feeling of the front-wheel through the wheel is as close to a GT3 as you will get on a road car. Just imagine driving an old-school lightweight sports car with insane acceleration and you can start to imagine what the GTS feels like. It’s a genuine best of both worlds (a mix of GT3 and Turbo) and it makes the best daily as well. The ride is typical Porsche, it somehow blends excellent road compliance with limited body roll. It doesn’t feel as tight or as controlled as a GT3 mid-corner but then again, it feels far more comfortable when stuck in traffic. Gearbox, steering and ride are all excellent, but something has to be wrong with the GTS, right? We thought so too, we thought, surely it wouldn’t sound good – but it does! The crackles and burble are actually really satisfying. We were surprised by how the folks in Stuttgart have managed to extract a very decent soundtrack from an engine constrained by so many emission laws. Another little feature that we liked is the front-lift system (which really shouldn’t cost $5k). It works really well and keeps the nose up until 60km/h. It also has this super neat feature of allowing you to save the location of where you asked for the nose to lift – meaning, for example, if you frequent a shop entrance that requires the nose up, it will do it automatically using GPS data. Overall, the driving dynamics of the 911 Carrera GTS – especially in manual form – somehow blend perfect daily driving characteristics with supercar performance. You would really want to have that Turbo badge for the sake of it to spend the extra $90,000. What do you get? The GTS sits above the Carrera S and below the Turbo. As such it blends features from both and plenty unique to itself. In terms of colours, flat options like Black, White, Guards Red and Racing Yellow are available while metallic finishes like Carrara White Metallic, Jet Black Metallic and others can be added for no extra cost. From the outside, the GTS is recognisable thanks to its satin black front spoiler lip, centre-lock alloy wheels, GTS script on the doors and rear and the rear lid grille slats. As is the GTS theme, the twin tailpipes of the exhaust system are painted in high-gloss black stainless steel as part of the SportDesign package, which also has its own unique satin black trims applied to both the front and rear including the tinted LED main headlights and the edging of the daytime running lights. There are 12 paint colour choices (four solid colours and eight metallic colours) available with the new 911 GTS. Standard forged alloy wheels come from the Turbo S (245/35 R20 front, 305/30 R21 rear) and are painted in satin black with central locking. They are attached to a brake system borrowed from the Turbo. The front has massive 408mm diameter discs (38mm thickness) and six-piston aluminium monobloc fixed red calipers, while the rear still comes with four-piston fixed calipers grabbing 380mm diameter discs (30mm thickness). Other standard features for the Australian GTS models include: Power steering Plus Steering wheel heating Comfort Access Seat heating (front) Windscreen with Grey top tint Automatically dimming interior and exterior mirrors Rain-sensing wipers Electrically-folding exterior mirrors Park Assist including Surround View Lane Change Assist Bose Surround Sound system DAB+ digital radio Tyre fit set Metallic paint Some options we recommend include Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC $6750), rear-axle steering ($4720) and the front axle lift function ($5070). Is the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS safe? Porsche doesn’t crash test its sports cars, which includes the entire 911 model range, so there’s no ANCAP safety rating here. Standard safety equipment includes driver and front passenger airbags, a thorax airbag built into the side bolster of each front seat. How much does the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS cost to run? The GTS has a three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty with one-year or 15,000-kilometre service intervals. Servicing costs run from $695 to $1450 depending on requirements, which is incredibly cheap compared to the more exotic options available. CarExpert’s Take on the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS At the end of the day, any Porsche 911 Carrera is a treat. The base model has its perks, the Turbo S is a monster and everything in between is something for someone. The fact the GTS is the only turbocharged Porsche 911 you can buy with a manual makes it super attractive to the right buyer that doesn’t really want a GT3 and can’t justify the step-up to the Turbo. The PDK is also excellent, but seriously, do yourself a favour and order it with the manual gearbox and live life with a big giant smile on your face. Click the images for the full gallery MORE: Everything Porsche 911 View the full article

The Lamborghini Urus super SUV is set to receive a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain, which will help it bring the fight to BMW’s upcoming electrified XM SUV. Our spy photographers have captured a prototype version of the Urus PHEV for the first time during testing. It was spied with some prototype PHEV versions of the next-generation Porsche Panamera and facelifted Cayenne. Lamborghini has previously said it’s launching its first hybrid series-production vehicle in 2023. It’s expected this will be the Urus PHEV, with the rest of the Lamborghini range to be electrified by the end of 2024. At this stage it’s unclear what will be under the bonnet of the Lamborghini Urus PHEV, but it could share its plug-in hybrid powertrain with Porsche. One option Lamborghini could draw from is the PHEV powertrain from the Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid. It comprises a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with an electric motor and a 17.9kWh lithium-ion battery, with total system outputs of 500kW of power and 900Nm of torque. These outputs are up 13kW and 50Nm on the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine in the ‘regular’ Urus. The upcoming BMW XM, which is set to be globally revealed later in the year, is powered by a “newly-developed” V8 engine mated to an electric motor, with claimed system outputs of 480kW and 800Nm. On the design front, we’ve previously reported that there’s a facelifted version of the Urus coming in 2022. It’s unclear if this will include any exterior or interior design changes. This particular spied Urus PHEV prototype looks exactly the same on the outside as the current model with its quad exhaust tips, but it has obvious addition of a charging flap on the left-hand side rear wheel arch. There’s also a sticker on the windscreen which confirms the prototype is a plug-in hybrid. The prototype is finished in a black paint and there isn’t any camouflage on the vehicle whatsoever. In addition to this PHEV, Lamborghini is also working on a hotter version of the Urus that’ll reportedly pack more power. The upcoming hotter Urus, which could wear the Evo name, was recently spied in prototype form wearing a reworked front fascia with different side air intakes and a reworked upper grille cutout, among other minor changes. Lamborghini’s roadmap to electrification will culminate in the first all-electric Lamborghini model, which will arrive “by the second half of the decade”. The company hasn’t revealed any details about its first electric vehicle (EV), other than it’ll be a new, fourth model line for the brand. Previous rumours have indicated that this EV could be an all-electric 2+2 grand tourer which could look similar to the Estoque sedan concept from 2008, and the Asterion concept from 2014. Click an image to view the full gallery. MORE: Everything Lamborghini Urus View the full article

Porsche and its partners plan to produce 100 million litres of carbon-neutral eFuels per year, in Tasmania, from 2026. HIF Global LLC, in which Porsche bought a 12.5 per cent stake earlier in 2022, says its Carbon Neutral eFuel Plant will be located around 30km south of Burnie, Tasmania, with a design inspired by a similar plant in Chile. Construction is on track to kick off in 2024, ahead of eFuel production starting in the middle of 2026. The plant is expected to produce 190 tons of eFuel per day (up to 100 million litres per year) using renewable energy, and will feature a 250MW electroliser. “Australia has exceptional renewable energy resources that can be transformed into liquid fuels and used in existing engines,” said HIF Global president and CEO Cesar Norton. “Today, we begin the first step in Tasmania to produce hydrogen from renewable energy, capture carbon dioxide from a biogenic source and produce highly competitive eFuels that will be the carbon neutral energy of tomorrow.” A pilot eFuel plant in Chile How much the plant will cost hasn’t been revealed, but HIF Australia CEO Ignacio Hernandez earlier this year told media a plant able to produce 550 million litres of synthetic fuel per year would likely require an investment around US$1 billion. Porsche and HIF currently operate a pilot eFuels plant in Chile in partnership with with Siemens Energy, AME, Enel, and a Chilean petrochemical company. Production kicked off in earnest earlier in 2022, and Porsche has plans to be producing 55 million litres per year by the end of 2024, and up to 550 million litres per annum by 2026. Porsche is investing heavily in the technology as a way to help cut CO2 emissions from internal-combustion vehicles (planes, trains, and automobiles) as the world transitions to electric power… and a way to keep the 911 alive in its current form, or something close to it. Compared to conventional fossil fuels, which have between 30 and 40 components, synthetic fuels have as few as eight. There are fewer nasties hiding in eFuel, so it’s better for engines and the environment. Porsche says it reduces emissions by around 85 per cent compared to today’s unleaded. Having used renewable energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis, the eFuel plants combine the hydrogen with CO2 captured from the air to create methanol, which is then turned into engine-friendly unleaded. HIF says the plant will “use renewable energy and a process called electrolysis to produce green hydrogen”. “CO2 will be captured from a biogenic source and via a process of synthesis will combine the CO2 and hydrogen to produce eFuels. The eFuel will create a way for existing infrastructure and engines to become carbon neutral by continuously reusing and recycling the CO2.” Along with sports cars like the 911, where noise and emotion are central to the experience, Porsche says eFuels can be used to help cut carbon in remote areas or less developed markets, where the transition to electric power will be slower compared to the world’s big cities. How it will be distributed hasn’t been locked in. It’ll be used in Porsche motorsports categories, and Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG, told media it could be mixed with more conventional fossil fuels at petrol station forecourts to help cut carbon emissions. Porsche is targeting a wholesale price of $US2.00 per litre once production has ramped up, but how much it’ll cost the consumer will vary based on how governments decide to tax it. Porsche used sustainable fuels to power its recent Cayman GT4 RS launch “When you compare the price of eFuels with fossilised fuels, you have to see how much tax and levies go into both types,” said Barbara Frenkel, Member of the Executive Board for Procurement at Porsche AG. “As we see more and more countries move toward sustainability, you can imagine fossil fuel becomes much more expensive with extra taxes on – especially when you regard the CO2 footprint correctly. Government could also help make eFuels more attractive,” she told media. “I think that is also a big driver, and a big supporter, for making it attractive to a variety of industries.” MORE: Why is Porsche developing synthetic fuel? MORE: Porsche could be producing eFuels in Australia by 2026 View the full article

The successor to the Lamborghini Aventador will look every bit as wild as the car it’s set to replace. A car believed to be the next Aventador – we don’t know what it’ll be called yet – has been spied during testing. The wedge shape is familiar, as are some of the details hidden beneath the camouflage. Up front, the detailing is every bit as angular as you’d expect. There are hints of Sian about it, although the rear has a different look thanks to its slim LED lights. Those Aventador tail lights are, as you can probably tell, stickers. Under the skin, the next flagship Lamborghini will feature a new, naturally-aspirated V12 engine mated with a hybrid system. According to Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann, who spoke to CarExpert at the launch of the Huracan Tecnica in Italy last week, the new V12 will sound “amazing”. “For me the brand has to maintain the character today to fulfil the dream of the people. Both the fans and the customers,” he said. Outputs for the new powertrain haven’t been revealed, but Lamborghini isn’t likely to move backwards from what’s on offer in the Aventador. Its V12 powertrain makes 574kW and 720Nm in LP780-4 Ultimae guise. With all-wheel drive and an automated manual transmission, the Ultimae can complete the 0-100km/h sprint in 2.8 seconds, hit the double tonne in 8.7 seconds, and max out at 355km/h. The super capacitor setup used in the limited-run Sian has been deemed a “bridge technology” that’s unable to meet EU mandates, and therefore its 602kW hybrid V12 doesn’t necessarily foreshadow what to expect from the Aventador’s replacement. The Aventador’s replacement is expected to debut in time to go on sale globally in 2023. MORE: Everything Lamborghini Aventador MORE: Lamborghini’s new hybrid V12 to sound ‘amazing’ View the full article

Lamborghini, set to release its first EV in 2028, says that designing and engineering a car without an internal combustion engine will lead it to create something completely new, and in some aspects remake the brand. The 2028 Lamborghini EV will be a Grand Tourer with 2+2 seating configuration, that will look to redefine the EV super sports car segment, and take on other high-performance EVs such as the potential Tesla Roadster and the Ferrari equivalent that will have been released by then. Speaking to CarExpert at the launch of the new Huracan Tecnica in Spain last week, the global boss of Lamborghini, Stephan Winkleman, also admitted that the move to hybridisation and EVs was purely driven by the European Union’s ever stricter emission regulations. “The legislator is the pusher on the change of all the car manufacturers, this is something we would never deny, even though our [small volume] numbers are not influencing the CO2 emissions,” Mr Winkleman told CarExpert. “But we have to be responsible and ethically responsible and therefore we are doing, and I think the first model is a good exercise for us, yes it’s a GT 2+2 but it’s also a new body style, new tech, lots of opportunities to remake Lamborghini.” Even though Europe this week gave the likes of Lamborghini and Ferrari an exemption in being able to continue production of internal combustion engines past the 2035 deadline set for the rest of the industry, there will no doubt be some markets that are unlikely to be as generous. This means the lack of a big engine at the rear or front of the new GT gives Lamborghini an opportunity to reinvent the brand for the next-generation of vehicles that will no doubt follow, with Winkleman saying that it will be  “very recognisable but it should also be something completely new”. As for who will buy a Lamborghini EV? The brand believes that it must do more to attract a new-generation of customers that will have had far more exposure to EVs and are not necessarily interested in large capacity internal combustion engines but still wish to live the Lamborghini lifestyle. According to Mr Winkleman, the new model’s aim is to secure new customers as well as maintain current ones. “[The EV will attract] both new and existing customers… but our aim is to get new customers otherwise it would be jeopardising and cannibalising existing.” The yet to be named electric Lamborghini GT will be preceded by an Aventador replacement in 2023, Huracan replacement in 2024, and an all new Urus likely around 2026-27. MORE: Lamborghini nurtures combustion in EV era – CEO interview View the full article