2024 Porsche 911 Targa 4 Gts on 2040-cars

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Porsche 911 already testing next refresh

The latest Porsche 911 may still be a newer car, but that hasn't stopped the German company from starting development of a facelifted version of the rear-engined sports car, testing in what looks like southern Europe.
Due to hit the market in 2015, our spies think what we're seeing here is the new GTS variant, which, following the evolution of the last-generation 911, will make its debut on the facelifted car. Featuring the wider rear haunches of the all-wheel-drive Carrera 4, the GTS should enjoy a slight power boost, to 408 ponies.
Aesthetically, there are some additional vents in the rear bodywork, along with a revised front bumper and tweaked day-time running lights. The taillights get some attention as well, and will likely grow over the current car's skinny rear lamps.

The mood at this year’s Paris Motor Show: Quiet

The Paris Motor Show, held every other year in the early fall, typically kicks off the annual cavalcade of automotive conclaves, one that traverses the globe between autumn and spring, introducing projective, conceptual and production-ready vehicle models to the international automotive press, automotive aficionados and a public hungry for news of our increasingly futuristic mobility enterprise. But this year, at the press preview days for the show, the grounds of the Porte de Versailles convention center felt a bit more sparsely populated than usual. This was not simply a subjective sensation, or one influenced by the center's atypically dispersed assemblage of seven discrete buildings, which tends to spread out the cars and the crowds. There were not only fewer new vehicles being premiered in Paris this year, there were fewer manufacturers there to display them. Major mainstream European OEM stalwarts such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Nissan and Volkswagen chose to sit out Paris this year, as did boutique manufacturers like Bentley, Aston Martin and Lamborghini. This is not simply based in some antipathy on the part of the German, British and Italian manufacturers toward the French market — though for a variety of historical and societal reasons that market may be more dominated by vehicles produced domestically than others. Rather, it is part of a larger trend in the industry. Last year, Mercedes-Benz announced that it would not be participating in the flagship North American International Auto Show in 2019 — and that it might not return. Other brands including Jaguar/Land Rover, Audi, Porsche, Mazda and nearly every exotic carmaker have also departed the Detroit show. Some of these brands will still appear in the city in which the show is taking place, and host an event offsite, to capitalize on the presence of a large number of reporters in attendance. And even brands that do have a presence at the show have shifted their vehicle introductions to the days before the official press opening in an attempt to stand out from the crowd. In many ways, this makes sense. With an expanding number of automakers, with diversification and niche-ification of models and with wholesale shifts that necessitate the introduction of EV or autonomous sub-brands, there is a growing sense that, with everyone shouting at the same time, no one can be heard.

Porsche 911 to drop naturally aspirated six-cylinder engine

Rumors that the next-generation Porsche 911 will be completely divorced from naturally aspirated engines are picking up steam. Now, Road & Track is reporting that not only will the next 911, code-named 992, have a turbo-only engine lineup, but that the base Carrera and Carrera S will add the force-induced flat sixes as part of a facelift later this year. R&T only cites "sources familiar with the project," which claim that turbocharged flat-sixes will be at the core of the 992's engine range, alongside a plug-in-hybrid model. A four-cylinder 911 remains unlikely. What's most surprising, though, is how soon Porsche will introduce a turbocharged base-car lineup. Road & Track claims the blown flat-sixes will be added as part of a facelift coming before year's end. Perhaps unwilling to risk the further ire of purists, the current car's seven-speed manual transmission will continue to be sold, alongside the company's excellent PDK automatic transmission. As for when this facelift will happen, the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show in September seems like the most obvious date. Related Video: Featured Gallery Porsche 911 Turbo: Spy Shots View 9 Photos News Source: Road and TrackImage Credit: CarPix Rumormill Porsche