As much as Porsche sticks to its heritage it does have a history of spurning its most ardent purists. You know, like water cooling, building SUVs and most recently diving into fully electric powertrains. Well now they’re pushing the envelope even further with a hybrid 911. But, before you grab your torch and pitchforks just know, this is not your typical hybrid.

To clarify, no, Porsche has not gone the Toyota route and hybridized the entire 911 lineup. Just the GTS…for now at least. And while the t-hybrid’s all-new 3.6L flat 6 with electric turbocharger is the main reason Porsche flew me to Malaga, Spain, the event signifies a refresh for the 992 generation 911 that we’ve had plenty of experience with since it debuted in 2018. Before we drive the GTS, let’s talk about the overarching changes for the 992.2 911.

The base Carrera still uses the 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat 6, but with turbos taken from the previous GTS and the 911 Turbo’s intercooler, power is up slightly to 388 horsepower and 331 lb.-ft of torque. Exterior styling is tweaked with standard Matrix LED headlights, a reworked light ring out back and model-specific front fascia. The GTS receives these active aero fins that close for aerodynamics and open for performance.

Inside, the gauge cluster has gone fully digital. Naturally the 12.6-inch curved display is customizable with the option for the traditional centralized tachometer and 5 dial look. Oh yeah and one more thing…push button start. Here for the first time ever on a 911.

Now, let’s get into this t-hybrid system. The first indication that this is not your typical efficiency-focused hybrid is the fact that engine displacement is actually up over the last GTS. Now at 3.6-liters, Porsche engineers assured us it’s a thoroughly new engine. There’s also only one turbo…but it’s a big one and there’s an electric motor between the turbine and compressor that not only provides boost at low-rpm, it also acts at a generator for both the compact 1.9kWh battery pack up front and the second electric motor inside the 8-speed PDK transmission. Connected directly to the fly-wheel, the 40kW motor allows for near instantaneous torque at throttle tip-in and brings total system output to 532 hp and 449 lb.-ft of torque. Increases of 59 and 29 respectively over the previous GTS.

Slightly bigger than a standard 12-volt battery, the 400 volt, liquid cooled battery pack provides power to the electric motors, but the 911 cannot run on electric power alone. So there’s no silent driving here. There’s also no starter, no alternator and no accessory belt. A benefit of the high voltage system. This cuts engine height by a whopping 4-inches. Still, all this hardware adds weight. 103 pounds over the previous model to be exact. But as I found on my morning street drive, the extra heft is not the big takeaway here.

“One of the benefits of this hybrid system is right here. Now, what I’m doing, kind of at low speeds where I’m really just above an idle and I want to kick it up a little bit as soon as I tap in, the response is there. Normally you’d have to wait for that response, but here. It’s pretty darn close to instant. The GT’s now accelerate 0 to 60 in under three seconds, about 2.9. according to Porsche, we have a habit of beating their own, expectations. So we’re probably talking to closer to the mid to, I would guess, yeah. That’s a lot of electric motor work there.

Again, I’m watching it here in the gauges when it goes full blue to the right. That’s how I know the electric motor is doing its job. And when I am asking for power, it’s giving me everything it has in addition to the internal combustion engine and. Man, it gets up to speed fast. You can hear it. You can hear it all working. You can see it working through the gauges. And most importantly, you can feel it working. But now we are going to get ready to head to the racetrack and, see how this hybrid system works out there.”

The track is the 3-mile long Ascari Circuit where we sampled rear wheel drive and all-wheel drive GTS Coupes.

“So I started in the GT track. Then I switched into the base Carrera, which still uses a three liter twin turbo flat six. But what I notice is really two things. Well, three. First is braking with the steel brakes and the standard Carrera. There’s just that. They just don’t have the bite of these carvings on the GT. The second thing is how flat the GT’s remains in corners.

That is PDQ Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control doing its thing. Minimize and roll. It makes a huge difference if you go back and forth between the base and the GT’s. You notice it on the first corner. How little this thing rolls. And then, of course, it’s the response. Yeah, it’s obviously more powerful than the base model, but it’s mostly just right at tip in that that little bit, that little bit of boost and you hear it.

And that’s what I love. I asked one of the Porsche engineers, you know, did you do any kind of sound deadening to get rid of the electric noises? And I said no, simply no. They said, that’s what it does. We put the electrical systems in this car. You should be able to hear it because that’s how it works.

And I respect that. And I actually like it. Not only do you have that boost and slower corners like this, the low end boost and it’s really low end. But when you get back on the throttle and now you’re climbing up the track, the power just keeps coming on and it doesn’t relent. And again, that’s that’s also the teamwork that’s happening with the powertrain, the advanced technology that’s going into this and making sure you have enough boost pressure when the turbo is feeding directly to the the electric motor, when it is feeding back into the 1.9kW hour battery.

It’s all happening seamlessly. And that’s really I mean, it can make your mind twist into a pretzel just thinking about all the different systems here. But as long as you don’t think about it and you just drive the car and just experience the end result of all those things, it’s good.”

The 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera hits dealers this fall with the GTS coming later in the year. Carrera Coupes start at just over $120,000 and GTS t-hybrid Coupes at more than $165,000 after destination.

We’ll have more on the new 911 and others soon on MotorWeek!