Somehow, it feels like a big moment. These happen from time to time in the history of the world’s greatest sports car, but rarely mid-lifecycle. The original Turbo going on sale half a century ago was big, as was the introduction of power steering, four-wheel drive and a half sensible interior with the 964 in 1989.
The arrival of a brand new 911 cooled by what you drink rather than breathe in 1998 was enormous, perhaps the biggest single event in the car’s history since launch, but the arrival of the long wheelbase 991 with its electric power steering didn’t feel much less momentous back in 2011. Does the arrival of hybrid drive with the second generation of the 992 series feel as big as any of those? Perhaps not quite, but it is an event that compares very well to, say, the arrival of forced induction engines for standard models when the 991 was given its second lease of life in 2015.
It’s big because the hybrid affects everything, from the way it looks and sounds, to the way it goes in a straight line and around a corner. The irony, however, is that the one aspect you expect it to change most – its fuel consumption, CO2 output and therefore tax banding – is just about the only thing that has barely changed at all relative to the outgoing Carrera GTS.
