Porsche 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid Coupe Drive Review : Porsche Spice [YIC2024]

Porsche's 911 C2 GTS T-Hybrid is big on sugar, spice and all things nice

You have to wonder if the Porsche product folks take a break from social media whenever there’s a major model launch, simply because of the tide of outrage that rears its head with any break from tradition.

Purists never take well to changes, especially at the very start. However, as we’ve seen, time can turn even the hardest heart. Either you embrace change and flow with the times, or you buy an old Porsche. 

Porsche has seen several big paradigm shifts over the past few decades in the iconic 911: Air-cooled made way for water-cooled engines, the 911 Carrera and its variants have gone from nat-asp to turbo, and the RS has gone from manual to PDK-only, to name just a few.

See also: Read our full launch drive review of the 992.2 GTS T-Hybrid here

However, we’ve come to realise that Porsche is one of the few brands that does not give in to dilution and continues to retain its fun-to-drive DNA, and this holds true across the entire model range.

This means that every iteration of its sportscars push the dynamic envelope in a manner that is recognisably Porsche, and the 992.2 C2 GTS T-Hybrid Coupe – the brand’s first production 911 hybrid model – looks to be no exception.

See also: An introduction to: The Year in Cars - 2024

The 992.2 brings with it a host of changes, which include the five vertical active-aero slats on each side of the lower bumper for the GTS.

We like the menacing Darth Vader vibes, especially in combination with the test-car’s Slate Grey Neo body-colour. These close when power requirements are low to improve aerodynamics but open during maximum attack driving for added cooling.

Most notably on the inside, the instruments are now fully-digital and the car is fired-up to life with a start/stop button.

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Porsche tells us the fully-digital instruments allow the driver to customise the information displayed, so he / she sees only the relevant details. In a nod to tradition, there’s even a Classic display inspired by the familiar five-dials and central tachometer of earlier 911s.

The hybrid hardware in the 911 GTS T-Hybrid acts as a performance supplement. This ‘torque-filler’ bridges the gap from standstill to the point the single-turbo 3.6-litre (upsized from the 992.1’s 3.0) flat-six rouses to life, resulting in stupendous performance that is practically lag-free.

There’s no plug-in feature or EV mode, just a huge hit of adrenaline when both ICE and electric motor kick-in. That’s a combined 541hp and 610Nm dollop of hard-hitting goodness, with the happy consequence of reduced emissions in the process.

With its compelling blend of performance and daily-use pliancy (since its introduction in the 997.2 generation), many regard the GTS as the sweet-spot of the regular 911 range.

The T-Hybrid now gives the GTS even more crunchy bite to go with its bark, especially with lightweight, motorsports-derived electric motors integrated into the turbocharger (eTurbo), as well as the PDK gearbox.

We were initially a little sceptical of the T-Hybrid powertrain, but the moment we let the hammer fall, phew, it was a revelation of the apocalyptic variety. If this is what’s possible with just a GTS, imagine what will happen if (or when!) Porsche applies it to the Turbo S or GT2 RS!

At first, you struggle to reconcile the powertrain’s instantaneous surge of forward propulsive goodness in response to your right foot. However, it quickly becomes second nature and you begin to wonder how you lived with a turbocharged car sans ‘torque-filler’!

Flat-out, it’s easy to go nuts on the straights, but the C2 GTS really shines in the corners as it carves them up with pin-point precision.

The newfound responsiveness imparts a liveliness to the car that makes light of its 1.6-tonne kerbweight, especially since it’s so easy to adjust its angle of attack with the throttle.

It’s engagingly light on its feet, with a finely-honed sense of purpose to its chassis that is a hallmark of all great driver’s cars. With speed rightly should come sound, and the natural melody of the turbo’d engine features an angry mechanical overlay that gives the GTS its own sonic identity – rousing, ragey and raunchy!

With the electric motor integrated into the PDK dual-clutch gearbox, it’s unlikely there’ll be a manual version of the GTS – not that we missed a stick-shift. If anything, the furious onslaught of torque from the powertrain was perfectly matched to the PDK’s lightning-quick shifts.

There’s never been a greater performance gap between the plain vanilla C2 and C2 GTS than in the 992.2 generation. With the C2 GTS T-Hybrid, Porsche has shown the devastating potential when electrification is harnessed to boost performance, which bodes very well indeed for higher-powered turbocharged variants of the 911.

PORSCHE 911 CARRERA GTS T-HYBRID COUPE (Type 992.2)
Engine 3591cc, flat-six, turbocharged
Battery, 1.9kWh, 400V
System Power 541hp at 6,500rpm
System Torque 610Nm at approx. 2,000rpm–6,000rpm
Transmission 8-speed PDK dual-clutch
0–100km/h 3secs
Top speed 312km/h