2012 Porsche 911

 

 Back in Feburary 2012, the Top Gear team climbed into something that looked like Porsche 911... and they had to keep it a secret... until now.

Whole story here. Source: BBC-Top Gear

 "A 911, but not as we know it. Under the tape and mesh lights covers and false turbo-look side vents, it's running all-new body and chassis. But then when did a new 911 ever look much different from the old? Not since ever.

 It even sounded the same: again, no surprise given its flat-six isn’t vastly modified from what today’s retiring 911s have.
We’ll have the full story in next month’s Top Gear magazine, but for now, here are some of our impressions of our time in Porsche’s prototype 991, only the third new 911 design in the car’s 48 year history. It's going to be formally unveiled at the Frankfurt show in September

First, the big surprise: it felt less rear-engined. Less 911-ish, more Cayman-like. Because, in a way, it is. Of course, the engine’s where it always was, hanging out the back. But the rear wheels have moved 70mm back to meet it, reducing its leverage over the rest of the car. So the mass of that engine has less see-sawing effect when you go over crests or dips. If those events coincide with a corner, there's less corkscrewing body movement.