New 911 Turbo mule hints at facelifted front end

You know how it goes with Porsche 911s – once the really crazy one has been made, it’s time to announce the new normal version to stop people obsessing over 8,500rpm and manuals too much. The 997 GT3 RS 4.0 arrived just before the 991 generation, the 911 R just before the introduction of turbo Carreras, and now the S/T is here, so a full range refresh must be imminent. This Turbo test mule is our best look yet at what a 992.2 will be. 

Most could probably have guessed a revised 911 would look like the outgoing car; it’s a strategy that’s served Porsche well for decades, and in times of such uncertainty it’s not going to start meddling with its evolutionary facelift strategy now. That being said, this is the most significantly altered 992.2 spied yet, with what looks like new bumpers front and rear as well as the LED light design seen elsewhere in the Porsche lineup. It looks… well, it looks like a 992 in the snow, to be frank. It doesn’t seem like a whole lot has changed until the details are pointed out. 

Much more is expected under the skin, however, with the option of newly electrified powertrains coming for the 911. It had been suggested that the incoming Turbo would inherit the 48-volt mild hybrid system Porsche apparently has lined up for the 3.0-litre derivatives – but now it seems like the flagship might retain its pure ICE layout, albeit with a rumoured new 3.6-litre flat-six in place of the existing motor. If true, this will probably be a radical enough change for most Porsche fanatics, especially as the Carrera-bound hybrid system supposedly developed with Rimac will be chewed over at great length – even allowing for the fact that the manufacturer has already assured us that it will not need to be plugged in. 

None of that is official just yet, of course, though Porsche has been fairly upfront about its intention to hybridise the 992. Even the 911 must conform to legislative trends in time, and electrifying it innovatively – i.e. not adding many kilos, and improving the weight balance by placing a small battery up front – feels quite a Porsche way of doing it. While also making the four-wheel drive cars even madly faster, presumably. The 2025 Model Year 911 is coming at some point later this year, so expect all those details to be fleshed out and made official in due course. And while it’s probably a given that you’ll need sharp eyes to tell it apart from its predecessor, the 992.2 looks set to be among the more memorable 911 facelifts.