Motoring: Porsche 911 GTS
Porsche’s 911 range now covers over 20 variants, each designed for drivers seeking varying degrees of grand touring luxury or outright performance and dynamic handling. Bridging the gap between the versatile Carrera and the savage Turbo is the GTS: Porsche’s first hybrid 911
Decisions, decisions. Let’s start with an easy one. We can unequivocally recommend a Porsche 911. Released in 1964, there have been eight distinct generations of the car, with the present one launched in 2018 and a facelifted version appearing in 2025. Today’s Porsche 911 lineup comprises no fewer than 20 variants, from the Carrera model and its lighter Touring iteration, to the more powerful S and 4S versions and then the ‘hardcore’ Turbo, GT3 and GT3 RS versions.
In addition to different levels of performance you can also specify coupé, cabriolet and Targa (glass roof) iterations and even a rugged Dakar off-road 911 for competing in the eponymous endurance rally. Rear-wheel drive? All-wheel drive? Manual gearboxes or automatic transmission? They’re all options facing a motorist looking to acquire their ideal Porsche 911.
And that’s even before you begin to dive into the Porsche configurator and start to specify colours, interior trim, plus technology and performance options, from the manufacturer’s Sport Chrono package to Porsche’s Active Suspension Management (PASM) system or Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDDC). It this just too much choice? Nope. Not a bit.
In fact, configuring your 911 is a bit like commissioning a bespoke suit. It’s yours to personalise, to turn into an individual reflection of what matters to you as a driver, from creating a luxurious grand tourer with an automatic gearbox and plenty of tech, or a lithe, lightweight and performance-oriented racer. Porsche’s GTS is a great compromise.
Sitting between the more comfort-focused grand tourer models, and the more aggressive performance-oriented versions, Porsche’s press bumph describes it as ‘dynamic’ which you can interpret as having less savagery than a Turbo or GT3, but a similar leaning towards driving feedback, and finessed handling balanced between comfort and a track-oriented car.
Most 911 models achieve 60mph in three seconds, although the Turbo versions sprint to 60mph in 2.5 seconds. Power outputs across the whole range span to 394-711PS. Prices are from £103,000 to £210,000.
The Goldilocks Carrera GTS is priced at £137,000, reaches 60mph in three seconds flat and has an output of 541ps. It’s available as an all-wheel drive and cabriolet and Targa versions. The GTS has a 3.6-litre flat six engine with electric turbocharger, a 400-volt traction battery and Porsche’s PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe – good job they used an acronym), which is a dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Sports car purists might dismiss the GTS’s hybrid turbo assistance and automatic ‘box as diluting the traditionally ‘authentic’ driving experience of that a 911 offered, but for the rest of us, it’s impossible to make a case for a car that makes you work harder to derive the same performance and handling as this thoroughly modern 911.
The GTS is Porsche’s first hybrid 911 and it’s every bit a reflection of the direction of travel in which all cars – even the world’s most famous and well-respected sports car – are going. Will an all-electric 911 follow?
We think it’s an inevitability and that will certainly be controversial, but if the execution of that is as good as the GTS’s ability, as a hybrid, to remain faithful to the 911’s DNA, we’re looking forward to it.
But that’s for the future. For now, the 911 GTS is definitely the sweet spot in the range; it’s quick, easy to live with, refined enough to offer comfort and dynamic enough to assure any driver of ride and handling worthy of a motoring connoisseur.
Porsche 911 Carrera GTS
Price: £137,900 (coupé).
Engine: 3.6-litre six-cylinder petrol with 541PS and 570Nm torque, rear-wheel drive.
Performance: Top speed: 194 mph, 0–60 mph: approx. 3.0 seconds.
Economy & Emissions: Combined fuel economy: approximately 27.4 mpg (WLTP) CO₂ emissions: approximately 233g/km.
Equipment: 20”/21” wheels, matrix LED headlights, Bose stereo, Sport Chrono Package, part-electric seats, heated with heated steering wheel, cruise, climate.