13 Cool Facts About the 2017 Porsche 911

Note: This article has been updated to reflect Google's statement about the data required from OEMs as part of the agreement to use Android Auto.

I landed in Frankfurt, Germany, on September 9, 2015. Purpose? To attend a deep background seminar on the new turbocharged Porsche 911 Carrera and Carrera S, codenamed 991/2. Problem? Porsche lifted the global embargo on all the information on September 7, two days before I landed, so everything Porsche planned to show me would be old news. Annoying to put it mildly. As to why they would do this, the German media was finished with their 911 background story on September 6, and that was good enough for Porsche. When I asked Porsche to please let me know the five or six Porsche markets larger than the United States—and California doesn't count—they would only fidget. The U.S., if you're wondering, is by far Porsche's largest market. Anyhow, despite all the information going live three days before Porsche retold it to me, here's what I learned that wasn't necessarily in the press release.

1. The Horsepower Numbers Are Wrong

The Carrera produces 365 hp, not 370. The Carrera S makes 414 hp, not 420. Why the confusion? Some German companies give the PS (Pferdestärke) rating. Although it was declared obsolete in 1972, brands continue to use PS ratings to boost their numbers. German automakers all use kW ratings to describe their engines' crankshaft outputs, but when they convert that into American English, they use PS instead of SAE horsepower. The Carrera produces 272 kW, and the Carrera S is good for 309. But 420 hp sounds better than 414, eh? Maddeningly, the torque figures Porsche provides are accurate, having been converted straight from Newton Meters: 331 and 368 lb-ft of torque, respectively.

Rest assured, the new 911 Carreras sound better than the current 911 Turbo. That's right. According to some development drivers I spoke with, the early mules were sent back to the engineers because they didn't sound "Porsche" enough. Must be something in the water in and around Stuttgart because AMG has long been able to make turbocharged engines sound less like hand dryers and more like, well, engines. Porsche's now in on the aural action. You're going to like the snarl these things make at WOT.

3. Porsche Didn't Downsize the Engine. They "Right Sized" It.

That's right, friends, sickening euphemisms are alive and well and living in Zuffenhausen. Both the 3.4-liter flat-six and the 3.8-liter flat-six have been replaced by a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo flat-six. But they haven't been downsized. They've been "right sized." They actually said that to us. With a straight face. Did it take most of my self-control not to raise my hand and say, "So, you're saying that the 3.8-liter flat-six in the GT3 is wrong sized?" Yes. Do German engineers have an obsession with 0.5-liter cylinders? Heck yes.

4. The Weight Distribution Has Shifted Further Back

That's right. Despite nearly every engineer on planet Earth turning blue in the face from screaming, "The engine's in the wrong place!" for the past 50 some odd years, the 991/2 is still rear-engine. Sure, Porsche's been slowly moving more and more weight forward (like the transmission) and between the axles over the years. But while the flat-six has been downsized (not right sized), all them fancy new turbos and intercoolers do in fact add weight—77 pounds (35 kilos) to be close to exact. Since all of that additional weight is found behind the firewall, the weight bias has shifted rearward. How much? We'll have to weigh it and find out.

5. The new 911 Only Has Apple Car Play Because Google Agreement Is Nicht Gut

There's no technological reason the 991/2 doesn't have Android Auto playing through its massively upgraded PCM system. Why doesn't it have it? As part of the agreement an automaker would have to enter with Google, Porsche said certain pieces of data must be collected and transmitted back to Mountain View, California. Stuff like vehicle speed, throttle position, coolant and oil temp, engine revs—basically Google wants a complete OBD2 dump whenever someone activates Android Auto. Not kosher, says Porsche. Obviously, this is "off the record," but Porsche feels info like that is the secret sauce that makes its cars special. Moreover, giving such data to a multibillion-dollar corporation that's actively building a car, well, that ain't good, either. Apple, by way of stark contrast, only wants to know if the car is moving while Apple Play is in use. It makes you wonder why other OEMs have agreed to Google's terms, no? That's 35-plus companies, including Volkswagen and Audi.

Google, for its part, disputes some of our source's assertions. Liz Markman, a Google spokesperson for Android Auto, said in a statement that Google does not collect some of the data listed by Porsche, such as throttle position and coolant temp. She declined to provide a full list of what data is collected, but emphasized that Android Auto users must opt in to share any information upon their first connection of their phone to a car. She said some of that data is used for safety (restricting typing and allowing only voice input when the car is not in "park," for example) and some is to used to optimize the app's user experience.

6. Virtual Gears

In truth, the 991 Turbo also has virtual gears. But that car's so specialized that no one really cared. Until now. Here's how it works. Let's say that for purposes of fuel economy, it would be better if a gear between second and third were engaged. For instance, your velocity is such that you don't need all the power generated in second gear, but third gear would lower the engine revs too much. But that gear doesn't exist! Not so fast. Thanks to the magic of Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK), the new 911 has a near infinite number of virtual gears. There's no easy way to explain how it works, so just read the following: "This function is achieved by partially engaging two adjacent gears simultaneously while slipping both clutches slightly to achieve an effective gear ratio in between them." See? Simple! And helps to make the 991/2 14 percent more efficient than the 991. A key thing to know. Side note: I'm going to start calling PDK "Padonkaklappaflappa."

7. The Drive Mode Selector Feels Cheap

The good news: In addition to Sport and Sport Plus, Porsche now offers an individual mode so you can tailor the car to exactly your liking. It even has a Sport Response button (more on that below). But the whole control is hella cheap feeling! The only analogue in modern premium cars I can think of is the cruise control switch on the Maserati Ghibli, which feels like a rejected Lada part. Porsche is well-known for premium interior bits, which are as good as anything found in any car, save for the really high-buck stuff found in Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. How did this low-rent plastic piece sneak its way through? Especially because enthusiasts—you know, the people that actually use Sport and Sport Plus and make up Porsche's key, core demographic—will be constantly fiddling with it. But you may not need to worry; you have to opt for the Sport Chrono package to get the drive mode selector.

8. The Air Intake is Complicated

The existing 911 Turbo has big inlets on the rear fenders to feed the intercoolers. Easy—cold air comes in the front, hot air exists from the rear. Of course, the new 911 is also a twin-turbo, only it doesn't have any fender vents. How then to get the cold air in? Lurking underneath those rear, vertical louvers sit no fewer than three separate cold air intakes. The central intake, which is larger and mounted higher, feeds the engine's intake plenum. Below that intake and offset to either side are two intakes, one for each intercooler. These intakes are actually farther aft on the 911 than the engine itself. So the cold air must then snake forward through big plastic ducts before entering the heat exchanger. Hot air is then spat out through exhaust holes on the rear fascia. Wouldn't it have been easier to cut some holes in the front of the fender like on big daddy Turbo? Apparently, some things are sacred.

9. The Direct Injectors Are Centrally Mounted

Most direct injectors are mounted off to one side of the cylinder, with the spark plug fitted between the valves up top. Not so on the 991/2. The spark plug is still mounted up high, between the valves, but canted off a couple of degrees to one side. Likewise, the big DI piezo comes in from the top of the cylinder. Though if you think about the mechanics of a boxer engine, the fuel rails can now be on top of the heads, which effectively pushes them out to the sides of the vehicle, instead of above the block where all that new turbo plumbing sits. Porsche claims there are advantages to squirting highly pressurized fuel into a cylinder this way. Chiefly, "good spatial filling" and "low wall wetting." More digestibly, the amount of raw emissions is reduced.

10.There's a Drift Mode

When I was getting hurled around Hockenheim by Herr Alex Ernst, he asked me where I lived and I said Los Angeles. He said, "Oh, I have a friend in California—Jason Cammisa." I began laughing and explained that I now work with that crazy SOB. After some more chatter, Ernst said, "If you're friends with Jason, you must like drifting." He then proceeded to hit the "death button," as he referred to it (the PSM button—traction and stability control), and out went the rear end. In case you were worried, rest assured that the 991/2 drifts remarkably well. Especially when a pro's pro like Ernst is the wheelman. However, he didn't have to turn everything off. PSM Sport has been reworked to allow "ambitious sport-oriented driving." Essentially, it's a Drift mode. So that's cool.

Not so cool is "residual PSM support." Meaning that even if you have everything turned off, if the car decides you're going to crash, it will try and save itself/you. Now, based on the ride-along I got and the extreme driving Ernst got up to, "PSM support" will not affect 99.999 percent of drivers. However, it will be curious to see what our pro shoe (Randy Pobst) has to say, as he's become very good at detecting when cars have some sort of phantom safety system pop up. For example, the McLaren MP4-12C and the Lexus LFA both had some sort of system take control of part of the vehicle. Typically when the cars are nearly airborne over Mazda Raceway's Turn 1 at more than 140 mph. But still.

12. Push to Pass/BMW Mode

Remember the Sport Response button? It's mounted smack in the middle of the drive mode selector dial. Here's what it does. Push it, and Sport Plus is activated for 20 seconds. This means that the PDK drops to the lowest available gear, the engine revs climb, and turbo boost is maximized. Then you can blow around the Prius doing 56 mph the fast lane with ease. Hallelujah.

13. Porsche's Going to Sell More Base Than S Models Because It Has To

CO2 Emissions. They are a thing, and an increasingly scary one if you're trying to sell cars in Europe. The current EU carbon dioxide emissions standard is 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer average. By 2021 that drops to 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer. The old/current Carrera S with PDK produces 202 g/km. The new 991/2 Carrera S is down to 174 g/km, and the base Carrera is at 169 g/km. Sure, both of these new cars miss the 2015 standard and are close to double the 2021 one. But remember that the EU emissions standard is a corporate average, and Porsche - as much as they'd like to forget in the wake of the Dieselgate NOx scandal - is owned by the Volkswagen Automotive Group. Meaning that every VW, Seat, and Skoda—as well as hybrids, PHEVs, and BEVs from all the brands—sold helps lower the group's CO2 average. Still, Porsche has to pull some of its own weight. At one point in time, Carrera S sales were outstripping Carrera sales by about nine to one. VW simply can't allow that to happen any longer, which is why you'll see performance out of the base 911 that's better than it's ever been before.