The New 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera Is a Stealth GTS in a Base Car Body

It may not quite look or feel like it, but the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera (992.2-generation) is nearly a 992.1-generation GTS under its engine cover. OK, then why is it only 9-hp juicier than last year’s Carrera, you ask? It’s all a big emissions-compliance deal. Porsche is looking forward to new Euro 7 emissions regulations that kick in at the beginning of 2027, imposing stricter limits that essentially eliminate the full-throttle fuel enrichment that’s long been used to regulate combustion and exhaust temperatures. Simply dialing the fuel mixture back to stoichiometric (14.7 parts air to one part fuel, or lambda=1) would have hobbled the base Carrera’s power, torque, and performance. So it’s getting some GTSification. The GTS, for its part, is also overhauled for the 992.2 gen, but it's become the first-ever electrified 911—read our First Look on the new GTS here, and everything you need to know about its new hybrid engine here.

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911 Turbo Intercooler, GTS Turbos

With extra fuel in there evaporating to cool down the combustion chamber, the Carrera's engine could run aggressive spark advance. Dialing that back to prevent the engine from knocking itself to death without the extra fuel reduces power. The solution: cram in more air so you can legally burn more fuel, and cool that charge down as much as possible with a jumbo intercooler. So the base 2025 Porsche 911 992.2 Carrera borrows the intercooler from the 911 Turbo, and the larger turbos that used to power the GTS. They blow more air into the 3.0-liter engine than the old Carrera turbos could muster, but boost is dialed back somewhat from former GTS levels—to 17.4 psi. That drop and the lambda-1 compliance results in last year’s base Carrera output plus 9 hp: 388 hp and 331 lb-ft of torque.

Slight Performance Bump

Porsche claims the 2025 911 Carrera 992.2 model will scoot to 60 mph 0.1-second quicker than before, and last year’s claim for the rear-drive coupe was 4.0 seconds, 3.8 with Sport Chrono package and launch control (add 0.2 second to each for the porkier cabriolet). Top speed also increases by a single kilometer per hour, to 294 kph (that’s 183 mph for people taking European delivery and hoping to find an uncrowded, unlimited stretch of autobahn).

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What About Fuel Economy?

EPA testing isn’t complete yet, but don’t expect a huge bump in the test-cycle numbers. No 911 has ever needed anything close to wide-open-throttle to complete the FTP 75 test, so we’d expect similar results. But if you primarily drive your 911 during track days, where you’re routinely doing a lot of wide-open-throttle work, you may find yourself filling up less often—and generating way fewer emissions in the process.

What Else Changes?

Outside, the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera’s soft bits get a revamp, including new fascias front and rear, with the front ones abutting new LED Matrix headlamp units that incorporate the marker-light function that used to be down in the bumper. This allows the outer air inlets to grow a bit. Porsche says the aerodynamics are improved on the base car, and a new AeroKit option integrates a front spoiler lip, special side skirts, and a lighter fixed rear wing, all of which work to reduce lift at some cost to drag.

Inside, the rear seats become optional, the instrument cluster is replaced by a 12.6-inch all-digital screen offering a choice of seven designs, including (of course) the classic five-tube analog gauge-look with the tach in the center. For the first time on a 911, there’s a start button to the left of the steering wheel, and the drive-mode switch is incorporated on the wheel. Apple CarPlay is more thoroughly integrated, allowing some info to be displayed on the instrument cluster. And a new center-console storage area includes a cooled storage space for a phone, with a 15-watt inductive charger.

The high-resolution 10.9-inch infotainment screen handles customization of drive modes, performance readouts, and can display a QR code that simplifies logging in via Porsche ID. It also enables video streaming when parked and runs apps like Spotify and Apple Music even without a smart phone attached.

When and How Much?

Order banks are opening for rear-drive coupe and cabriolet models only, with deliveries beginning in the fall of 2024 (and a cascade of other variants to follow, starting with the Carrera GTS at the end of 2024). The 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera 992.2 coupe starts at $122,095 and the drop-top Cabriolet opens at $133,400. Both prices represent a $6,000-plus bump, that’s largely offset by $3,440 worth of previously optional gear made standard (LED Matrix lamps, lane keeping, ambient lighting, power-folding mirrors), not to mention the increased power, digital instrumentation, phone charger, etc.

Buyers should watch the aftermarket, which will surely be quick to offer electronics that unlock the full potential of those GTS turbos when no Euro 7-sniffers are watching.