Even Porsche thinks the 911 is too big

The head of design wants a more compact 911, but that won't happen in the combustion engine era

Photo by: Porsche

By: Stefan Wagner

Aug 2, 2024 at 4:09am ET

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There are a few exceptions, but as a rule, each new generation of a car is bigger than its predecessor. We have known this game for decades. Ever stricter safety standards and customers' desire for ever greater performance are to blame. If you cram more and more technology into your vehicles, you make them heavier. This also applies to previously small and light sports cars, some of which have reached immense proportions.

Porsche is aware of this worrying trend, but has to admit that the company's hands are currently tied. In an interview with the Australian magazine Drive, Porsche's head of design Michael Mauer said that legislation regarding safety standards and other necessities have contributed to the enormous growth of the 911. In addition, the huge increase in performance has forced engineers to accommodate ever larger wheels and brakes.

"It's also heavily influenced by [government regulations] and the [car's] design. If you look back 20, 30 years and see how much horsepower the 911 had then and how much it has now, that influences the size of the wheels, the size of the brakes and all those things."

Ideally, Porsche would like to bring out a smaller 911, but that is no longer feasible in the current era of combustion engines. Mauer hinted that it could become technically possible once electric technology has progressed further. As soon as energy density is improved and batteries can become smaller, the 911 could also potentially shrink. However, Zuffenhausen has already ruled out the possibility of launching a fully electric 911 on the market this decade. Whether the legend would have the same appeal without a combustion engine is another matter.

In a perfect world, Mauer would like to make the 911 "as compact as possible" and return it to its roots as a "very compact little sports car". However, the usual packaging problems are currently preventing this vision from being realised - a problem that affects almost all vehicle types, not just the sporty ones.

In fact, the current 992 has made further gains with its recently presented facelift. At least the 911 GTS, which is now the first 911 in history to be equipped with a hybrid drive. Thanks to the new drivetrain, the car has gained a total of 50 kilograms and now weighs 1,595 kilograms as a rear-wheel drive model. However, we were already able to see in the test of the 992.2 that the new system is more beneficial than the manageable additional weight is detrimental.

Nevertheless, a look back is somewhat sobering: a 1972 911 Carrera RS 2.7 weighed just 960 kg. However, you can still buy a sports car in 2024 that weighs only slightly more than the good old RS 2.7. We are talking about the Mazda MX-5, but of course the cult roadster is far from being a real rival to the current Porsche 911. And even the MX-5 will have to be electrified in the foreseeable future in order to fulfil stricter emissions regulations. So it will probably become heavier too.

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