During the 991-generation of Porsche’s 911, the rear-engine sports car largely migrated away from the naturally aspirated flat-6 engines that had powered it since its inception in the 1960s, adopting a downsized capacity and a pair of turbochargers for even the entry-level Carrera.
While the 911 purists might still be wincing at the idea, the fact that these 3.0-litre engines carried over to the 992 generation does open up a much higher ceiling for performance should they be willing to dip their feet in aftermarket tuning.
Litchfield, one of the most well known tuning houses and famed for their many permutations on the Nissan R35 GT-R, have gotten their paws on the all-new 911 Carrera S. After much experimentation and calibration work, they now claim that the middling 911 can, thanks to the magic of turbocharging, match a 991-gen 911 Turbo S.
Power is up from 331kW to 427kW. Torque, meanwhile, rose from 530Nm to 650Nm. Mind you, this was done with a mere ECU remap with no upgraded components installed, though Litchfield does offer an exhaust upgrade package from either Remus or Akrapovic.
The natural next step for this now roided-up 992 Carrera S is, obviously, to see how the car’s new-found performance stacks up next to a previous-generation 911 Turbo S. However, the latter’s all-wheel traction advantage should give it some edge over Litchfield’s newest beast.
Therefore, perhaps the UK-based tuners next prey should be the equally all-pawed Carrera 4S. And there is more work to be done on other attributes such as everyday drivability and longevity. At this stage, the company was exploring the limits of the new 911’s output, but still have a ways to go before it can be deemed the all-rounder product that Litchfield’s other tunes are known to embody.
Even if the final ECU remap product is slightly more tame in order to accommodate a smoother, more temperamental nature, it still bodes well for owners of the 992-generation 911 to know that their car has rather vast reserves of performance just waiting to be unleashed.
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