SPYSHOTS: 992 Porsche 911 facelift – Carrera range update to bring back naturally aspirated engine?

The Porsche 911 facelift has been sighted testing in prototype form, with the update for this 992-generation car sporting a selection of updates that can be seen in this set of images supplied by our spy photographer source.

At first glance, the camouflaged sports cars photographed here wear enlarged front bumper intakes which are almost Turbo-esque in size, though these are most likely to be of the regular Carrera range, as suggested by the lack of side intakes ahead of the rear wheel arches.

While the front bumper is fitted with foglamps that protrude a long way from the edges of the bumper, these are temporary units that won’t be on the final version, and instead will feature a set of daytime running lights which are likely to be concealed between the headlamps and the intakes. These intakes now sport vertical louvres which could swivel open and shut, depending on the level of cooling required by the car.

Briefly looking through a test mule’s window reveals what appears to be a full digital instrument display panel, which is curved like that on the battery-electric Taycan, albeit with a conventional sunshade above it in this vehicle.

At the rear end, the rear engine compartment lid has been revised from the pre-facelift’s singular unit, to what appears to be two individual panels which terminate higher to meet the lower edge of the rear window, now fully enveloping the “pause button” high-mount brake light compared to the pre-facelift configuration.

Further downwards, the rear bumper on these examples photographed remains clad in some camouflage panels, though the central diffuser/exhaust surround assembly appears closer to what could be a production item.

Here, the development car’s tailpipes are closer to each other in their central spacing, if not quite side-by-side as on current and past versions of the 911 GT3. Which brings us to a curious development – according to our spy photographers, a source says that the 992-generation 911 facelift “will” get a naturally aspirated 4.0 litre engine already serving in the sports car maker’s line-up.

Great news for naturally-aspirated engine purists, if the word on the grapevine turns out to be true. Given that the rumour is in the context of the mainstream Carrera range, the 9A2 Evo that serves in the mid-engine 718 range such as the GT4, Spyder and GTS variants would be the likely candidate, as opposed to the more expensive to produce, 9,000 rpm-capable 9R1.5 unit in the GT3 and GT3 RS.

If more swept capacity in place of forced induction is indeed the order, and assuming that power figures will continue to grow – where does that leave the 992-generation facelift GT3, if the current 992 Carrera GTS already outputs 480 PS, or just 30 PS shy of the 992 GT3? What direction might the GT division variants take, dear readers?

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