Porsche 911 battles weight gain: Modern safety and power to blame
Gaining weight and size is a constant trend in the automotive industry, and sports cars are no exception. A great example is the Porsche 911, which has been growing from generation to generation.
10:46 AM EDT, July 31, 2024
Representatives of the brand are well aware of this, but for now, they cannot change anything. Michael Mauer, head of Porsche's projects department, told the Australian magazine "Drive" that the increase in the 911's weight is mainly due to safety regulations, though not exclusively.
Another critical issue is performance, which forces engineers to use larger wheels and brakes. "Whenever, if you go back in 20, 30 years ago, how much horsepower the 911 had and how much it has today, that drives the size of the wheels, the size of the brakes, all this stuff," says Mauer.
According to Mauer, creating a smaller 911 in the era of combustion vehicles is impossible. However, electrification might be an opportunity only if energy density improves, allowing for smaller batteries. Mauer would like the 911 to be "as compact as possible." For now, this is not feasible.
Let us recall that the recently introduced 992.2 generation with a hybrid and all-wheel drive weighs about 3,527 pounds, while the Carrera RS 2.7 from 1972 did not exceed 2,205 pounds.
