The story of the Porsche 911 (991) has taken its next step with the release of information for the Carrera 4 and 4S. Of course, the major difference here, compared to the regular 911s, is the addition of an all-wheel drive system, or Porsche Traction Management (PTM) to use the official titile. Hence the 4 in the model designation.
Porsche trainspotters will also know the C4 models have wider hips and in the 991 the extra width is 22mm. The rear tyres are 10mm wider, as well.
They will have also noticed the small dome beneath the front number plate meaning this is the first 911 to offer the option of Adaptive Cruise Control, which will now be available across the full 911 range.
Weight saving measures have enabled Porsche to lose as much as 65kg from the 991 C4S when compared to the old 997 model.
The 3.4 litre and 3.8 litre flat six engines carry over unchanged from the rear-wheel drive models. So that means the Carrera 4 has 257kW on tap, while the Carrera 4S has 294kW.
Extra grip off the line allows the C4S to overcome its extra weight and equal the 4.1 seconds required to reach 100km/h in the rear-wheel drive Carrera S. While the Carrera 4 requires 4.5 seconds, a tenth quicker than its two-wheel drive counterpart.
Porsche has also released details for the Cabriolet version of the C4. If you’re opting for a roofless 911 you could probably care less about its 0–100 times, but we’ll share them with you anyway. The C4 Cabrio takes 4.7 seconds and the C4S Cabrio 4.3 seconds.
Impressively, for car’s of this nature, Porsche claims the combined fuel consumption for the Carrera 4 and 4S sits around 9.0l/100km, give or take.
The official public debut for the Carrera 4 and 4S will take place at the Paris Motor Show and European sales are scheduled for late this year. So you should be seeing these in Australia by early 2013.