If the styling suggests this is merely a facelift, the engineers tell a different story. Eighty per cent of the 997’s parts are new, from the aluminium bonnet to the six-speed gearbox and the radically revised cabin.
Though the 2350mm wheelbase is carried over, the new car is 3mm shorter and 38mm wider than the old one, while track width is up 21mm at the sharp end and 11mm out back. Careful wind tunnel work has knocked a point off the 996’s 0.30 Cd figure.
Motive power for the standard £58,380 Carrera comes from a development of the 996’s 3.6-litre flat six, again slung way out beyond the rear axle but this time producing 321bhp (up from 315bhp thanks to ECU tweaks) at 6800rpm and the same 273lb ft of torque at 4250rpm. But S versions have an extra 200cc, boosting output to an almost GT3-rivalling 350bhp at 6600rpm and a solid 295lb ft of torque, albeit developed higher up the rev range than in the standard car at 4600rpm.
Weight has crept up too, giving a power-to-weight ratio of 246bhp for the 1420kg S, compared with 234bhp for the last of the 996s. Both cars get a new six-speed manual gearbox, although the familiar five-speed Tiptronic auto remains an option, at least until the PDK dual-clutch DSG-style ’box arrives.
For now, the most intriguing changes are both chassis related: variable-ratio steering replaces the existing linear-ratio rack on both models, while optional on Carrera but standard on S models is Porsche Active Suspension Management, the first outing for an adaptive damping system on a 911.
There are no brash spoilers to let the world know your car is an S rather than a standard Carrera, but the clues are there. S cars tote four (not two) exhaust pipes, a discreet script on their rumps and roll on chunky new 19-inch alloys rather than the 18s fitted to the base model.