Porsche 911's weight dilemma: Balancing safety and performance
Gaining weight and size is a constant trend in the automotive industry, which does not spare sports cars either. A great example is the Porsche 911, which has been growing from generation to generation.
Representatives of the brand are well aware of this, but for now, they are unable to change anything. Michael Mauer, head of Porsche's projects department, told the Australian magazine "Drive" that the increase in the weight of the 911 is mainly due to safety regulations, although not only.
Another critical issue is the 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 the head, creating a smaller 911 in the era of combustion vehicles is impossible. However, electrification may be an opportunity only if energy density improves, allowing for smaller batteries. Mauer would like the 911 to return to its roots and be "as compact as possible." For now, this is not possible.
Let us recall that the recently introduced 992.2 generation with a hybrid and all-wheel drive weighs about 1,600 kg, while the Carrera RS 2.7 from 1972 did not exceed 1,000 kg.
