Porsche’s New Carrera GTS Lineup Bridges The Performance Gap Between S and GT3

Things have been a little quiet on the 991 front lately. In fact, Porsche has only introduced the Targa variant so far this year. Well, now they are jumping in with both feet, introducing four models simultaneously, the Carrera GTS, the Carrera 4 GTS, the Carrera GTS Cabriolet, and the Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet. Whew, that’s a mouth full. As with the 997 versions of these models, the 991 continues the trend with the GTS models sitting smack in the middle of the lineup between S and GT3 models. With the S and 4S making an even 400 horsepower, and the GT3 laying down an impressive 475 horsepower, there was clearly some room in the middle to experiment with performance. Enter the GTS with its 430 horsepower engine cribbed directly from the 50th Anniversary Edition.

In addition to the extra power, the GTS brings a whole mess of standard features to the table that are available options on the Carrera S, but cost a whole lot more when pieced together separately. Sport Chrono and a Sport Exhaust are standard. Porsche Active Stability Management is standard, offering a 10mm lower ride height than your average Carrera. Bi-Xenon headlamps are standard, including Porsche Dynamic Light Systems. Leather trimmed sport seats are standard, and they’re outfitted with traditional GTS Alcantara center panels.

From the outside, it will certainly be easy to differentiate a GTS from a run-of-the-mill Carrera S. First of all, the four GTS variants are all based on the 991’s widebody architecture, featuring flared wheel arches and a wider track. Exclusive gloss-black 20″ center lock wheels are mounted at all four corners. Those Bi-Xenon headlights are specially trimmed in black for the GTS models. The exhaust tips are plated in ‘black chrome’. Even the air intakes on the decklid are trimmed in black.

That extra 30 horsepower gains you about a tenth of a second advantage in the sprint to sixty miles per hour. For example, a PDK equipped Carrera GTS will hit 60 in 3.8 seconds (the drop-top takes 4.0 seconds). Top speeds are all right around 190 miles per hour depending on which transmission you have, and whether or not you’ve opted for all-wheel drive. In spite of all of these performance gains, the GTS is pretty close to the 991 Carrera S in terms of efficiency and emissions quality.

Price Of The 2015 Porsche Carrera GTS

The GTS versions of your favorite Carrera will be trickling into dealerships in the United States starting this November. MSRP for the new Carrera GTS starts at $114,200, while the GTS Cabriolet starts at $126,100. The Carrera 4 GTS will bow with an MSRP of $120,900 in Coupe and $132,800 in Cabriolet form. A destination charge of $995 is not included in the MSRP.  For those of you in Canada, The 911 Carrera GTS and 911 Carrera 4 GTS will arrive by year end with pricing starting at $130,300 for the Carrera GTS, and $137,900 for the Carrera 4 GTS.

I predict that this will probably be a hot seller, as its the highest performance naturally aspirated 991 that you can buy with a traditional manual transmission. I think the most important question we can ask here is ‘When will we see a Targa 4 GTS?’

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[Photos provided by Porsche]