Porsche takes the disguise off the 991

Zuffenhausen seems to think that the impact of the next Porsche 911, codenamed 991, will be big enough at September’s Frankfurt motor show even if they give us plenty of hints leading up to the official unveil. Their boldness has gone to the length of parading around Stuttgart in just about undisguised Porsche 991s, in full view of our spies in the bushes. The latest pics reveal the 991 in almost all its glory, with a 10cm longer wheelbase, wider front and rear ends, and new character lines. Well, not entirely new of course, otherwise it wouldn’t be a Porsche, but the biggest change is in the rear end with totally new lights (don’t let the tape fool you, the lights are much more slender and angular) and a very unfussy finish. The front is a little less adventurous, going with Boxster and Cayman style air dams, and very similar headlights to what we currently see on the 997 Porsches. As we’ve reported before, all the engines will be new direct injection units, with the Carrera S getting a slight power hike to 400bhp, and the base Carrera depending on 350 horses, sharing the Boxster’s 3.4-litre engine. Transmissions are a choice of seven-speed double-clutch PDK or manual ‘boxes, but fear not as launch control will be available on both.