2020 Porsche 911's Real Power Figures Are A Delightful Surprise

Aug. 25, 2019 7:00 PM ET by Jay Traugott Sports Cars / 3 Comments

It makes 443 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque, right?

Porsche has proven itself time and time again of its capability to design and engineer ridiculously fast cars. Just two flat-six examples: the naturally aspirated 520-hp 911 GT3 RS and the twin-turbo 620-hp GT2 RS. The all-new 992 911 Carrera S is no exception to this. Powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-liter flat-six with a claimed 443 hp and 390 lb-ft of torque, this latest 911 is serious business, but it's important to note these figures are rated at the crank. They're not identical to what the new 911 will put down at the dyno, as Motor Trend correctly points out.

In fact, the publication decided to was time to get real-world figures with some dyno testing of its own and the results were not so surprising. Despite Porsche's claims, Motor Trend recorded 414 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. Yes, horsepower is down but torque is up.

Porsche AG

An automaker, specifically a German one, purposely understating a model's horsepower and torque? Never heard of such a thing! More specifically, MT states the Carrera S put those numbers down over three dyno runs in fourth gear. Typically, vehicles lose some power between the crank and the wheels because of drivetrain loss, which is the power lost to spinning the transmission and other essential mechanical items. Figure a drivetrain loss of about 15 percent.

With that in mind, MT then compensated for the 15 percent drivetrain loss and the results came to 487 hp and 478 lb-ft of torque at the crank – 44 hp and 88 lb-ft more than what Porsche claims.

Porsche AG via r-photography

Porsche AG

It's also worth noting that MT's 992 Carrera S is an early build model, adding "it's hard to say if its dyno performance is representative of the standard-production 992 Carrera S." But let's assume that it is, meaning 992 911 Carrera S buyers will be getting an awful lot more power (and a lot more fun) than what Porsche states. We don't think anyone will have any complaints.