Preview: 2008 Porsche 911 facelift

Porsche is updating the 911 for the 2008 model-year in line with the sport carmaker’s usual practice of changing its models roughly every three to four years. It will be hard to spot the difference between the new and the old as these latest renderings show, because most of the changes will be under the new sheet-metal.

Visually, the car is being enhanced with larger front air intakes and new fog-lights in the front bumper, giving a more aggressive look. Sportier variants get a larger front lip, but it remains uncertain whether the potent Turbo and upcoming Turbo Cabrio and GT2 will receive the same upgrades. At the rear are a new set of LED taillights and a new diffuser similar to that on the new GT3.

The biggest change is under the hood, thanks to the addition of a range of new direct-injection engines. Fuel economy improvements of over 10% are claimed by Porsche, and up to 15% in real life. The other big change is the inclusion of a DSG-style dual-clutch gearbox as an option. Most models will also come with a slight power increase in the range of 5-25hp.