New 911

TO commemorate its 60th anniversary, Porsche has unveiled the 911 for MY09. Not that it looks radically different from the MY08, but substantial changes are under the hood, er.. boot. The two 3.6- and 3.8-litre petrols powering the Carrera and the sportier S models now feature direct injection, a first for Porsche although this injection methodology is being incorporated by almost every German manufacturer in their new power-trains. In a nutshell, DI allows for the fuel and air to be independently introduced into the combustion chamber, which ensures precise fuel metering and better atomisation leading to increased efficiency and lower emissions. As a result the power output is upped by 20PS and 30PS for the 3.6- and 3.8-litre mills which now put out 349PS and 380PS respectively.

The more significant introduction in the new 911 is the long awaited PDK (Porsche- Doppelkupplung) gearbox which is essentially similar in functionality to VW's acclaimed DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox). The PDK incorporates two clutches, one inside the other in a concentric circle, one each being used for odd and even gears. Unlike the DSG box, which works with six gears, the PDK has seven ratios to play with. This means gears one, three, five and seven work on one clutch while gears two, four and six on another. The obvious benefit is reduced shift time (the time for which

the driven wheels are completely non-powered) as the next gear is pre-selected as the ECU a pates the gear required by measuring parameters like throttle load, engine manifold pressure, wheel speed etc. Asa result of this wizardry, the Carrera coupe, get to hundred clicks in a sickness-ind 4.5 seconds, two-tenths of a second than a manual transmission equipped.

Exterior updates are subtle with LEDs at the front and rear ends and the standard bi-xenons with incorporated optional cornering lights. The MY09 911 goes or sale in Europe next month and expect it to make it to India soon after.