The Newest 911 Launched, the 8th Generation

The first 911 was designed by Ferdinand Porsche and launched in 1963. Over the past 55 years, the 911 has had the same basic design and each new generation is more evolutionary than revolutionary. A couple of days ago Porsche launched their latest 911, the 8th generation of the car and it’s undeniably a 911.

The 8th generation 911 is internally known as “992”. If you want to impress your friends you can refer to the 911s by their internal codenames. I have always liked the overall design of the 911 but I really feel in love with it when I moved to LA…back in 1999. That was around the time when the 5th generation of the 911 was launched.

Porsche has implemented a tick-tock refresh cycle for the 911. The term tick-tock came from Intel for the roadmap on releasing new processors. In Intel’s world, the “tick” is a smaller chip/die size and the “tock” is a new processor microarchitecture. For Porsche, the “tick” is a minor refresh which is usually a small engine bump and enhanced styling and the “tock” is a major generational release. Below, I’ll go through all the tick-tock cycles from 1998 to their recent announcement.

5th Generation
Years: 1999 to 2001
Internal codename: 996.1
Launched: Frankfurt Auto Show
Changes: all-new body and water-cooled engines, 3.4L, 296 hp

Years: 2002 to 2004
Internal codename: 996.2
Launched: Frankfurt Auto Show
Changes: 3.6L engine, 320 hp

6th Generation
Years: 2005 to 2008
Internal codename: 997.1
Launched: Paris Auto Show
Changes: all-new body, 3.6L, 325 hp. S models come with 3.8L, 355 hp

Years: 2009 to 2010
Internal codename: 997.2
Launched: Paris Auto Show
Changes: PDK, 3.6L, 345 hp. S models come with 3.8L, 385 hp

7th Generation
Years: 2011 to 2015
Internal codename: 991.1
Launched: Frankfurt Auto Show
Changes: all new design, 3.4L, 350 hp. 3.8L, 400 hp

Years: 2016 to 2018
Internal codename: 991.2
Launched: Frankfurt Auto Show
Changes: 3.4L, 370 hp. 3.8L, 420 hp. Turbocharged and not naturally aspirated engines.

8th Generation
Years: 2019 to
Internal codename: 992
Launched: Los Angeles Auto Show
Changes: all new design, 3.0L twin-turbocharged Flat-6, 443 hp.