Techart Waves Goodbye To The Porsche 911 With Exclusive Upgrade

What better way to say farewell to such an awesome car.

In the Porsche tuning scene, Techart is one of the most well respected firms out there. The German tuning house is well-known for taking all sorts of Porsche models, and pumping their performance up to supercar levels. Techart has been very successful with the current 991.2 generation 911, but with a new 992 generation quickly approaching, the company has decided to give the current car the final send off it deserves: introducing the Exclusive Performance Package for the 991.2 911 Turbo S.

The car will be called the GTsport 1 of 30, indicating that just 30 examples will be built. Techart says the package will focus on three virtues - courage, style and performance - all of which have characterized the 911 Turbo S since 1974. The changes start on the exterior with all-new Techart parts made out of carbon fiber. To improve the cold air system, the GTsport package includes side air intake trims, a ram-air scoop, front grilles, and an air outlet grille all made from carbon fiber. A roof spoiler, side skirt trims, rear louvers, and a diffuser are also included to improve the balance between lift and downforce. To help you know what you're looking at, the car features "GTsport 1 of 30" lettering on both doors.

Of course, the engine has also been upped from 580 to 640 horsepower, and torque has been increased from 553 to 649 lb-ft. 0-62 mph takes just 2.7 seconds and the car can reach a top speed of 210 mph. To help the car handle better, Techart has also given the car sport springs, which lower the 911 Turbo S by around 30 mm. The transformation is then finished off with Techart Formula IV Race Bi-Color forged rims wrapped in Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires and some unique interior touches. Techart is currently offering the GTsport 1 of 30 package for a little less than 30,000 euros (around $34,700).

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Say Goodbye To The Guy Behind Every Porsche 911 For The Past Two Decades

August Achleitner was “Mr. 911” at Porsche for eighteen years.

If it takes a village, as they say, to raise a child, it surely takes an entire company to build a car – sporty or otherwise. But at Porsche, that's come down to one man more than any other. And now he's retiring.

That man is August Achleitner, who has, for the past 18 years, been the one individual responsible for developing every new version of the 911. He's also handled the 718 Boxster/Cayman program since 2016. But with the development of the new 911 now complete, Achleitner is hanging up his driving gloves for good.

August Achleitner first joined Porsche in 1983, woking on chassis development as a as a mechanical engineer. He held a variety of roles until 2001 when he took over responsibility for the pivotal 911 line, ushering three generations of the iconic sports car into production and onto the market, and added responsibility for the 718 a couple of years ago.

Now that he's retiring, Achleitner will hand over responsibilities to Frank-Steffen Walliser, the head of Porsche Motorsport and the GT line that's given us such notable variants as the GT3 and GT2, and previously the father of the 918 Spyder.

That puts him in prime position to take over the 911 program. Walliser will assume Achleitner's mantle at the beginning of the new year, by which time we can expect Porsche to have named his successor as the head of Porsche Motorsport and head of GT development.

“We thank Gustl Achleitner for his extraordinary commitment to our company,” commented Porsche CEO Oliver Blume, to whom Achleitner reported directly, on the changing of the guard. “Over the course of 18 years, he shaped the Porsche 911 more than anyone else. He understood just how to continually refine the 911, while always retaining its character.”

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Porsche Says Goodbye To The Most Complex Car It Ever Made

The era of the 919 Hybrid has come to an end.

Sounds hard to believe, but Porsche revealed its 919 Hybrid endurance race carback in 2014. It was a big deal because it represented Porsche’s return to endurance racing after being absent for a few years. But the 919 Hybrid was unique because it featured hybrid technology that has now found its way to production cars. But the 919 didn’t just serve as a technology test bed. It was also a winner on the race track. During its four-year career, the 919 won six world championship titles and three Le Mans victories. Now it’s officially being retired.

Its job has been completed and it’s time for Porsche to move on to even more advanced racing and, eventually, production technologies. But the 919’s legacy will very much live forever.

After all, the hybrid expertise Porsche gained has been applied to today’s new Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid and even the upcoming production version of the Mission E concept. The 919 proved it’s entirely possible that a tiny combustion engine – 2.0-liter, to be exact – when combined with turbocharged technology and battery-powered electric motors, can have both performance and reliability. Those electric motors alone push around 400 hp, and its 2.2-second 0 to 60 mph time is phenomenal.

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