SPY PICS: Porsche 911 facelift caught undisguised

Porsche’s facelifted 911 has been caught racking up the development miles without the usual industry-issue camouflage.

For the first time it’s clear to spot the 911 Carrera’s reshaped headlights and new front splitter.

At the rear, the spy pics show new tail-light clusters, new radiator air intakes and an all-new exhaust backbox that hints at the biggest, most fundamental change for the 991 series' midlife makeover -- its new range of downsized turbocharged flat-six engines.

Porsche sources close to motoring.com.au have already reported that in future the new entry-level Carrera model will come with a blown 2.7-litre flat-six that harks back to the old air-cooled Porsches of the 1970s and ’80s.

Despite sharing the same swept capacity as the current entry-level Boxster or Cayman, the new turbocharged engine shares nothing with its less powerful sibling’s lump. In fact, power should be a strong point of the new range of turbocharged flat-six engines, with the base facelifted Carrera expected to come with up to 300kW (up from the current car’s 257kW.)

This should see a huge hike in performance -- but the real reason behind the downsizing is fuel economy and the new entry-level Porsche 991.2 should reduce its fuel use to around 8.0l/100km.

The more powerful Carrera S, meanwhile, is expected to come with a turbocharged 3.4-litre, replacing the old atmo 3.8. Power, again, should increase to significantly more than the base Carrera’s 300kW.

Porsche’s 911 Turbo and Turbo S (and rumoured GT2) models, meanwhile, will retain their large-capacity turbocharged 3.8-litre engines -- but both are expected to be up to 10 per cent more efficient.

The only 911s that will stay naturally aspirated will be the GT3 and GT3 RS -- with both models coming with the all-new 4.0-litre flat-six engines that was unveiled along with the GT3 RS at this year’s Geneva motor show.

Inside all the 911s there are subtle interior tweaks that see all models adopt a larger-screened infotainment system and a new 918-style steering wheel.

Production and sales of the facelifted 991 Series will begin after its world debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September, with the revised 911 coupe and cabriolet line-up due to land Down Under next year.

Further afield, Porsche has already confirmed work is well under way on the all-new 991 replacement that’s will be launched some time in 2020. Instead of turbos, the next all-new 911 -- which has been referred to as the ‘992’ series -- will feature a full range of hybrid engines employing technology from its 919 Le Mans racer and the 918 hypercar that currently can return just 3.0L/100km and hit 100km/h in just 2.6 seconds.