Porsche 960 supercar on the way

New reports suggest that Porsche will reveal an all-new quad-turbo flat-eight-powered supercar in 2019.

The new Ferrari 488 or Lamborghini Huracan-rival, was originally expected to arrive in 2017 but is now said to be on track to land two years later and be called the ‘960’ after Porsche successfully trademarked the name.

Slotting into the sportscar-maker’s line-up the 960 will to sit above the 911 Turbo S but below the 918 Spyder hypercar, according to British mag Car, who broke the story.

Set to cost around $450,000, the mid-engine Porsche will arrive shortly after the all-new 992-generation of the 911 in 2018 and be centred around an advanced 3.9-litre quad-turbo flat-eight cylinder engine that will produce around 500kW/800Nm.

Keeping emissions at acceptable levels the new engine will come with an advanced variable compression ratio system for more efficient combustion at lower revs.

To keep costs down the 960 will be based around an all-new aluminium space-frame chassis that will be used by other brands within the Volkswagen Group.

Thanks to not only its aluminium construction and liberal use of carbon-fibre and titanium, a target of 1400kg has been set for the kerbweight of the supercar, says Car.

Four-wheel steering has already been ruled out for weight-saving reasons, but initially all models will come with four-wheel drive.

Later on, more hardcore versions of the 960 will follow with a track-suited GT3 arriving around a year later. That car is expected to come with rear-wheel drive.

All models will come with active aerodynamics.

When it arrives in 2019, performance will come close to matching the 918 Spyder with a 0-100km/h time of less than 2.5 seconds.