Stand by for bigger engines

Porsche says the new Euro 7 emissions legislation due in 2026 will mark the end of both naturally-aspirated engines and the current trend towards downsized turbo engines for all car-makers.

That’s because, somewhat counter-intuitively, the EU7 standard – which aims to more closely align laboratory CO2 emissions with those achievable in the real world – will put a limit on relative power per litre.

“In 2026, the next wave of regulations will come with EU7. This will be the worldwide toughest regulations considering emissions, especially in the spread between real driving emissions and what we see on the test benches,” said Porsche 911 and 718 model line chief Frank-Steffen Walliser.

“We will see a big change because it means – for everybody – new engines and we will see bigger displacements coming back again.”

For Porsche specifically, Walliser says the result will be a bigger turbocharged flat-six for the Porsche 911.

“I expect 20 per cent more displacement on average for these EU7-capable engines. A lot of manufacturers will jump from four to six, from six to eight [cylinders],” he explains.

“The regulations are completely counterproductive to CO2 regulations, so this will go up. You cannot fulfil all the standards without spending fuel. It sounds crazy but it's a technical fact at the moment.

“This new regulation is really difficult to fulfil because we will have different cold-start emissions and bigger catalytic converters. When I'm talking bigger, I'm talking a factor of three to four times more, so there will be a small chemical industrial factory in the car to really control this.

“This means all-new engines and especially for the 911 this gets really, really difficult. But we will never give up. Whatever it takes, we will do it. We want to keep six-cylinders, for sure, but we will have to overwork it.

“We will have to make a new engine. That's the fact. Again.”

Porsche developed an all-new, downsized 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six for Carrera versions of its previous 991-series 911, leaving only selected models including the race-bred GT3 to continue with normal-aspiration.

Along with Audi’s V10-powered R8 and, until recently, the Maserati GranTurismo, the highly responsive and high-revving Porsche 911 GT3 remains powered by one of the few non-turbo big-bore engines available in the performance car world.

Sadly, however, Walliser confirmed EU7 would also spell the end of the naturally-aspirated engine for Porsche within a decade.

“At the moment, we only see a turbo solution. Naturally aspirated, not really,” he admitted.

Walliser said markets with less strict emissions standards, like Australia and the US, could in theory continue to receive non-turbo models like the current GT3. But he confirmed that limited sales volumes in markets like ours would prevent different engines being offered in different markets.

“Now maybe you are in the right part of the world, in Australia. This is a European solution. It [normal-aspiration] could work in other parts of the world, as Australia is close to the US regulations…

“Technically, yes. If you offered something different. But this [problem] is market size, investment, volume, you know.

“There will come a day, within the next 10 years, when we have to say 'Now this is the last of its kind’.”