5 Signs Porsche Has a New Supercar Under Development

This won't come as a shock to our readers, but we'll say it anyway. The automotive world loves to speculate about future supercars. UK’s Car now adds to the rumormill with a story that Porsche may have a model above the 911 Turbo under development. However, the upcoming high-speed vehicle wouldn’t be quite as hot as the earlier 918 Spyder.

According to Car, the new Porsche supercar would cost around the equivalent of $292,000 and would arrive in 2019. It also claims the model packs a quad-turbo flat-eight engine. Some of this speculation sounds dubious, but there might be a kernel of truth in the rest of the story. Here's why.

The first speculation about the 960 came from way back in 2012 when rumors suggested Porsche was developing a Ferrari-fighting four-door coupe. By early 2013, the stories morphed to suggest the supercar would be a two-door with a mid-mounted turbocharged flat-eight engine.

Reports in 2014 then suggested Porsche had killed the model. However, Car’s latest piece suggests that maybe the 960 project has returned from the dead.

Porsche's latest updates to the 911 Turbo S take output to 580 horsepower, and it's a blast to drive. However, there's still a gap at the top of the brand's lineup compared to competitors.

For example, the Ferrari 488 GTB makes a robust 661 horsepower and the McLaren 675LT has a demonic 666 hp. If this is what the wealthy customers want, Porsche still has room to take things further than the top-spec 911 with a new model like the rumored 960.

Porsche ended 918 Spyder production in mid-2015, which also left a gap at the top of the range. If the 960 arrives in 2019 as Car speculates, there would be plenty of time between the two German supercars to keep them from flooding the market. In fact, such a delay provides just enough time for customers to get hungry for a new cutting-edge Porsche.

While this speculation offers some tantalizing food for thought, there’s more concrete evidence, too. For example, Porsche filed for a trademark in Europe on the term 960 in June 2015. The registration specifically covered automobiles, toys, and clothing.

Companies don’t necessarily use every trademark that they hold, but it’s always a hint at what could be on the way. 

Car notes the 960 would possibly use a variable compression engine, and Porsche’s trademark on the term VarioCom in January 2016 supports that speculation. The filing says the registration applies to “control mechanisms for engines or motors” and “motors for land vehicles.”

Such tech might allow the engine of a supercar to use higher compression for better performance at lower revs and then dial things back at higher speeds to put less stress on the mill. VW was reportedly working on the system in 2014, which would have given Porsche access to it.

Will a variable-compression powerplant finally make its way out of the lab and into the engine bay of a future Porsche? Let's hope.