PARTICULATES: PORSCHE’S PETROL CONUNDRUM
Will petrol particulate filters kill off specialmodels like the GT3 in Europe?
Responding to a report in German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Porsche has denied that the introduction of new emissions testing procedures and the requirement for petrol particulate filters have forced a halt to sales of new cars in Europe. However, Porsche remains unable to clarify the full impact of the new filter technology and it’s unclear which models will survive the transition and how power, performance and efficiency may be affected. Doubts remain whether Porsche specials like the GT3 and GT3 RS are compatible with particulate filters.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine article claimed, “Porsche has suspended the sale of all new cars until further notice. The background to this is the changeover to the new exhaust gas measuring cycles WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) and RDE, which entail stricter requirements both in the approval procedure on the test bench and in real day-to-day operation. They apply gradually from September of this year. Gasoline engines can usually meet these limits only if they are equipped with a particulate filter.”
In a statement, Porsche denied any cessation in sales. However, the overall upshot is that it’s likely any new Porsche powered by a petrol engine sold in the EU (and other territories that adopt EU regulations for motor vehicles, such as Norway) will require a particulate filter. According to Porsche, “the introduction of new emissions legislation makes it necessary to transition the model range to use a gasoline particulate filter (GPF) and obtain new type approvals no later than September 1, 2018. As a result, a temporary restriction to the model range is in force.”
In practice, that means the online Porsche car configurator is currently unavailable and orders must be placed directly with Porsche Centres. But which petrol Porsches, exactly, are available? Over to Porsche. “Starting in September, selected models from the 911 and 718 model lines will be available with a gasoline particulate filter. The 911 4 GTS with all-wheel drive and PDK will also be available in three body shapes from the outset – as a Coupé, Cabriolet and Targa. Alongside the 911 4 GTS derivatives, the new technology for gasoline particulate filters (GPF) will be implemented into the 718 basic and GTS models and then into other model lines.”
That begs several questions, such as what, if any, impact the filter may have on performance and whether some Porsche models may be phased out rather than adopt the filter. By way of example, BMW recently announced that it was opting to phase out the M3 saloon rather than update it with a filter to pass the new emissions test. We put those questions directly to Porsche, but it was unable to provide further guidance.
In other words, it remains unknown if Porsche will continue to sell models like the GT3 and GT3 in Europe from September. That also puts a question mark over upcoming models, including the likely production version of the new 911 Speedster, which uses the GT3’S 4.0-litre naturally-aspirated engine. The same applies to the upcoming Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder models. Both are expected to feature naturally aspirated flat sixes, although their precise specification is a subject of much speculation.