Porsche has unveiled a swan song of sorts for the current 911 Carrera, the 911 Carrera GTS. This current crop of 911s, the 997.2 (the '2' being the second revision of this chassis) is scheduled to be replaced by a new 911 sometime in 2011 and in line with this, they've decided to release a higher performance version of their venerable 911 Carrera which is the entry level line for the 911s. The car you see here is scheduled for its live debut at the Paris Motor Show shortly.

This new Carrera range will be the base Carrera, the Carrera S and now the Carrera GTS. One rung higher up will be the 911 GT3. This model could be for those yearning for a more powerful Carrera S but not willing to suffer from a lack of refinement that would happen when buying a GT3. Actually, this could be just a way to milk customers a little as the 997.2 GT3 and its GT3 RS sibling aren't as ridiculously unbearable according to road testers.

What you would gain from the Carrera GTS is more power, a 44mm wider body at the rear from the Carrera 4 (and the GT3 RS) and more goodies, when it comes to specification. The car now hits 306km/h, up 4km/h from the Carrera S and now accelerates to 100km/h from nought 0.1 seconds faster in PDK (dual clutch gearbox) together with Sports Chrono Plus package if the car is set in Sport Plus mode. Fuel consumption is still very livable, making 10.2ltr/100km and CO2 emissions are 240g/km. Good figures for a sports car.

The power gets a nice bump in order to achieve the above figures. The Carrera GTS makes 402bhp. The previous top Carrera S makes 380bhp and the GT3 makes 429bhp. This makes the Carrera GTS fall somewhat right smack in the middle of both when it comes to being a bridge between the two latter models mentioned above. Torque however remains the same as the Carrera S but the reworked 3.8 flat-6 engine ,which has a new variable intake manifold with 6 vacuum controlled flaps, allows for the maximum torque figure to come in at 4,200rpm instead of 4,400rpm. There is also a sports exhaust system added with the tail pipes painted in black and polished mid-piping for those who want to gawk when looking under the car.

The Carrera GTS will have a Porsche SportDesign front bumper with lip spoiler section painted black. There is black GTS specific side skirts and the usual Porsche self advertising Carrera GTS graphics (which aren't as 'in your face' as those on a GT3) on the doors and the rear cover . The car sits on 19inch RS Spyder wheels all round which has special centre hub mounted wheels (like the GT3 RS instead of using individual wheel nuts).

The interior gets black alcantara suede material as standard and used specifically used in places where the driver is in contact with the car, namely the steering wheel (a new three spoke SportDesign wheel), the handbrake lever and the gear knob.

The Carrera GTS will start selling in Germany by December this year and later to other major markets. It will cost 104,935Euro for the coupe and 115,050Euro for the cabriolet version of this car over there.

Something good for those who do not want to go totally extreme or a slightly faster Carrera S and nothing more.