The Hybrid 911 Purists Hated Just Won a Wards 10 Best Engines Award
The 3.6-liter T-Hybrid from the 911 GTS and Turbo S joins a 2026 Wards list with no gas-only engines on it — and it’s the only hybrid there that charges itself with a turbocharger.
Porsche's T-Hybrid system — the powertrain that made the 911 a hybrid for the first time and drew a wave of complaints from the brand's traditionalists — has been named one of the 2026 Wards 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems. It shares the list with nine other electrified winners, including Subaru's Trailseeker, in the first year of the award's 32-year run without a single gas-only engine.
The honor covers the 3.6-liter flat-six used in both the 911 Carrera GTS and the 911 Turbo S (Type 992.2), seven variants in total. Porsche's U.S. arm announced the award on October 12 from its Atlanta headquarters.
What the judges liked
The system places an electric motor between the engine and the PDK transmission and replaces conventional turbochargers with electrically driven units. Because the e-turbos spin up on their own rather than waiting for exhaust pressure, there is no turbo lag. Under load at high rpm, the same turbines run as generators, feeding the small high-voltage battery or sending current straight to the motor. Porsche says that is what keeps the hybrid boost available during long track sessions, where most hybrid sports cars eventually run their batteries down.
Robin Warner, who manages the Wards program and sat on the judging panel, singled out exactly that trick. In his words, the setup replaces the wastegate with a generator, so the energy that a normal turbo dumps is turned into charge instead. Judges scored 26 nominated powertrains on horsepower, torque, refinement, observed efficiency, and new technology.
The numbers behind the award
In the Carrera GTS, the 3.6-liter engine uses a single e-turbo and makes 532 hp and 449 lb-ft combined, according to Porsche's launch figures. That is 59 hp more than the twin-turbo 3.0-liter it replaced, for about 103 pounds of added weight. Porsche quotes 0–60 mph in 2.9 seconds and a 194-mph top speed, with a 1.9-kWh battery sitting in the front trunk.
The Turbo S doubles the e-turbos and lifts output to 701 hp and 590 lb-ft, per the specifications released last year. Porsche claims 0–60 mph in 2.4 seconds, a 200-mph top speed, and a Nürburgring lap of 7:03, 14 seconds quicker than the previous Turbo S despite roughly 180 pounds more mass.
Neither car is cheap. The Carrera GTS coupe opened at $166,895 including delivery when it launched, and the Turbo S starts at $270,300 for the coupe and $284,300 for the cabriolet before a $2,350 delivery charge. Among the 2026 Wards winners, only the Corvette ZR1X at $242,060 sits in the same price bracket; the rest are mainstream hybrids and EVs between roughly $43,000 and $100,000.
Why it matters for Porsche
The award lands at a convenient moment. Porsche's global deliveries are down this year, but U.S. 911 sales are up 33 percent through September, and the GTS and Turbo S are the newest, most expensive variants in that mix. The company's revised 2035 plan also leans on combustion and hybrid cars for longer than it once intended, so an industry stamp on its first hybrid 911 is useful ammunition.
Porsche hasn't said whether the T-Hybrid will spread to other 911 trims or to the next 718, and the GT3 and Carrera S remain non-hybrid for now. The full list of 2026 winners is on WardsAuto; Porsche's announcement is on its U.S. newsroom.
