The "old" GT1 block was the product of many many years of racing. It was basically a racing motor put into mass production and that is why it could handle twice as much power as it came with in stock form.

I was just told by my Porsche mechanic (Akram) that the new block does not have the racing heritage and therefore may not handle power upgrades as well.

Is the above true?

 

i suppose no one really knows yet. but i'd rather have a 010 TT engine pushed to 600bhp than a GT1 motor at 700hp for example. the newer car has better low end torque / faster spool as well as so many other upgrades ie) ptv, pdk, etc.
aside from stuff like the texas mile, its pretty hard to beat a stock 997.2TT with its ridiculously quick shifting and hard launching PDK -- track or street

 

A few tuners on this board have been pushing the motor to find out the limits. I'm sure we will know the answer soon.

 

The general consensus is that your mechanic is right. It boils down to what you are trying to do with this car. If it were my daily driver and a lease, I would have a 2010 that would be traded in 3 years. I bought an '09 because I have an emotional attachment to the heritage of this platform - GT1 block, manual transmission, ability to handle a lot of power. I genuinely feel that it's a keeper - never had such a feeling with any other car.

For a machine with so much character, even as crazy high-tech and efficient as it is, the PDK seems somewhat sterile and distracting from the "911 turbo" experience. PDK is fun but I don't want it in this particular car. I also don't feel like a consumer-grade motor belongs to a car with so much history. Having said that, I respect the technology behind the new wonder.

 

That sums up what Akram had to say....if I want an excellent DD the 010 is great, but if I want the fastest race car I can build, then the 09.

 

The 0.2L hike from the GT1 block is not enough reason to upgrade. The heads are where the power is at, but I doubt if it's interchangeable.