Porsche Fixed The 911’s Most Annoying Flaw

Anyone who drove the 992-generation Porsche 911 (model year 2020 to 2024) knows that this car had a minor, but annoying fault. Whereas the previous 991.2 generation car dipped its toe into the digital space with a single screen in the gauge cluster, the 992 replaced all but the central tachometer with screens. We had no issues with the gauges going away.

In fact, we actually praised how cool the analog rev counter looked when flanked by the two screens, which mirrored the classic 911 five-gauge pod setup. But it wasn’t perfect.

The issue came when a driver needed to view something in the outer two digital gauges on either side. While the tachometer and two inner digital gauges were clearly visible, the steering wheel blocked the two outer ones, basically making them invisible to the driver.

Those gauges were fairly important too, with the right showing fuel level and engine temperature, and the left displaying a clock and outside temperature. You could potentially adjust the wheel in such a way as to alleviate this issue, though doing this could result in an awkward driving position. Porsche has completely rectified this issue with the 992.2 911.

Controversy Breeds Results

Any time Porsche makes even a minor change to the iconic 911, it’s typically met with backlash. Remember when the 996 went water-cooled and had headlights that weren’t round? The all-digital gauge cluster was the biggest point of contention for the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera. For the first time, the tachometer is now replicated by a screen rather than an analog needle that lives on a 12.6-inch curved display. After driving the new Carrera S, we are here to say, don’t be mad at this change.

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By making the entire cluster a screen, Porsche was better able to manage the size of each gauge, so the outer readouts are finally visible. Not only that, but the tachometer in the middle looks realistic without being cartoonish, and you can even pay extra to have that gauge in a different color.

More Customization

The other benefit of the new gauge cluster comes in the form of customization. Porsche lets owners have the full five-gauge display with all the important information they expect from a 911, or they can reduce the number of gauges to three, and customize the data that lives on the outer pods. A company spokesperson said making the five-gauge layout fully customizable might cause too much distraction while driving, and the designers didn’t want to mess with the well-known layout that’s familiar to the 911.

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In addition to the three-gauge mode, drivers can also have a safety information screen, a small map, or a full-gauge map that can either use the built-in GPS, Apple Maps through CarPlay (and soon-to-be Waze maps), or Google Maps through Android Auto. Purists may still complain that the screen lacks the beauty and craftsmanship of the old-school analog gauges, but we’d argue that the new setup looks great and provides more functionality. And when you hear that flat-six engine sing to the top of its rev range, you won’t be thinking about how it’s not a real needle showing your RPMs.