Porsche's Mission S has no big center screen, and purists like it that way

Porsche's new Mission S concept has no built-in center screen. The mid-engined car debuted on Thursday, October 15, in New York, and the driver's own phone, held in a retractable MagSafe mount, stands in for the touchscreen.

Porsche's release said the company "has deliberately chosen not to include a permanently integrated center display or a fixed passenger display in the dashboard." The phone can serve as the navigation or information display. A streamlined My Porsche app reaches the car's functions and lets owners pick historically inspired designs for the gauges. The reveal took place on a pier in Queens where Porsche shot the first photos of the 550 Spyder in 1953. Porsche calls the 550 its first super sports car.

Early reviews from car editors were warm. Caleb Jacobs, senior editor at The Drive, wrote that hardcore drivers should be happy about the missing center screen. Writing about the car's pull-out knobs, Jacobs added, "I love it."

Adrian Padeanu of Motor1 called the phone setup an interesting alternative to the industry's push toward ever-bigger screens. Padeanu also pointed out that the idea has been done before. Volkswagen used a phone as the screen in the up! years ago, and entry-level Dacias still do. At Hagerty, Ben Oliver noted that Porsche describes the cabin as a deliberate return to the core values of sports car engineering. Oliver wrote that the wording may hint Porsche's recent cabins had drifted from those values. Road & Track contributing editor Will Sabel Courtney counted zero traditional infotainment displays in the center of the dash.

Five dials, real knobs, and a key

Behind the wheel sit five round instruments. The center rev counter has a real analog needle with a display behind it. In some drive modes it moves closer to the driver, and the other dials rearrange to sit side by side or one behind another, Porsche said. The rest stays physical. A row of push-pull knobs on the dash handles comfort and driving functions, and the key goes into a holder left of the steering wheel, as on older Porsches. Motor1 reported a red "On your own" button on the wheel that switches off the driver-assistance systems. Two horizontal lines run across the dash and doors, borrowed from the 356 and 550 Spyder. The show car uses Porsche's PDK automatic. Jacobs spotted "PRND" next to the shifter and metal paddle shifters behind the wheel. At the launch, though, Porsche CEO Michael Leiters said the platform can take pure combustion or hybrid power, with either a manual or a PDK, Road & Track reported. "Customer demand will define what we build on this platform," Leiters said. Motor1 noted the gear lever is already height-adjustable.

Porsche calls the Mission S a vision model. It also said it is planning, for the first time, a permanently available super sports car above the 911, part of a broader lineup shake-up. Leiters said it will not be a one-off hypercar, and senior executives told Hagerty before the event that the car will be built. Porsche has not given a name, price, specs, or launch date.

The body mixes parts of Porsche history. The round headlights and torpedo fenders recall the 911, the flat front comes from the GT1, and the roofline under the active rear wing echoes the 959. The wheels are based on the "dial design" of the 928. A fan in the engine cover is modeled on the radiator fan of the 917 race car. Oliver wrote that it is there for cooling, unlike the fan on the Gordon Murray T.50, which helps pull that car to the ground.

Porsche has not named the engine. Hagerty and Road & Track both said the four stacked tailpipes hint at eight cylinders, and German outlet Handelsblatt reported in September that Porsche is developing a flat-eight. When Leiters drove the car onstage, Sabel Courtney wrote, it sounded a lot like a boxer engine.

Rate the 911 and the rest of the current Porsche lineup on WhipJury while the Mission S waits for a production name.

Sources:

The missing center display, phone mount, gauges, knobs, key holder, cabin lines, design references, 917-style fan, 550 Spyder pier, and the planned super sports car: Porsche

Jacobs on the missing screen and knobs, the PRND shifter and paddles, and the Handelsblatt flat-eight report: The Drive

Padeanu on screens, the VW up! and Dacia, the "On your own" button, and the height-adjustable lever: Motor1

Oliver on the cabin, the production confirmation, the tailpipes, and the fan: Hagerty

Sabel Courtney on the dash and tailpipes: Road & Track

Leiters on manual and hybrid options, and the onstage sound: Road & Track

Photos: official Porsche press images from the Porsche Newsroom