The facelifted Porsche 911 will take the fight back to rivals including the Mercedes-AMG GT when it goes on sale this December. It has made its public debut at the Frankfurt motor show.

The most notable updates to the long-running sports car are a new turbocharged flat six engine and changes to the specification. The Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) system is now standard, while inside there’s a new generation of Porsche’s multimedia setup. Its 7.0in touchscreen interface supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and satellite navigation is standard.

Read our review of the Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet

The 911’s exterior has also been upgraded, with new front and rear lights and active air ducts that open and close to channel airflow. Also new at the rear is a redesigned air vent that channels cooling air to the engine, intercoolers and turbochargers.

Powering the updated 911 is a new twin-turbo 3.0-litre flat six petrol engine, which in the Carrera develops 365bhp at 6500rpm and 332lb ft from 1700-5000rpm. In the Carrera S, those outputs rise to 414bhp and 369lb ft.

Transmission options remain as before, with a seven-speed manual gearbox offered alongside a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic. The added power means the Carrera now sprints to 62mph from rest in 4.2sec when equipped with the optional Sport Chrono package. In the Carrera S, that time drops to 3.9sec, making both models 0.2sec faster than their outgoing equivalents.

The top speed of both the Carrera and Carrera S have also increased, to 183mph and 191mph respectively. Those figures make the updated 911 well matched against the Mercedes-AMG GT, which reaches 62mph in 4.0sec and has a top speed of 189mph in standard guise (3.8sec/193mph in GT S form).

As well as providing tunable settings for the dampers and throttle mapping, the Sport Chrono package now includes a steering wheel-mounted driving mode switch that allows the driver to choose between Normal, Sport, Sport Plus and Individual driving modes.

On models with the Sport Chrono pack and PDK, an additional Sport Response button is fitted. Once pushed, the system provides maximum acceleration for 20 seconds by selecting the optimum gear.

Porsche says the facelifted 911 has already lapped the Nürburgring in 7min 34sec — more than six seconds faster than the outgoing car. The adoption of turbos has resulted in significant fuel economy gains. Porsche says its new engines are up to 12% more efficient than the units they replace.

The Carrera returns 38.1mpg in PDK guise, while the Carrera S achieves 36.7mpg. The equivalent outgoing models managed 34.4mpg and 32.5mpg respectively. A new option on the 911 Carrera is a four-wheel steer system, similar to that used by the 911 Turbo and GT3.