For half a century, Porsche’s answer to more cornering grip has been to press the 911 harder into the road. A new application published in Germany this month says that answer is running out. The tires can only carry so much load, Porsche writes, and piling on more downforce “is no longer a practical measure” for higher cornering speeds. The proposed fix is a pair of steerable vertical fins, one on the front lid and one on the engine lid, that would push the car sideways into the turn the way a rudder swings an airplane’s nose.

 

The idea comes from a patent filing, which aims the concept at sports cars and race cars and names circuit racing and rallies as uses.