Look familiar? No surprise as Porsche rolls out the 2012 911 Carrera and Carrera S.

What to do with an icon like the Porsche 911.  Fact is it’s been around for nearly half a century and still looks surprisingly much like it did when it first debuted.  And so it will still once the new 2012 model – which debuted today at the Frankfurt Motor Show – rolls into showrooms.

Not to say the updated sports car is just more of the same.  There are some nice, if subtle, tweaks to the new 911’s design – though one of the biggest changes is the availability of a new 7-speed manual gearbox.

“This car embodies the core values for the brand,” explained CEO Matthias Muller, almost as an apologia for the evolution-over-revolution approach to the new 911’s design.  But he also stressed that it’s not all about tradition, it’s also “the ability to look forward.”

There are some subtle changes to the rear, but they're not much more than you'd get pulling taffy.

A quick glance at the new model, codenamed 991, will likely not reveal much difference from the outgoing version, known to aficionados as the 997.  There are subtle tweaks to the body that might be described as stretching taffy.  And there are updated headlamps.

But the vast majority of changes are not immediately obvious – like the fact that the new Porsche 911 is a full 100 pounds lighter than the sports car it replaces.  That’s definitely one factor when you consider that Porsche is claiming the 2012 model is better in just about every way that likely will matter to 911 buyers: read faster, smoother and better handling.

Notice the new 7-speed manual.

If you’ve saved your pennies you’ll be able to order one with either a 3.4-liter, 300 horsepower flat six in the Carrera, or a 3.8-liter six making 400 ponies in the Carrera Sh.  The upgrade will cut your 0 to 60 times from 4.4 seconds to just 4.1.

The long-rumored seven-speed manual is a particularly intriguing addition to the 2012 Porsche 911 package.  We’ve seen makers steadily increase the number of gears used in their automatic boxes, many having jumped to 8 and Chrysler soon to deliver a 9-speed.  Yet, the industry has long seemed to be locked into the belief that even the best drivers could or would limit themselves to six when it came time to operate a clutch.  No longer.

Perhaps the most notable visual changes have been made to the 911 headlights.

Another feature you’ll find on the 2012 update is the use of Stop/Start technology which briefly shuts the engine off when you’re idling, say, at a stoplight.  Lift your foot off the brake and the engine restarts automatically.  The technology first found its way into Porsche’s line-up with the launch of the Panamera.

Though Porsche didn’t yet replace specific mileage numbers, Matthias suggested the figures will be “unprecedented in its performance class,” thanks to factors such as the weight reduction program, the 7-speed and the Stop/Start technology.

Incidentally, the CEO noted that since the first 911 was introduced in 1963 Porsche has produced over 700,000 of them.  And as the sports car enters its seventh generation, 80% of the prior-generation 911s are still on the road.