Once upon a time, the Porsche 911 was a dangerous, tail-happy hooligan that was difficult to keep in check. Like a high-strung thoroughbred, it felt like it was always looking for a way to buck its rider (or driver) clean out of the seat.
Over the intervening four decades, Porsche’s forced-induction rocketship has grown kinder and gentler with every iteration. This most-recent 911 variant is dubbed the 991, and the critics have spurned it as being a bit too much of a grand tourer.
With this newest 911 Turbo, have Porsche’s efforts to tame their turbocharged beast driven the spirit out of their range-topping car?
Design:
Porsche launched this latest generation of their half-century old sporting 2x2 to a mixture of ooohs and hmms. There’s no doubt that the new car was a modern take on that classic rear-engined shape, but it was also a bit too long from some angles and perhaps not quite as pretty as the outgoing 997.
Count me among those who didn’t love the 991 at first, but also count me among the converted. In Turbo form, the 991 looks like it was always supposed to — the extra width of the rear haunches balances out the length of the car, and the raised tail gives the profile heft to match the otherwise-gigantic 20” multi-spoke alloys.
Yes, it’s not that wildly different from other 911s, but that’s part of the Turbo’s charm. It is the highest-performance spec, but it doesn’t have the ostentation of a Ferrari or Lamborghini, or the visual brutality of a Nissan GT-R.
Environment:
There’s absolutely no reason why you couldn’t live with this car on a day-to-day basis as far as the interior is concerned. At least that’s assuming you got the options list right.
The keyless entry used to get into this tester, for instance? That’d be optional, to the tune of $1250.
Leaving aside how much customization Porsche allows — and charges for — the cabin of the 911 turbo is not much different from the standard 911.
Perhaps that’s why the gauges so prominently feature a scripted “turbo” and vehicle silhouette when you fire the thing up.
However, that’s a good thing. The seating position of the 911 is just about perfect, nice and low, with a bit more space inside for the taller driver than there has been in the past. The rear seats are also larger and while adults will not be happy back there, this marks the first generation where there are approved child-seats that fit. The U.S. market always had them but Canadian kid seats were tough to find.
Sightlines are good, and Porsche’s infotainment system is easy to use. Central to the dash is a seven-inch touchscreen and, in a nice throwback touch, you can even tune the radio with the rightmost knob.
Porsches have always had something of a spartan feel to them but the Turbo is more like a two-seater Panamera than anything else. The fit and finish is exemplary, the seats are grippy yet comfortable, and were not this tester swathed in Carrera-red leather, you could almost say it was quite reserved in here.
Performance:
When it comes to blistering on-ramp acceleration, the 911 Turbo is completely nuts. Its twin-turbo 3.8L flat-six is pumping out 520hp, or more than twice what the original 911 Turbo made.
That’s an insane amount of power for a small sportscar like this.
Apart from the brief sloshing of your internal organs as they struggle to keep up with the g-forces, there’s not a lot of drama here. Over the years, driving a 911 Turbo has gone from catching a tiger by the tail to stroking a pussycat. It’s blisteringly fast but it doesn’t put a wheel wrong — you can hardly believe the speed with which the numbers on the dash climb.
There’s also launch control, just in case you wanted to pop over to the dragstrip. Simply press the button marked “Sport Plus” and stand on first the brake and then accelerator. Now let off the brake.
0-100km/h comes in just 3.2 seconds, and beyond that — well, that’s for you to find out on the track. Stupendous stuff, but delivered all in a safe, almost clinical manner.
You can no longer buy a 911 Turbo with a manual transmission but that’s a good thing, frankly. The seven-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission is a better fit for this titan of technology than a clutch and stick would be. Moreover, I don’t think most folks’ legs could keep up with the speed.
Harnessing all the sturm und drang is a very clever all-wheel-drive system capable of shunting power for and aft via an electrically controlled central differential, as well as from side to side when cornering. There’s also PDCC: a hydraulically-actuated suspension system that reduces body roll and controls camber in the curves.
Together, it all works like a bionic extension of the driver, while at the same time slightly isolating the driver from the rawer elements of travelling very quickly.
If you want a more driver-focused 911, that’s probably the GT3. The 911 Turbo is more of a renaissance car — capable of blitzing a track, picking up the kids from piano practice and then driving to Los Angeles overnight. It’s the do-everything promise of the 959 supercar brought to modern life.
Features:
While navigation and other amenities are standard on this $169,200 car — and so they should be — the sky is the limit as to what else you can option. The $4000 Burmeister premium audio makes for a lovely travel companion, for instance.
Park assist is a more-reasonable $440, and then there are the options which are more requirement than indulgence: the $4670 Sport Chrono and the $3610 PDCC.
Even without the rider “... for a 500hp+ supercar,” the 911 Turbo is actually pretty good on gas. In city fuel economy is an achievable 12.2L/100kms, and highway is an excellent 8.1L/100kms.
Green Light:
Astounding acceleration; all-weather capabilities; everyday usability.
Stop Sign:
Expensive options; limited trunk space; pure speed rather than thrills.
The Checkered Flag:
The most refined application of the Turbo 911 ethos yet.
