The latest 911 Turbo might not look revolutionary but for Porsche it is. Electric power steering, ‘virtual’ gears to smooth out changing for its seven-speed dual clutch manual, an active rear axle and e-diff, liquid cooling for the transfer case…the list of firsts goes on.
Getting to spend a week with any Porsche is something that never fails to excite me. Aside from a brief go in a McLaren MP4-12C last summer, this is the fastest accelerating car to come my way. But would it be too technical, I fretted? I need not have. All that ingenious new gear that flatters your driving is unobtrusive. Rear-wheel steering is there but you aren’t really aware of it unless you’re pushing the car hard on a track. The same applies to the active aerodynamics, unless you hit the button which lowers the ride height: this can cause the front splitter to catch on a speed hump. But, no dramas: it’s made from squishy rubber so won’t scrape or be wrenched off – GM should take note for the Volt, as well as certain versions of the Astra.
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More intelligent German design: the achingly beautiful alloy rims – the test car had the standard 20” Turbo wheels – don’t show brake dust due to some well placed dark grey detailing, and they also look as though they won’t tear your knuckles when you clean them. The steering wheel initially appeared to be the same as the one in the Boxster and Cayman in that it was free of any buttons. But it keeps a secret that is only revealed when you press a Sport Plus switch on the centre console. This illuminates these two words on the left-hand spoke – almost as novel as the controls which Audi’s HVAC supplier has located on the new TT’s central vents.
Sport Plus should be known as the More Muscle setting. It pumps up the torque output and instantly changes the exhaust tone to a growl, sending instructions for the activation of much popping when you lift off. The suspension also descends, in contrast to what happens to the rear wing.
For a car with such devastating performance and extreme grip, the ride is extraordinarily supple. It’s happy in slow moving traffic, as you will be, with equanimity at idle courtesy of stop-start. One limiting factor for the Turbo as a city conveyance or B-road blast-past-master is the width of the thing. Likewise, I’m sorry to anyone who thought I was a W-Anchor for taking up two spaces in my local Sainsbury’s but if you owned a 911 Turbo you’d likely do as I did. Or worry about dents due to the ridiculously narrow spaces inherent in just about every British carpark.
There are rear seats but they’re comedic even for kids. This is due to how upright the backrests are, how low the ceiling is, and hard plastic on the back of the front seats. Happily, those up front will be fresh after even multiple hours in the car – the quality of the padding and shape is as good as what you’ll find in any Volvo, and that’s the highest praise I can give. Those who say you couldn’t have a 911 as your only car should know this. That, and the fact that you can transport a week’s food shopping for two or a pair of roll-on overnight bags in the boot. Umbrellas and suitpacks? Yes, they’ll fit but not up front: there’s a space behind the back seats. The glovebox is equally big and the door pockets generous. Visibility is also superb, so there’s another reason why I wasn’t tired after a couple of long drives.
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By GlobalDataHow about some faults? There’s no rear wiper but I’ve seen them on some 911s so it’s possibly an option, and speaking of which, brace yourself to learn that for GBP 118,349 you don’t get standard front parking sensors (an extra GBP 243) or ISOFIX mounting points on the passenger seat (GBP 121). The test car also lacked electrically folding mirrors (!), heated seats or a steering wheel that can warm your hands. You also cannot see the engine, which is why I have added an image of it – the closest you’re able to get is via a flap which lifts for access to fluid reservoir top-up points.
It’s hard to explain just how fast this car can be but one fact might help to illustrate the point. The throttle pedal of the 911 Turbo is heavy, in the German style but it’s for a reason: even pressed half way, the result is explosive. Push it hard and the seven-speed PDK transmission drops a couple of ratios and your head is pressed against the restraint. A friend wanted to film the surge but couldn’t keep his phone held upright and steady, it’s that violent a g-force.
Add Sport Plus to the mix and you’re headed for warp speed. While power remains 383kW (520hp) at a surprisingly low 6,000-6,500rpm, torque climbs from 660 to 710Nm as overboost is activated. As there is just 1,595kg to push along and all-wheel drive traction, the Combined fuel consumption of 29.1mpg and CO2 average of 227g/km are as believable as the 0-62mph time of 3.4 seconds (3.2 in SP mode).
It has become as meaningless a term as ‘iconic’ but still, the Turbo gives the rest of the 911 range a sort of halo, even if there’s one car above it, the even more powerful 412kW (560hp) Turbo S. The model line-up consists of the Carrera, Carrera S, Carerra 4, Carrera 4S and most come in Coupé, Cabriolet or soon, Targa forms. As for engines, these are 257kW (350hp) 3.4-, 294kW (400hp) 3.8- or 350kW (485hp) 3.8-litre units for the Carrera, S and GT3 respectively, plus the Turbo and Turbo S. The hard top versions of these two were launched at last September’s Frankfurt IAA, exactly two years on from the original debut of the current 991 model series. Then came the Turbo and Turbo S cabrios (November 2013’s LA show), with the Targa 4 and Targa 4S the latest to join the range – they premiered at the NAIAS in January and go on sale globally from next month.
Next up for the 911 should be a mid-life facelift, which is due to appear in 2015, with the next model a further three years on from then. It’s hard to see Porsche building this car anywhere but Zuffenhausen. The 911 not only shares this historic plant with the Boxster and Cayman but despite it being rear-engined and they mid-engined, all three have a shared basic platform: 9X1. The 911 is the only one of the three not to have spillover assembly at another location, the former Karmann factory in Osnabrück, and now a Volkswagen Group plant (the VW XL1 is also made there).
Porsche’s manufacturing operations and global sales have also just been given a major boost with the addition of a further 50,000 units of annual capacity at Leipzig, the production location of the new Macan. Quarter one was a boom time for the company, with global sales up six percent in March to 15,377 SUVs and cars, and a record 38,663 for the three months commencing 1 January 2014.
Oliver Blume, Porsche’s board member for Production, told me at last month’s Geneva motor show that the firm is on track to reach its target of 200,000 vehicle sales per annum by 2018. In 2013, “we sold out”, he stated, with deliveries reaching 162,000. And this year? “It will be higher” is all he would say.
I would venture that a quarter of a million Porsches might be being built every year as this decade slips into the 2020s. And no matter what other models might yet appear to join it, such as the rival for the Maserati Ghibli that’s reportedly being investigated, the shape of the 911 will always be what people envisage when they think of a Porsche.
