revver

I've got the chance to get behind the wheel of the brand new 991 Carrera S on an extended test drive, courtesy of the local Porsche dealership Fozcar. So here's a recount of the experience from a mere mortal rather than a professional driver. Read at your peril, there's lots of subjective personal opinion, I'm not being paid you see...

Design wise it's the usual evolution not revolution Porsche as got us used to. To my eyes it looks great, like the icon it is, and as is the way of progress a sharper design than the outgoing 997. A move towards a more refined and luxurious interior has been well reported and that is clearly the case. Interior is Panamera inspired, large central console with everything moving up a class in quality. It's a rather wonderful place to be, sporty but cosseting. There's an awful lot of buttons and almost everything is now electric, steering, seat adjustment, etc, that I don’t particularly like but it suits the car well.

Insert the key on the left and fire up the flat 6. Pleasant metallic rasp invades the cabin, not intrusive but noticeable. I'm a dinosaur (really) manual gearbox fan but this one had the PDK double clutch gearbox, which I immediately set to manual. Incredibly smooth and efficient thing it is, rolling off is child’s play. The car immediately feels very solid but absorbs bumps and pots with total confidence, I set the PASM active suspension to sport and never bothered to put in normal, it is never crashy and a doodle to pottle around town.

The steering is now electrically assisted, which send shivers down the spine of die-hard driving maniacs. Actually it still has good feel although noticeably less than the old hydraulic set-up. It's lighter and very precise, I guess the majority of new owners will appreciate this set-up more.

Upping up the pace and I realize perhaps the biggest philosophy change: it feels more mid-engined. There. Balance is more neutral, nose doesn't feel too light, although it still has that typical 911 ferocious traction out of corners (or roundabouts). You have to try really hard to unstick the rear tires, believe me, in (sane) fast driving in the dry that won't happen. Down changes with PDK are totally seamless, whatever the speed and gear, full-throttle changing up gives only a slight jerk.

But the more useful experience I can write about is how it compares to the Cayman. The 911 is now definitely a Sports GT while the Cayman is resolutely a sports car. Jumping back into one it feels rawer, less filtered, more involving experience. Steering feel is better and the car feels more alive. Another thing which I noticed is that although the Carrera S is 100HP more powerful the Cayman doesn't feel 100hp down! Although you're travelling faster in the 991 in any conceivable measure it's a more refined experience so I'm not actually thinking "boy! is this slow!" after switching from the Carrera S.

From my totally subjective point of view I'll be waiting for the GT3 to arrive to really start salivating. But then that applied also to the old 997, it just feels a tad to refined for someone looking for a more raw experience.


I guess Porsche have done it again and produced another world beating 911. The move to a more GT ethos while still holding sports car like ability will broaden its appeal and no doubt be a commercial success for Stuttgart’s’ finest.