Tuesday 26th May 2015

The problem with Porsches: Tell Me I'm Wrong

Dan reckons current Porsches might actually be too good; here's your chance to tell him he's mad

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Are the current crop of Porsche sports cars just too competent? Odd question perhaps. Possibly entirely ungrateful, given the effort into making them 'better' than the previous ones.

Better, faster, more - careful what you ask for

But it's been a doubt nagging away at me over the last couple of years of driving 991 911s and the latest crop of Boxster and Cayman variants. Despite the first real competition in decades from the likes of the F-Type, AMG GT and pending rivals like the Maserati Alfieri, Porsche's sports car line-up has never been stronger. Even the 911 Targas and cabrios are as appealing to drivers as they are to posers. And a two-pedal Porsche is no longer an instant arbiter of whether you were a person worthy of respect or ridicule.

And what else was Porsche going to do? Proudly exclaim that its new 911 is slower, heavier, uglier, thirstier and more prone to catastrophic engine failures than the last one? Some may argue that was the case with the 996 but even that ugly duckling of the 911 lineage is poised to have its day. And I'm not just saying that because I'm thinking of buying one.

As consumers we demand new thing is quantifiably better than old thing. So the natural instinct of the engineers is to deliver that, by the numbers. But are we losing something along the way? When even a basic 265hp 2.7-litre Boxster is offered with the option of 20-inch wheels and 295-section rubber it's hard to escape the sense that many of the current cars are over-tyred, over-geared and over-capable. Meaning you either take ever greater risks in an attempt to replicate the buzz the last one gave you. Or drive around frustrated and left cold by a car whose abilities far outstretch yours or the environment around you. Careful what you wish for and all that.

GTS - is it possibly too good for its own ... good

The best a man can get
Two examples spring to mind. The Cayman GTS which is, you'll have come to understand, one of the most complete sports cars in living memory. And it is. Assuming two seats are sufficient it demands very few compromises. It's compact, the looks and badge will impress friends/neighbours/colleagues, it has a lovely cabin and feels brilliantly put together. And its engine is smooth, sonorous and way more charismatic than anything found in a comparable rival.

Great car. But so capable the driver simply isn't able to even scratch the surface of its abilities on the road, especially in the over-geared manual.

What about the 911? The current Carrera 2 S is, in performance terms, pretty much on pace with GT models of a generation or two ago and not much less rewarding for the dedicated driver. And the fast ones have moved into an entirely different realm of performance, be that all-weather in the Turbo or knife-edge in the GT3.

Lost sight of the magic it's meant to celebrate?

But on a late night drive back along familiar B-roads on a dark, rainy night in that gorgeous widebodied 50 Years Edition it suddenly felt too much. Nearside tyres in the gutter, offside ones thumping against cats' eyes, it felt inert, unwieldy and unsettled even though its limits were well contained within electronic safety nets. 911s have always bucked and weaved with the road surface but that confidence in pushing beyond the inherent foibles you have in older Porsches wasn't there. As if the lack of inherent foibles no longer gave you anything to work with.

On its head
Bizarrely the Turbo is the beacon of hope for the 911. It's 'better' than the previous 997 by all the metrics that matter. But it's also more characterful and fun - the whooshes and gurgles from the induction system that have previously been ironed out in the name of refinement have returned and it's more exciting for it. And the tech - mighty as it is - has been carried off without the driver feeling relegated to mere passenger in some kind of wunderwaffe.

Turbo seems to have woken up to issues

The real answer you're about to fire back at me is 'Cayman GT4'and there is, indeed, much to admire in the way this car steps back from the brink and says it's not all about the power or lap time. Feel and involvement are just as important. And that's a significant about-face by a company traditionally driven by a relentless determination to improve. This is, in effect, the 'less good' Porsche I'm apparently asking for here. But even that needs 20s to fill the arches. And then there's the gearing, GT boss Andreas Preuninger looking ready to lamp the next person on the launch who asked him to justify his personal taste for a manual that will hit 80mph in second gear. All very well. But what if you were looking forward to stirring around the remaining four while maintaining a grip on your licence?

That aside the GT4 is a very significant moment for Porsche, breaking the cycle that dictates better can only ever mean faster and more powerful. It's a tentative step, reflected in the severely restricted supply in case people didn't buy into the idea. That they have, many times over what Porsche says it expected, is hopefully a watershed moment.

"It's too good, I want my money back!" Er...

Back catalogue
There will always be the monsters like the new RS. But you get the sense Preuninger and his team feel a sense of liberation in the GT4 to build cars with a bit of nuance about them, rather than just beat the previous example's lap time, 0-62 or vmax.

Me? I'm looking forward to simpler, lighter and more agile flat-four Porsches with or without turbos. Not without precedent either; just look at the 550 Spyders and suchlike of the 50s. And 911s only really got fat and power crazed in the 80s. Before that they too traded on diminutive size and tactility rather than blunt force trauma. Flawed or not the Alfa Romeo 4C proves there's a demand for lightweight sports cars and, with the right looks, heritage and package, people will pay top dollar.

So, brilliant as they are, I can't help but feel the current crop of mainstream Porsches are just a little too accomplished for their own good.

Who knows. Maybe I'm wrong. Now's your chance to say!

Images: Tom Begley, Max Earey and Roo Fowler

 

[diluculophile]

There may just be something to this...

Having driven both the 991 Carrera and the S version, I really felt that the car didn't need the extra 50 BHP. I wasn't driving them on a track, admittedly, but the base model does everything fantastically well. Pretty, comfortable, reliable etc.
Perhaps over capable?
On normal roads, the Carrera is much more enjoyable to drive for a normal mortal than the previous model Cayman, which I found a bit twitchy, like it kind of wanted to kill me but didn't have the balls to go through with it. Brakes weren't up to the job either.

Over capable is fine for me.