Having reluctantly handed the 911 Turbo S we've got on test to Matt and ended up with a diesel VW Sharan (not sure how that worked out) I've got time on my hands to reflect. Mainly on how I've gone from being ambivalent about
forced induction 911s
(I'd consider myself more a GT3 man, minus the funds to actually buy one) to being rather smitten by the
latest Turbo
turbocharged Carreras
- an important distinction.
Disappearing into the distance, as per
With the 991 Turbo Porsche upped the tech, the speed, the grip and all the things the 997 version already had in abundance. But also added some much needed character. Because if the 997 and 996 Turbos had one curious attribute it was the ability to make going very fast indeed an oddly soulless experience. You simply swapped a slow speed for a (much) higher one in the blink of an eye, Porsche seemingly ignoring the means and concentrating on the ends. The 991 seems to have addressed this, more so in this facelifted version. And I think we have the
Nissan GT-R
When the GT-R arrived the big deal was 911 Turbo performance for half the price, it being no secret what was in Nissan's sights when it developed its big beast. Job suitably jobbed, in spectacular fashion. But it didn't leave 911 Turbo owners feeling especially threatened, the GT-R's image and rawness making it a challenger on paper but not so much in the real world. As the years have gone by Nissan has attempted to buff some of these rough edges away with incrementally softer suspension settings, squishier leather and some premium trimmings, culminating in the latest MY17 car. I drove one recently and it's more rounded than ever. While still an utter mentalist when required.
Converging slightly from very different directions
The 911 has meanwhile been moving the opposite direction, keeping the luxury trimmings but quietly incorporating some GT-R style rawness and interaction. This makes sense. There's now a generation of GT-R owners raised on the turbo-nutter four-wheel drive performance but perhaps looking to the next step and something a little more grown-up. But not dumbed down.
Drive this new Turbo S in its Sport+ mode and you feel it instantly. It's less severe than the GT-R but you get the odd thud and clunk through the PDK gearbox. It's probably artificially piped in but the noise of turbos whining and whooshing as they spool up and then venting the excess boost with exciting sounding hisses and ripples is properly thrilling. And there's an aggression about the throttle response, gearshifts and chassis that'll feel very familiar to GT-R drivers. Yet dial it back to Normal mode and it'll mooch along as comfortably as any 911 Turbo ever has. I know I've been sceptical in the past about contrived character via driver modes but in this instance it works.
911 Turbo S
on a wet track and, like the GT-R, it does that thing of flattering, effortless all-conditions speed that'll leave you speechless without seemingly nudging the limits. But then going beyond that and rewarding the more committed driver with a whole extra level of poise, adjustability and tech-enhanced exploitability.
Porsche - and by extension some of its customers - may have been a little snooty about the GT-R when it first arrived and rather content to rest on respective laurels. But I rather like the fact both have been forced to defer to its influence and, if subtly, the latest Turbo bears the evidence of that. Whether you'd ever get anyone at Porsche to admit to it is another matter...