A true legacy is a tricky thing to inherit. You might ascend to greatness like Caesar Augustus or wind up doing infomercials like Stephen Baldwin, but in either case it's a matter of both how you relate to your antecedents and how you define yourself from them. The design team for the all-new Porsche 911 undertook the most ambitious Porsche 911 redesign to date and must have thought long and hard about the conundrum of modernising an icon before deciding that the solution was to both break from, and honour the 911's historic past. The new model number is 991, which replaces the 997 — both are 911s in case you don't speak Porsche.
The 991's new body is wider, by 46mm compared to the 997 Carrera and 52mm compared to a Carrera S, and in each case is a tad lighter and lower than the previous model. The drivetrain is more efficient, driving dynamics are improved, fuel consumption and emissions are down and, perhaps most interesting of all in a historic context, the wheelbase is lengthened by about 100mm; the biggest jump in the 911's history.
This, combined with the wider track at the front, reduces body roll at high longitudinal and cornering speeds, and helps to make this the most glued-to-the-road 911 yet. I'll get to my own impressions shortly but here's a fairly objective metric: the new 911 Carrera S laps the Nürburgring's Nordschleife in 7:40 seconds; 14 seconds faster than the previous model. That's equal to the 997.2 model 911 GT3, and only trails the 2010 911 Turbo by a single second.
With its headlights spread out as far as possible to either side and its meaner, lower stance, the design language of the 991 telegraphs the performance and emotionality experienced behind the wheel. Climbing in and out of any 911 might be a bit of a chore, especially if you're tall like me, but once inside a set of in-depth seat controls very similar to that of the cushy Audi A8 allows you to dial in the perfect driving position. In case that seems vaguely frivolous or somehow soft-core to those among us who consider petrol a designer fragrance, consider that the very first thing they teach you to do at Porsche Sport Driving School, is to adjust your seat correctly. Ergonomics play an important role in any driving experience, and perhaps more so with a car like the 991; for once you're in the driver's seat you won't want to relinquish the wheel… ever.
Once I had my long frame sorted out in the Carrera S's swank new cockpit, I turned the key and brought the mighty 3.8-litre flat-six roaring to life. A wide grin spread across my lips as the car's hearty growl reached my ears. While the S retains the same engine as the previous model, its many other new design elements coalesce to improve bhp from 385 to 400, while providing 440Nm of torque at 5,600rpm compared to 420Nm at 4,400rpm. The Carrera now boasts more power at lower displacement, with its new 3.4-litre engine producing 350bhp, up from the 345 offered by the previous 3.6-litre model.
With the Carrera S purring in my head, I pulled up to a stop sign before exiting the hotel parking lot when a fairly novel thing happened: the mellifluous engine stopped dead of its own accord. Ah yes, the 911 and the Prius finally have something in common, automatic stop-start is now standard on the 911 and accounts for a good part of its improved fuel efficiency.
I depressed the accelerator and pulled out into traffic. Following the preprogrammed sat-nav, I wound through a series of winding roads and past Oprah Winfrey's sprawling central California estate. So far the Carrera S was on its best behaviour; I refrained from using Sport mode and it hummed along at maximum fuel efficiency with a perfectly reasonable throttle response for any luxury coupé. A pet peeve of mine is that Eco mode, or whatever guise it takes, is often so egregiously underpowered in many sportscars, that virtually no one can stomach using it. This is decidedly not the case here, and I found myself leaving Sport mode off for normal driving.
As the houses became less and less frequent and the switchbacks more enticing, I turned on Sport and the Carrera S was transformed into the world-class sportscar that it is. When a rather slow, older model pick-up truck failed to cede the passing lane, I waited for the next opportunity and waved goodbye as the car's unbelievably quick acceleration put ample road between me and the inconsiderate driver in mere seconds. Don't get me wrong, I'm fairly conservative on the road, even on a closed course, but leaving less considerate souls in the dust is, on occasion, quite satisfying.
The Carrera S handled the sharp S curves of the highway with no trouble at highway speeds, leaving the brake pedal to pout for lack of attention. I also found it satisfying that the car has a superb power-to-weight ratio to make even the steepest back country hills essentially irrelevant as a line of heavy, V6-equipped SUVs began clogging up the slower lane.
Soon I arrived at the airplane hangar that Porsche had kitted out with a media lounge and test track. At the short but informative presentation given by Porsche execs, the two contrasting facts that define the new 991 were made clear; this isn't your grandfather's 911 but then, your grandfather's 911 was pretty great in its own way, and the 991 hasn't lost that essential 911 DNA.
Out on the course for my first lap, Porsche Sport Diving School instructor Daniel Eastman takes the wheel and treats me to the sort of adrenaline spiking experience that only a hot lap with a real racecar driver can provide. Eastman switches on Launch Control and then mats both the accelerator and the brake pedal for three seconds. Upon releasing the brake, the car lunges forward, pulling something like 1.3G — you'll have to forgive me because I couldn't quite read the display with my head pinned to the seat. The car zoomed down the straightaway, reaching 100kph in what must have been close to the claimed 4.1 seconds with Super Sport mode and PDK.
At the end of the line Eastman mats the brake as he lets go of the steering wheel and the car comes to a neck-snapping stop in an almost completely straight line. I have had the exact same experience in the Bugatti Veyron SS and I have to tell you that, while there is no disputing the credentials of the mighty Veyron, the experience of 0-100 and a full force stop is within a very tight tolerance experientially. I'm not saying the specs are similar, just that the feeling of awe that this move inspires is on par when each car is in the hands of a professional driver.
Soon it was my turn to take the car around the track and the adrenaline was already pumping from my lap. My palms were actually sweating with anticipation and for my first lap I captained the venerable PDK transmission, winging the paddle shifters as I saw fit, going more off the sound of the motor than anything because, frankly, it's really hard to watch the gauges at track speed as the road ahead is rushing at you so aggressively that you can barely take your eye off it. When I'd finished my first lap I stopped and wondered; "could PDK be faster than I am at shifting effectively?" The answer, not surprisingly, is a resounding yes.
For my second lap I left the transmission in full Auto mode. The car shifted through all seven gears in the straightaway with smooth precision, wringing out every last bit of torque and shifting just at the redline with far more consistency than I could manage on the paddles.
In the corners, slalom, and wide-arcing turns, Porsche Torque Vectoring, combined with Porsche Stability Management, apply braking discriminately to allow you to choose and stick to your ideal line at speeds that are as shocking as they are enjoyable. Today's 911 is not only more powerful but also far more forgiving than the original. Engineering aside, the result is fantastic and while any 991 owner will enjoy the benefits on the open road, he or she might also want to budget in some track time as the new 911 is an absolute beast on the closed course.
Legacies inform who we are, but they don't have to define us — we all want to honour our elders to some degree and the new 991 is no different. It offers interior and exterior refinements, more power and torque than its predecessors, and driving dynamics that are only possible in the computer age. Some will look at the 991 and declare that it's an entirely new car, and in a way they'll be right. But while the 991 might be more in line with modern sportscars, it is still unmistakably 911 at its core, and that my friends, is something to celebrate.
Specs
Model 911 Carrera S
Engine 3.8-litre flat-six
Transmission Seven-speed PDK, RWD
Max power 400bhp @ 7,400rpm
Max torque 440Nm @ 5,600rpm
Top speed 302kph
0-100kph 4.1sec (Sport Chrono)
Price Dh395,6000 (base)
Plus The best 911 yet
Minus An even better one is around the corner