Porsche 911 Turbo: The legend returns

It's not the next generation Porsche 911 Turbo, but it's so splendid, it may as well be.

The 911 Turbo, since its birth in 1974, has seen subtle changes over the years, without altogether breaking with tradition. Porsche has now released the 2010 Turbo edition using this same subtle approach. And why not? Why would you make extreme changes to an icon, which the Turbo undoubtedly is? But then, enhancements in performance are always welcome.

Porsche certainly agrees. The only visual change that catches the eye is the addition of new ultra lightweight rims, and even they have been built with greater performance in mind. The set you see on the coupé resembles the design of the wheels gracing the RS Spyder Porsche. Yes, the one demolishing circuits of the ALMS championship.

With its reduced weight, the 911 offers better fuel efficiency, managing 24.1 to 24.8mpg, while emitting less carbon dioxide - 18 per cent less, in fact. This attempts to further widen the gap between Porsche and its competitors in the green approach to sports car construction.

At the heart of this star is a 3.8-litre flat-six powerhouse, that techies in Stuttgart have placed underneath the rear engine cover; a first of its kind in 35 years for the Turbo. Home to 500 raging horses and utilising Porsche's variable turbine geometry twin turbochargers plus a direct fuel injection system, the 2010 911 Turbo rockets to 100kph in just 3.4secs. This equals Lamborghini's Murciélago, Ferrari's new F458, as well as the 2010 Nissan GT-R.

Could Porsche be more than a little upset at the GT-R's recent 'Ring times? With a price tag of about Dh550,000, it's just a snip of the cost of the Italian supercars, but still some way above Japan's greatest.

The new 911 Turbo tops out at 312kph, at which it should feel as stable as ever thanks to the all-wheel-drive system reining in the power through a Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK), or double clutch gearbox to the lay person.

With greater power comes greater responsibility, so Porsche's engineers have tweaked the traction management system and stability manager to increase the driving dynamics. The newcomer also offers an optional Torque Vectoring system to enhance the steering responses.

With current design cues left intact, the leaner, greener and faster 911 Turbo launches into the public domain next month at the Frankfurt Show. First UAE cars will arrive next year.