Porsche 911 Turbo S - The Best Car in the World?
For 7 generations, Porsche has used the Turbo badge to crown each 911 series with the pinnacle of what's possible in straight-line performance. Along the way it's had more or less serious rivals. Only the Nissan GT-R in 2007 was ever really able to stand up to the 911 Turbo. Since then, you get the feeling that Porsche's engineers made a vow never again to give the competition even the slightest chance. Which is why we're all the more excited today to drive the Porsche 911 Turbo S from the current 992 generation.
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The calm before the storm
And first contact packs a punch. Standing in front of the Turbo, you're floored by the typical wide-body kit. No other car manages, like the Turbo does, to carry so many spoilers and add-ons and still look so civilized. It's hilarious. Sometimes the 911 Turbo just about disappears in traffic and you think to yourself, looking at it from the outside, that a quarter of a million could be made a little more conspicuous. But from another angle, the car's brutal presence ambushes you all over again. Somehow, visually, it plays out exactly what defines it on the road, too. But we'll get to that later.
Porsche 911 Turbo S 992: specs and 0–60 time
The supercar is powered by a twin-turbocharged flat-six that delivers a whopping 640 hp and, with 590 lb-ft of torque, runs everything into the ground. Add to that a phenomenal dual-clutch transmission that truly deserves the word "perfection", and an all-wheel-drive system that actually transfers this indescribable power to the asphalt. Porsche officially quotes 2.8 seconds for the 0 to 62 mph sprint. With our GPS box we measured an unbelievable 2.29 seconds. The acceleration tirade ends at 205 mph. Numbers you'd normally expect from hypercars.
And how do those specs feel on the road in the Porsche 911 Turbo S?
At the latest when you're sitting in the 992 Turbo and driving the first few yards, you have to rub your eyes in disbelief. You've just gone through the spec sheet and know that, in terms of output, you're basically driving a nuclear bomb - and yet, for heaven's sake, cruising comfortably along you notice no difference to a BMW 5 Series. Pulling away is quiet, pleasantly smooth, with no jerking or tugging. The seats and the suspension are very comfortably sprung, and visibility is great, too. Thanks to the all-wheel drive and the slightly higher weight compared to a 911 Carrera, everything feels even more comfortable than the civilian base version. Paradoxical, but brilliant.
Porsche 911 Turbo S 992: does perfection turn into boredom?
So is the sports car tuned too comfortably, and does it ultimately leave something on the table in fast corners? No! As soon as you flick the mode switch on the 911's steering wheel to Sport or Sport Plus, the civilized Porsche turns into the most brutal sports car you can imagine. The car accelerates so fast that you really need corners to bring your brain matter - pressed against the back of your skull - forward again with the equally perfect ceramic brakes, only to hit cornering speeds that are beyond good and evil.
The beautiful thing is that you can still calmly sip your cappuccino while doing it. It goes faster than every other car on this planet, and does so completely unflustered. You feel like you're traveling through space and time. And that makes driving the Porsche 911 Turbo S 992 just as contradictory as its looks. Somehow it's almost uncharming to simply be going that fast. It should descend into boredom.
But it doesn't. It's still highly emotional. You could say the car is so perfect that the perfection itself becomes emotional again. That all sounds a little crazy now, but at the latest once you drive a Porsche 911 Turbo S yourself, you'll know what I mean.
Verdict: the Porsche 911 Turbo S is a dream car
The Porsche 911 Turbo S can do everything -- and not just the way the proverbial jack-of-all-trades does, getting to 99% in every discipline, but it's essentially superior in every single discipline to the respective specialist that was designed solely for that purpose. That makes it the most complete sports car in the world. And, for me, a dream car.
