Autocar - First for car news and reviews

This car is hugely fast, but the real surprise is the performance you get for the pound, particularly with the Sport Chrono pack, which provides launch control.

This allows a 0-60mph rip in 4.4sec, 100mph in 10.4sec and a claimed 178mph – enough performance to outsprint the more powerful Aston Vantage V8 and Audi R8.

It’s a shame, though, that the engine’s distinctive sound has almost disappeared below 4000rpm. Quite often its music will be swamped by road noise, which was a r...Read the full article

The lower part of the re-designed front bumper looks bizzare...

I borrowed a Cayman recently and was very impressed with handling, ease of driving and performance when opened up but agree with the comments in this weeks 911 road test that Porsche cabins are a bit underwhelming. My 20 year old son's first comment was that it was less impressive than our 5 year old Audi A4 including strange speedo graphics and plastic door handles. Could still be tempted though if only Messrs Brown, Blair et co whose university education was subsidised by my taxes in the 70's had only the decency to similarly pay for my sons current university education I might be able to afford it.  

Am I the only one finding new 911s less and less attractive as a package (not talking design here) ? After owning a 3.2L air-cooled every test drive has been disappointing (996, 997, c2, c4, targa and even turbo). I was discussing the same with an experienced sales rep recently and he commented that while the competition was virtually non-existent 20 years ago it's a whole different story now, which has dilluted the 911's appeal. I have to agree that it's become difficult to find a good, small, light 2+2 coupe, too many back seats are near unusable even for young kids which is what I'm after although the new TT was better than anticipated...

PHB:

Am I the only one finding new 911s less and less attractive as a package (not talking design here) ? After owning a 3.2L air-cooled every test drive has been disappointing (996, 997, c2, c4, targa and even turbo). I was discussing the same with an experienced sales rep recently and he commented that while the competition was virtually non-existent 20 years ago it's a whole different story now, which has dilluted the 911's appeal. I have to agree that it's become difficult to find a good, small, light 2+2 coupe, too many back seats are near unusable even for young kids which is what I'm after although the new TT was better than anticipated...

 

Completely. The noise, the involvement, the pliant ride, the fact you'd whisper "911" as a kid when one passed in order to mark the event. Today everyone has one, the car now a default choice for third division footballers, property developers and retired builders.

The engine's song has been muted and each derivation seems to come and go with all the excitement of a bus trip to Bognor. Even Autocar are criticising the ride, meaning it must be bad. How can a bad ride make the car 'everyday' for UK roads? It can't.

The interior has always been low rent, if you ask me, and it's one of the reasons Porsche remain the most profitable car company on the planet. Simply put, you're not getting what you pay for.

ThwartedEfforts:

Simply put, you're not getting what you pay for.

Have you ever actually driven one? I'm talking seriously driven one? Let's say through the Alps? On a Swedish iced lake at minus 20? Across Lazio b roads even? Well, if you have then let's talk about the 911, if you haven't then could you place your consistant 911 hating on a more adolescent web site.

The competition may be catching up but the 911 still does steering, handling and braking better than the so called competitors. You can continue to wear your deerstalker and smoke your meerschaum and talk about WWII dogfights over your pint of bitterness and of a world gone by, but Porsche understands what customers want TODAY and that's a sports car with no less sporting abilities (it will runs ring around an old 911 at the Ring with ease) but also with creature comforts that allow you to endure a daily commute on the M25 as well as track days. The world has moved on, and so has the 911.

A 'base' 911 Carrera or Carrera S is about as fast a car as I'd ever want but not in 'city trader look at me, look at me' yellow!

jackal:

I borrowed a Cayman recently and was very impressed with handling, ease of driving and performance when opened up but agree with the comments in this weeks 911 road test that Porsche cabins are a bit underwhelming. My 20 year old son's first comment was that it was less impressive than our 5 year old Audi A4 including strange speedo graphics and plastic door handles.  

 

TBH I think that Audi thrives on 'perceived quality' as opposed to actual depth of engineering/quality. The dash architecture of the S3 I sat in was incredibly similar to our Fabia - same graphics and everything in the same place. Put me right off any Audis that aren't the TT, R8 or RS4.
 

jackal:

Could still be tempted though if only Messrs Brown, Blair et co whose university education was subsidised by my taxes in the 70's had only the decency to similarly pay for my sons current university education I might be able to afford it.  

You could say the same about the Tories, since the target of getting 50% of school leavers into higher education (and thereby devaluing degrees) and bringing in tuition fees were their policies prior to 1997.

 

A great car no doubt, but the whole 'evolutionary' thing with the 911 just gets on my wick. I remember as a kid hearing the wailing air-cooled flat scream like yesterday...sent shivers down my spine, but that was 25 years ago. Porsche would appear to be the most risk-averse and conservative car company in the world - also one of the most profitable, so i guess this rant counts for little. But the fact that the dash architecture harks back to the 1960's is inexcusable in my eyes, yet very rarely mentioned by the misty-eyed hacks. Sure, the exterior is iconic and it would be difficult to completely break away from the silhouette, but If i pay £65K for a car i not only expect but demand real-metal interior trim, something that they can do on a £25K BMW or a £35K Jaguar. Heck - even some of the C-segment cars have better interior design and quality these days; Golf, 308, to name but two.

This test's comment about one or two interior shortfalls is rare; Porsche usually get away without criticsim. It's time they ploughed some of their mighty profits back into a decent interior design / colour+trim department.

andrew1965:

ThwartedEfforts:

Simply put, you're not getting what you pay for.

Have you ever actually driven one? I'm talking seriously driven one? Let's say through the Alps? On a Swedish iced lake at minus 20? Across Lazio b roads even? Well, if you have then let's talk about the 911, if you haven't then could you place your consistant 911 hating on a more adolescent web site.

 

Does the picture in your profile explain such indignance in the face of criticism? No point forming allegiances, dear, they're cars, not people.

michael knight:

It's time they ploughed some of their mighty profits back into a decent interior design / colour+trim department.

I thought we were talking sports cars, not the frock department at Harvey Nichols... The dash design works brilliantly, as it has done from day 1. It's focused as it should be in a sports car - the rev counter is where it should be as are all the other dials. Granted the navigation system is crap, but so is everybody else's - check real crap nav on an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Until Apple designs nav systems you;re better off going after market. Frankly I hope Porsche has the sense to keep the dash design until some stupid Eurocrat forces them to change.