Porsche 911
Taming the Porsche 911: A New Charger
If the Porsche 911 were a horse, it would have been shot years ago. Brash, headstrong animals are never popular. Unruly cars are even worse. After its birth, almost 34 years ago, Porsche and its customers quickly noticed there was a problem with the Porsche 911. Sure, those early Porsche 911s looked great, but with its rear-mounted engine, slung VW Beetle-like behind the rear axle, it was a treacherous handler. Combine a wet road and a tricky corner, and Porsche 911s liked to wag their tails behind them, in a manner which, in this instance, showed no signs of faithful obedience.
As the years rolled on, Porsche 911s got faster and meaner-looking and pricier, but their intrinsic unruliness remained. There developed a sort of machismo quality about them ''Hey, look what I can control," rather as if you were taking a wild stallion out for its first ride. Other attractions were that they were handsome, well-built, good value and reliable. There was certainly a practical face to them. But the Mr. Hyde side was still dominant. To make matters worse, Porsche even launched a turbo-charged version. Sure it was fast. But it was also bordering on the uncontrollable, at least if you used the performance potential.
Nobody was more surprised at the sales success of the 911 than Porsche itself. On more than one occasion it tried to pension off the old charger. The marvelous 928, of 1978, was an attempt to tempt Porsche 911 fans away with a more conventional sports car. It failed. The 924, the 944, the 968, all attempts either to replace or at least supplement the Porsche 911, have all come and gone. But the Porsche 911 soldiers on.
Sameness and Differences
And now there's a new one. It's still called Porsche 911 for there is no more famous set of numbers in motoring than these. And it still looks like a Porsche 911, even though all the body panels, and all the mechanicals are new. It's a Porsche 911 for the 21st century and, what's most impressive, it handles with a friendliness that old Porsche 911 hands just won't recognize.
Whereas the old Porsche 911 had a hyperactive nervousness about its steering and general deportment that always kept the driver alert, the new one is far more stable. This does reduce the entertainment value, but it also makes for a much more relaxing car. A faster one, too. This new Porsche 911 strings corners together with far more aplomb than the old monster ever did.
The mechanicals may be new, but their layout is the same. A new flat-six engine, water cooled this time rather than air cooled, which muffles much of the old din, is still out there at the back, behind the rear axle, driving the back wheels. In extremis, the new Porsche 911 would probably still slide off the road, tail first, if you were daft enough to push it so hard. Yet the longer wheel base, the new suspension, and all the other changes now make for a better balanced, more neutral handling car.
You can still feel the car's attitude change as you alter the steering and accelerator pedal when going around corners at speed, and still marvel at the car's lightning-reflex feedback. The difference is that now you can trust it and work together with it, rather than continually fight it as you try to meet its challenge. It is now an ally, not an opponent.
The cabin is much roomier, too. Old Porsche 911 cockpits were not only appallingly designed, with switches sited with all the thoughtfulness of pieces of shot fired from a blunderbuss, with cabin plastics that would look more appropriate swathing the interiors of 1970s Ladas, and with a windscreen that was so close that it felt like you were wearing a pair of vast one-piece spectacles. The new one is not just more spacious, it's also better designed and trimmed, although the switches borrowed from the Porsche Boxster model are rather shiny and cheap-looking. The rear seat is for briefcases, not people.
It's for the speed, the handling, the stupendously good brakes and the looks that you'll buy this Porsche. You will be disappointed on no front.
Maybe that idiosyncratic tame-me-if-you-can challenge is missing, and maybe that was an area that old masochistic Porsche 911 lovers liked. But the upshot is a better and much more versatile sports car, one that can speed across continents, swoop over winding roads, and look quite lovely when parked in the drive.
Porsche 911. About $110,000. Horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine, 3387cc, 300 bhp at 6,800 rpm. Six-speed manual transmission (Tiptronic five-speed automatic optional). Top speed: 280 kph (174 mph). Acceleration: 0-100 kph in 5.0 seconds. Average fuel consumption: 10.8 liters/100 km.
International Herald Tribune
December 5, 1997
Gavin Green