Porsche 911 CARRERA RANGE
If You Want One Of Porsches Latest Generation 911 Youd Better Be Quick. The Queues Are Building. Andy Enright Reports
Classic is a word we bandy about far too readily. Only a handful of cars still built today merit the term and in pole position amongst them is Porsches iconic 911. The latest model the 997 series has a silhouette similar to its predecessor, the 996, but the detailing is refreshingly clean and simple, much like that cars predecessor, the air-cooled 993. Whats more, the 997 is the first 911 model to be launched with two normally aspirated engines of different capacities.
Although the shape is reassuringly familiar, in fact only the roof is carried over from the previous model and a whopping 80 per cent of the car is new.
Porsche fans will realize the huge step forward when they hear August Auchleitner, director of 911 development, say that the 997 is to the 996 what the 993 was to the 964." A huge leap forward in terms of sophistication, quality and driving enjoyment in other words. Under that sleek bodywork comes a bigger, punchier engine. Its still a flat six and its still hung out at the back but Carrera buyers will get a 321bhp 3.6-litre powerplant and Carrera S customers will be treated to a 350bhp 3.
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8-litre unit. Its a naming convention that mirrors the Boxster and Cayenne ranges and is easy to comprehend. Cabriolet and four-wheel drive coupe models will follow in 2005 with the mighty Turbo being pencilled in for a 2006 launch. Targa models are unlikely to appear as sales of this body style have tailed off significantly in recent years.
911 purists will be glad to see a return to the 993-style round headlamps, the so-called runny-egg smeared on lamps of the 996 being consigned to history. The wheelarches are pumped up to accept the Carreras 18-inch wheels and the 19-inch wheels of the Carrera S giving this 911 a voluptuous coke-bottle profile. The wheelbase of the car remains unchanged at 2350mm but its slightly shorter and a few centimetres wider. Windtunnel work has helped to reduce drag and lift although the aerodynamicists were constrained by the desire to keep the car recognizably a 911.
The easiest way to tell the two models apart is that the Carrera has a pair of oval tailpipes whereas the S model sports a quad set of exhausts. That and the badge on the back.
"The 997 is a huge leap forward in terms of sophistication, quality and driving enjoyment"
The body is a massive 40 per cent more resistant to bending thanks to new welding and adhesives techniques. Weight has crept up by 25kg although
Porsche claim the 997 is a lot safer than its predecessor and able top pass stringent 64km/h crash tests. A number of other first are incorporated into the 997. Take the steering for instance.
Bar perhaps that intoxicatingly breathy engine note, Porsche steering and brakes do more than anything else to differentiate the marque in terms of sheer excellence. Down the years, 911s have always had a linear steering rack that delighted in the amount of feedback it supplied to the driver. The 997 departs from this system and adopts a variable ratio system that gets quicker the further the wheel is turned. Getting rid of the old 17-inch wheels also allows Porsche to fit bigger and better brakes to the 997.
The S gets brakes similar to those fitted to the 996 Turbo and the truly well-heeled can even opt for ceramic discs. The chassis has been thoroughly revised too with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) standard on the Carrera S. This system is built around specially designed Michelin Pilot sport tyres and Bilstein adaptive dampers that can be set in one of two modes, normal and sport. The sport mode also sharpens the throttle action.
An optional sports chassis set up offers stiffer springs and dampers, a lower ride height and a more aggressive limited slip differential. Thus equipped and with an experienced driver behind the wheel, the 997 Carrera S can run a lap of the Nurburgring in under 8 minutes, the true acid test of a supercar. Although the cabin of the 996 was a big leap forward in terms of fit and finish over the 993 series car, it was still prone to a few squeaks and rattles. The 997 takes its quality cue form the Cayenne 4x4 and features a three-spoke wheel and an in-dash LCD monitor.
Some aspects are pure 993, however, such as the location of the air vents and the roll top along the upper dash. Porsche know their history and so do their customers and the design of the 997s cabin pays homage to Porsches of the past. The quality of materials, however, is like no 911 built to date. Expensively slush-moulded fascia materials make a welcome change to the hard plastics seen in the 996 and its possible to specify leather trim.
The front seats are bigger and the driver sits 20mm lower and theres a choice of four different seats depending on how racy you want to feel. Another neat option is the dash top mounted Porsche Sport Chrono, a stopwatch that can time laps. The straight line performance of the 997 Carrera is nigh-on identical to that of the 996 Carrera 2, the extra 6bhp being offset by the additional weight. Both hit 60mph in 4.
9 seconds and zip through 100mph in 11 seconds on the way to a top speed of 177mph. The Carrera S is that little bit feistier, recording a 4.7 second sprint to 60 and a 10.7 figure to 100mph.
Top speed is pegged at 182mph. Despite this, the combined fuel economy figure of 24.6mpg is almost unbelievable. On sale for over seven years, the 996 was sold for longer than any other 911 series, giving you some idea as to the esteem it was held in.
The 997 has been worth the wait, offering more power, better handling, better quality, more choice and neater styling. I have a suspicion that this 997 will come to be remembered as the best 911 of the bunch. A classic in other words.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Porsche 911 Carrera range
PRICES: £58,380-£65,000 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20 CO2 [g/km] / EMISSIONS: tba g/km
PERFORMANCE: [Carrera S] 0-60mph 4.7s / Max Speed 182mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [Carrera] (combined) /25.7mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin airbags, ABS, PSM
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height, 4427/1808/1310mm
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