At 56 years old, Porsche’s 2020 911 sports car is spry as ever
Porsche’s 2020 911 Carrera 4S is so quick and capable that it seemed like only a racetrack could demonstrate its true capabilities.
The German car company’s iconic sports car by no means its bestselling model but still its pride-bound flagship model is 56 years old and now in its eighth generation. The new iteration differs stylistically only a little. But in terms of performance, as has been the case with every new generation, it’s a new car in impressive new ways.
On the outside, very few alterations from the 2019 911 are visible. The rear of the car is a little wider, almost imperceptibly. It is slightly wider up front, and slightly longer overall though the wheelbase itself is unchanged. New LED headlights bracket a faintly redesigned hood. Door handles retreat and sit flush within the body, which is now made almost entirely of aluminum. The taillight is now a continuous bar flowing the width of the rear end.
The six-cylinder boxer engine, rear-mounted and fitted with twin turbochargers, now puts out 443 horsepower (up 23 ticks from 2019) and 390 pound-feet of torque (up 22 over 2019). It jets from zero to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, almost a half-second faster than its predecessor, and is said to have a top speed of 182 mph.
The improved power is put to the ground via a new eight-speed PDK dual clutch automatic transmission — replacing the earlier seven-speed, and now with the top two gears calibrated for freeway driving and Porsche’s “active all-wheel drive” system, which puts the “4” in “4S.” The model I tested also featured the optional rear-axle steering.
Some Porsche admirers are already grousing about the manner in which the new vehicle allows the driver to make manual gear selections. On all Porsches with PDK transmissions, these can be made via paddle shifters mounted to the steering column or by using a “stick shift” on the center console. But Porsche has replaced the console shift knob on previous models with a stubby shift tab.
Driving modes are Normal, Sport, Sport+ and Wet. Each offers slightly different steering, suspension and transmission settings, and each allows the driver different amounts of available power.
Traction control can be removed entirely.
For the first time on a non- GT Porsche, the 2020 911 features “staggered” wheels with 21-inchers up front and 20-inchers in the back. This arrangement is designed to guarantee maximum power to the ground while achieving maximum stability and control.
Porsche’s fantastic PASM suspension system is standard equipment. The PASM Sport Suspension package, previously available only on S and GTS models, is now an option on this car. The seven-inch information touchscreen has been increased to 10.9 inches.
New this year is an industry first: The wheels are equipped with rain sensors. If the road is wet the driver will get a visual alert on the dashboard suggesting that the car be placed in “wet” driving mode.
How does the car know? There are audio sensors in the wheel well that detect a change in tire noise.
I had a delightful week with the Carrera 4S in its convertible Cabriolet version. Though like all 911s it sits low and requires a certain flexibility for ingress and egress, it drives nicely in traffic, maneuvers beautifully around town, and on longer drives was a pleasant traveling companion.
As a daily driver, it presents challenges. The vehicle rides so close to the ground that, even with the optional electronic nose-lifting feature, I found it difficult to avoid scraping the chin going in and out of driveways.
The storage capacity is minimal. Visibility is only fair. The engine noise, while delightful as engine noise, makes musical enjoyment and telephone conversation somewhat challenging.
On the other hand, a new deflector, mounted behind the rear seats, significantly reduces wind noise when the top is down.
The combination of power and precision makes this car go fast very quickly. On a canyon road or two, I found I was overly tempted to push the envelope. Eager to avoid turning the 911 driving experience into a 9-1-1 emergency situation, I contacted Porsche and asked if they’d host me for a spin around their Experience Center.
Opened in 2016, this adrenaline playground offers Porsche enthusiasts a chance to drive perfectly prepared Porsche sports cars on a perfectly maintained race course.
Packages starting as low as $350 — and rising violently higher — put drivers in cars on the track accompanied by driving coaches trained to show them the racing ropes.
That’s what I did, in a hardtop version of the 2020 Carrera 4S. Starting in the passenger seat, for enough laps to show me the course and acquaint me with the best braking points, turn-in spots and apexes, I eventually graduated to the driver’s seat for a few laps at the controls.
A very able coach did his best to help me make the best of the 4S.
The experience taught me two things.
First, I was able to more fully appreciate the capabilities of this sports car when I had it in a safe, controlled environment that was designed for high-speed performance. The 4S is a remarkable car, and I felt quite comfortable diving into and out of tight corners at speeds I’d never attempt on a public road.
My efforts produced surprisingly little drama. Try as I might, as we switched from Wet to Normal to Sport to Sport+ driving modes, I was not able to pry the wheels from the asphalt, nor push the car so far that it had any difficulty doing as it was asked — though on a final lap, with the traction control eliminated, I broke the back end free a couple of times.
Second, I was able to see what the car could really do when a truly gifted driver was operating it. To paraphrase the Beach Boys, the coach made my Indy 500 look like a Roman chariot race.
Porsche’s 911 sales for 2019 are down from 2018, though the year-to-date sales figure for all models is up 7%. (The top-selling-Macan has dropped a bit, but Cayenne sales have almost doubled.)
Will the improvements to the Carrera 4S kick 911 sales up a bit? Probably not much. With MSRPs starting at $121,950 for the hardtop and $134,750 for the convertible, these 911s are not for the faint of heart, or light of wallet.
But the die-hard drivers who applaud any new improvement in the Porsche portfolio will welcome this new 911.
About the Writer
Charles Fleming writes about automobiles and motorcycles for the Los Angeles Times’ Business section. Readers may send him email at charles. fleming@latimes.com.