APPETITE FOR PORSCHE
SAM WALLACE DECIDES NOT EVERYONE HAS THE STOMACH FOR FAST CARS
Jeremy Clarkson jokes that every iteration of the Porsche Carrera 911 looks exactly the same.
But we think if he had choose between the new model and the previous generation, our money would be on the new model.
The latest version of the 911 is called the 992. The model before that was the 991 and it was the first time Porsche turbocharged the Carrera, instead of it being naturally aspirated. And the 992 has made the turbos even angrier.
We had the chance to form our own opinion at Porsche’s Asia Pacific test drive.The launch was on Auckland’s waterfront and definitely was a slick event.
I did wonder if my invitation was a lastminute gesture after another guest had sent a late cancellation but, in an effort to fit in with the group of Porsche buyers, I decided to wear a patterned shirt tucked into my trousers. Did you know that the average Porsche driver is 51 years old and tends to be a business owner or C suiter. (Think senior staffers —chief executive, chief financial officer. Those guys.)
The problem was that
cameraman John and I had arrived late. The drive was about to begin and John hadn’t set up his camera gimbal — which is a camera balanced on a stick by weights that move around. The idea is that the camera doesn’t move, even in a car at speed.
As we joined the convoy of Carreras on some winding roads southwest of Auckland, I looked at John and realised all was not well. All the blood had drained from his face. He said: “I’m going to faint”. I thought . . . “just don’t drop the camera”.
But then he announced he felt sick.
Normally the decision would be to pull over immediately. But we were on a 100km road with a bunch of excited Porsche drivers barrelling down on top of me. The only option was to pull over to a cattle crossing. I just had to hope that the front skirt of my $310,000 Carrera 4s wouldn’t remain on the cattle stop. I poked the nose into the farmer's yard and luckily I heard no catastrophic crunching.
John opened the door the same time his stomach gave up its contents. Fortunately the vomit whistled past the red leather seats, past the edge of what I can only assume is mohair carpet and ended up on the Porsche logo (now illuminated because the door was open) in the door sill. It couldn’t have been any closer.
With the drama over, the day continued as planned and we went on to drive the 4WD 4S and the RWD S.
So let’s lay down some numbers. They are both propelled by Porsches 4-litre turbocharged flat six, making331kW, 22 more kW than last year. The PDK dual clutch gearbox is slick. It has 8 gears but the top speed is achieved in 6th gear, which makes the last two cogs about economy.
The 4WD 4S gets to 100 in 3.6s. The rear-wheel drive S in 3.7s. For me, the 2WD S felt most alive, a sharper instrument. Especially now that you can click a button and select wet-road mode.
So how much better is the new 992? It lapped Nurburgring in 7:25, a 5s improvement on the previous generation. That’s the level of refinement Porsche is at, fighting for every millisecond and every gram of weight. For instance, it redesigned the seats to save 3kg.
Meanwhile, the horrible thing about car sickness is it takes a while to recover. So instead of exploring the limits of grip and the perfect weight distribution, instead of testing the new high flow turbos that cram 18 pounds of boost into the cylinder head, I had to look after John. He vomited six times that day. I had the time of my life.
The Carrera 911 992 is as perfect as it is beautiful and the one I drove still has that new car smell. Just.