THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Steve Bennett has his say
ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO TRY THE NEW 992
An unexpected and welcome call from the Porsche GB press office in late January. Would I like to drive the new 992 model 911 in Valencia? In and out in a day, but to sweeten the travel pain a private jet was being laid on. Well I'm in, despite it being a Sunday and the day of our Lord. If there really is a god, then he'd understand. And so we jetted off from the TAG Aviation Terminal at Farnborough, Hants very early. Me, a few other print hacks and some bloggers and vloggers and no doubt some influencers.
Of course we ran a full test in the last issue of 911&PW, which was timely, it being issue 300. But that wasn't me and most of the driving impressions were gleaned from track driving, which isn't really the same as on road. Hopefully, then, I can fill in a few gaps. That said, the acid test, as ever, will be when we get cars in the UK and on to our own unique roadscape...
I'm hoping for big things from the 992, not least because the 991 never really did it for me, or other Porsche fans it would seem. Witness how used prices are converging and even dropping behind late 997s. Problem is, all the things I don't like about the 991 are even more manifest in the 992. That is to say that it’s even bigger. However, I realise that I'm going to have to get over myself on this score, as anything new car wise rarely gets smaller.
And it wasn't just that the 991 was bigger in width and length, it was more that it had lost some of the 911’s traditional agility. Apart from the GT models, the 991 just felt a bit, well, lazy to react, and the introduction of things like rear wheel steering seemed to be confirmation of just that.
But time to put that to one side. Basking in the Valencian sunshine is a line-up of new 992 C2 S and C4 S variants and while they might look superficially similar to the 991, the platforms are pretty much entirely new, as is the now nearly all aluminium bodyshell. There is no narrow body version anymore and track width – particularly at the front end – is wider (by 46mm) still, and the engine moves slightly forward within the wheelbase, perhaps to increase the 992’s agility. I always thought that increasing the length and wheelbase of the 991 over the 997 is what robbed it of some of the traditional, animated 911 feel.
Engines are largely the same 3-litre twin turbo units, but with changes to the external turbo plumbing, intake and exhaust system to ramp power up to 444bhp. Right now there is only the option of 8speed PDK, but a manual is on the way. Most of the cars present are – as you would expect – optioned up, with the full range of dynamic gizmos. That is to say the aforementioned rear steer, plus the now standard PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management) dropped by 10mm in Sport spec, PDCC (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control), plus massive 20in/21in wheels front and rear. And while these are standard, they're covering off the monster PCM discs and calipers.
A quick word on aesthetics: In Guards Red, the new 992 really looks the part. Its blunter front end is more aggressive than the 991 and its widened track front and rear, with corresponding stretched
aches, is pure pumped 911 and harks back to the 930 Turbo. Shame no one will spec Guards Red, but we're all just too bloomin’ sophisticated these days.
Inside and the 992 has gone digital, with just an ornately analogue retro rev-counter occupying the central position of the driver focused dashboard. The full dash now contains a large screen for large screen comms stuff and infotainment, but I rather like the toggle switches on the pronounced lip of the lower dash, which reminds me of a GT40, but then I'm a bit weird like that! Gone is the myriad of buttons on the centre console and the PDK stick. Instead there is a small toggle and an expanse of piano black concealing the switchgear.
For some reason there are two infuriating electronic handbrake release buttons, but with rear wheels unclamped we're off in a Carrera 2 variant. When I say 'we' I mean myself and colleague Lee, from Total 911 mag. Friends and rivals you see. Lee has got a bit of filming to do and I'm going to give him a hand with some drive pasts. We're a bit late getting going on the programmed route, but soon we're past the dawdling bloggers, vloggers and influencers and into the hills surrounding Valencia.
So, time to let rip on the world's most developed, honed and evolutionary sports car. Indeed, probably the world's best sports car. The driving position is – needless to say – perfect. For optimum results relax at the wheel and let the car do the work. First up the steering is good. There's feel and feedback. It doesn't go all mushy, like the 991’s electro rack when pointed into a corner. That's good because there are constant, wide, near 180deg switchbacks to be negotiated. Point the nose into a corner and it sticks. The grip, as you would expect from the massive rubber, is staggering, although there are a couple of occasions when the rear end jumps out of line.
Selecting Sport from the steering column mounted rotary dial sharpens the throttle and the gearbox. The engine may be turbocharged, but you're hardly aware of it, so quickly do the twin turbos wind themselves up, and so keen is it to rev and drop up and down the gearbox. The hills have gone into almost single track roads with rock face to the left and a nasty wall to the right, so the pace is slowed. Descending and it's more of the big, wide corners, but then back at sea level the roads are more fast and flowing. Proper 911 terrain.
Under the Valencian sun, the new 992 demolishes everything in its path with a new hard-edged 911 swagger. Every input is met with a precision response, but there's still just enough of that animated 911 vibe, to remind you that the 911 is unique in its layout and its means of propulsion, too. The flat-six may be living on borrowed time, but it's a reminder that, when full electric power does come, we're going to miss that living, breathing and exploding lump in the back. I mean, is it even possible for an electric motor to have a soul? It's one thing to replace your average soulless four-pot with an electric motor, but a soulfull flat-six? That's a tough one.
We don't have a crystal ball, but we don't need one to see what's coming in terms of the 911's immediate future. In the 992 form, it's got roughly eight years of production. We know that in three, there will be a hybrid variant. There is space in the gearbox housing already to take an electric motor. Whether or not the entire 911 range will be electrically assisted is an unknown. Maybe it will be saved for a range-topping model, but that seems unlikely. Porsche is a forward thinking company that's been working on hybrid and all-electric configurations for some time now. It's going to want to make a statement with the 911.
And beyond 992? Well, whatever its model designation in 2027, it's conceivable that the flat-six will hang on, although parent company VW has said that it will stop developing internal combustion engines in 2026. So, in the here and now, the gen 1 992 is likely to be the last 911 with a pure, non-electro assisted drivetrain.
There's never been a bad 911, but there's been some mediocre ones and I would count the 991 among them. Not the 992, though. In 992 form the 911 has got its mojo back. It walks and talks like a 911 should. Sure, the Valencian roads are mostly super smooth, and the UK drive will be crucial to the final verdict, but instead of further finessing and engineering out the 911's inherent foibles, Porsche has instead enhanced and put them right back into the mix. Whatever the future might bring for the 911, we can at least live in the moment with the one we've got now. PW