Carrera GTS
Deciding how best to mark the end of a model line isn’t an easy task, especially when that model is the well-respected and capable 997, but the GTS was a very suitable answer indeed. In fact, when you consider the specification and that it cost ‘just’ £77,000 – almost a bargain compared to a powerkitted Carrera S – it’s hard to see how it could have been any more desirable.
For one thing the engine was an absolute peach, the direct-injection 3.8 managing 408hp at a sonorous 7,300rpm, and backed by 420Nm of torque, with 320Nm of that available from just 1,500rpm. Performance was punchy, with the 0-62mph sprint rattled off in a brisk 4.6 seconds before the limiter called time at 190mph. You wouldn’t have felt short-changed when it came to pace, but the GTS was about more than just outright speed, impressive as that was.
This was a 997 that was firmly focused on driver engagement. Starting with broader tracks front and rear, PASM and PSM were standard, and there was a thicker rear anti-roll bar. Buyers could opt to sharpen things further still with a firmer suspension set-up and limited slip differential. PCCB brakes were optional, but the standard items were more than up to the task, benefitting from larger discs, while the gorgeous 19-inch RS Spyder centre-lock wheels were shod with broader rubber.
Everything was in place to make this an exceptionally capable device, one that involved as well as cosseted, and the
GTS delivered on that promise in spades. But it wasn’t just the oily bits that were special, as the exterior had undergone a subtle transformation – one based around the wider C4 body shell – that included a Sport Design front apron with the lower section painted black, a theme that continued along the side skirts and around the rear apron. Small GTS logos were another tell, but once you opened the door you were welcomed by an opulent cabin that was smothered in Alcantara and stuffed with luxury goodies, including climate control, PCM, and Sound Package Plus.
The 997 Carrera GTS wasn’t on a numbered production run like many of its brethren here, but that matters little: highly sought-after today, you can be safe in the knowledge that as last hurrah’s go, the GTS was one of the best.