992 Turbo S first drive

It’s the ultimate do-it-all super sports car: so how has Porsche made the 911 Turbo S even better in 992 guise?

How can Porsche go about making the best even better? We find out with a first drive in the 650hp 992 supercar

Right from launch in 1975, the Turbo has cemented its place as the ultimate all-rounder 911. The model which elevated the 911 into the realms of the supercar, its job in the 45 years since has been not just to deliver unrivalled acceleration, but provide a platform in which this 911 is the reference point for every driving scenario.

With that, we’ve seen the technologically superior Turbo shift from a sports car with grand touring credentials to, arguably, a grand tourer with sporting intent, confirmed by the 991 generation with its Pdk-only gearbox and electrically assisted steering. That led to us labelling the Turbo back in issue 115 as the indomitable Porsche 911 – it really is THAT good at doing just about everything. It’s a sentiment that’s seemingly echoed at Porsche, so much so that Dr Frank-steffen Walliser (head of the 911 production line at Porsche these days) proclaimed that development of the Turbo is possibly his team’s most complicated task. So just how do you go about making the best even better?

Before we jump into our Gentian blue example for a drive, it’s worth running through its spec. The Turbo S remains the “all bells and whistles 911”, as you’d expect for a starting price of £156,000. In

992 form, there’s a large amount of carry-over, in principle, from the 991 generation before it, albeit with tweaks. An example of this is the active aerodynamics, which has evolved considerably.

There are now three recognised settings for PAA:

Eco, Sport and Performance. Various technologies are deployed all around the Turbo S body to best support each mode: that active front chin spoiler is now split into three segments, with the centre section able to operate separately to the sides. Above them, the Turbo S’s active front grilles open and close depending on speed, to optimise either airflow or cooling. Then, at the back, the active rear spoiler has no less than seven different positions encompassing height and angle of attack, to best manage both downforce and drag.

Similarly, centre-lock wheels with PCCB ceramic brakes are standard, but on the 992 the callipers are ten-piston, up from eight, with 420mm discs, and 390mm at the rear – that means the disc size of the latest Turbo S is now bigger than the entire wheel of the first 930. How about that for evolution.

Such potent stopping power is needed, because the 992 Turbo S is capable of shooting from standstill to 62mph in just 2.6 seconds, powering on to a top speed of 205mph – this is a 911 that weighs nearly two tonnes, don’t forget. The intercoolers on the 3.8-litre Turbo S are mounted on top of the 9A2 Evo flat six, rather than behind those gaping side air intakes placed ahead of the rear wheels. For the 992, these feed air directly into the engine’s intake system, while bigger VTG turbochargers and Piezo injectors look after both power and efficiency. The result is a monumental 650PS and 800Nm torque. A 70hp gain over its predecessor, not since the 996 to 997.1 have we seen such a profound jump in hp on a 911 Turbo. Again, the Turbo is AWD, this time being able to transfer up to 500Nm torque to its front axle.

The 992 Turbo is also the largest road-going 911 ever, and ogling it in the flesh, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t look like an automotive behemoth. That’s not to say it’s ugly – far from it, those beautiful

992 design cues sculpted into something that’s more aggressive, yes, but equally easy on the eye. I particularly like the rear, where a revision to the PU sees its rear licence plate recess moved up to effectively fill that unwelcome void present on the rump of a 992 Carrera.

Beneath that rear PU sit two large-bore exhaust tips, their look identical to that seen on a 991 GT2