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Porsche 992: Tour De Force 9.11
PORSCHE 992
TOUR DE FORCE 9.11
Words and photos by Alessandro Marrone
After 24 hours and knowing the 992 a little better, I gained such a confidence that I am taking freedoms that would have led to certain death with a 964.
From time to time my eyes point to the left, captured by that crystal-clear sea and those vertical cliffs that plunge into it. Just a moment, not even the time for the blink of an eye that they come back pointing the road in front of me, an asphalt gut hanging from a rocky ridge in such a scenic way that it often makes me bite my tongue because I can’t stop every time I would. But there is a very specific reason if I can resist the temptations of my deepest traveler instinct, indeed there are 992. The winding curves of the northern tip of Corsica will be the perfect scenario for the true protagonist of my two days to the discovery of a new piece in the history of automotive.
There is a new 911 and this would already be worth the ticket price for the eighth chapter of one of the most beloved sports cars, a symbol of the Stuttgart Company and a true bearer of the purest driving pleasure. Although over fifty years have passed, the characteristics that have consecrated the 911 Carrera have remained the basis for every generation, developing around an unmistakable design that arouses strong and very precise emotions, without necessarily looking at the more hardcore models. In a period of furious race towards that half a second less lapping the Nordschleife, the 992 aims to move the bar even further, offering the performance skills of a purebred sports car to the character and the vocation of an effective grand tourer. Seeing it next to its ancestor really makes a statement and in that moment one would think if in the meantime the weight and dimensions cannot represent a weak point for a completely new model, also immediately distinguishable if compared to the 991 series that it replaces. I’m here to find out.
The rear is undoubtedly the most peculiar side for the 992, with a XL-sized side B, whether you choose it with traction only at the back, or four wheel drive. To accentuate the width we have an LED strip that joins the optical groups, immediately below the spoiler which for the first time will be adjustable in three different positions. The same, in case completely lowered, is imperceptible to the eye, guaranteeing clean lines and greater elegance to our 911. We always have the plastic air vents with vertical profiles that were introduced with the 991.2, this time with the third stop light in the middle and therefore even more visible to those behind it, while the bumper houses the tailpipes: two pairs with round ends if with standard exhaust system, two oval mouths for the sports one. You will soon notice the size of the tires, which this time range from 20″ at the front and 21″ at the rear, with rubber that become 305 millimeters wide and this – you know well – is supercars territory. Creating great expectations around the new 911 there are not just individual details, let alone the 30 horses extra, but a tradition that has had the merit of creating legions of extremely demanding and difficult to please drivers.
And they will probably turn up their noses once they open the door, finding the beautiful 901-inspired analogue tachometer as the only point of reference, while for the rest you can sit in an environment straightly inspired by the Panamera sedan, with a large 10.9” touch screen In the center of the dashboard, precise and useful in making a lot of buttons disappear around the gearbox. In front of the driver’s eyes, in addition to the aforementioned tacho, we have an all-digital instrumentation which, depending on the chosen driving mode, offers the classic five instruments, or allows you to control the various parameters of the car such as infotainment and navigation. The central tunnel is not only orphan of numerous buttons, with functions still easily reachable through the physical shortcuts under the main screen or through the various menus. The traditional gear lever has been replaced by a sort of small lever immediately renamed “razor”. This aspect brings with it a series of very important situations: first of all it does not allow to act on the gears from it, but only through the paddles at the wheel and secondly – at least for the moment – the 992 is only available with the automatic 8-speed PDK. The manual will arrive, so there is nothing to fear, you can now breathe in relax.
The new Carrera S and Carrera 4 S share the same 3.0-liter twin-turbo grounding 450-horsepower and 530 Nm of torque, but despite ensuring exceptional behavior between the bends, the Carrera S is the one that a driving snob will prefer for the simple fact of disable all the driving aids and leave your signature on the asphalt at every turn. The Sport Response remains and through the small wheel located in the lower area of the steering wheel it is always possible to quickly choose the preferred driving mode, with the addition of Wet mode which obviously sets the parameters of the car in order to make it more tamable in case of slippery ground, in addition to the classic Normal, Sport, Sport + and Individual. For the rest I hasten to call into question Sport and a few minutes later Sport +, with consequent frowning on the part of the gearbox, throttle and steering, while with the 4S it is also possible to opt for the four wheels steering, useful to make it more glued to the asphalt when cornering, virtually shortening the car’s wheelbase. Carbon-ceramic brakes? Yes, you can choose them as well, but the standard system is already very powerful and doesn’t seem to suffer from fading even after hours under stress.
DAY I: CARRERA S
My first contact with the new 911 is all about purity of the driving experience. You can’t say you’ve lived, if you haven’t driven at least one Porsche Carrera – I’m probably not the only one who thinks that and when it comes to the singular arrangement of the flat-six stowed beyond the rear axle, there’s nothing better than inducing the Stuttgart coupe to oversteer using only a rear-wheel drive transmission. Like a child who has to open his presents on Christmas morning, I take my seat and adjust it together with the rearview mirrors. A ready-to-fight mode and some of the roads that made the Tour de Corse famous and one of the most compelling rally stages that human minds have ever conceived, and the 992 makes you feel immediately at home. The cornering, the perfect view of the world around, the character able to cradle you in comfort and make you launch head down a series of switchbacks with the knife between your teeth the following moment. You feel the weight of 1,515 kg, but do not suffer it, not even in the most sudden changes of direction. It urges me to ask for more and there’s no need to say it twice. Of course we have the whole series of devilries in Porsche alphabet like PASM, E-Diff, PDC, etc and the 992 is also perfect for a less experienced user, allowing to reach speeds that are nothing short of amazing, especially if you keep in mind that this is the entry level 911. Turning off traction control and I already feel a psychological difference that actually pops out when you decide to play a mix of strip poker and Russian roulette with the hairpins. After a very light turbo lag you’re already at 3,000 rpm, still having the chance to decide how to tackle the kilometers ahead and since I am on one of the most rewarding roads in the Mediterranean, I believe that nobody will complain if we leave some marks on this soil.
The engine’s response becomes more nervous and keeping the revs between 3,500 and 7,500 I forget I am behind the wheel of a twin-turbocharged pot, playing with a range of revs wide enough to allow me to exploit its elasticity and reactivity. That’s crazy. It’s not all thanks to the 450 horsepower, because there are 530 Nm of torque that play in my favor when I throw myself between the captivating and sinuous forms of the topography around Cap Corse. It is there that the 992 establishes with me that bond of intimate communication that I would never have expected from a “standard” Carrera. Almost impossible to unbalance, even when I miss the apex, it seems to go along with me and make me feel the real protagonist while I attack one bend after another and gain altitude, where once again the breathtaking view tries to distract me like a siren’s chant. No way, I’m too busy right now. With maternal love it comes into play and saves my back thanks to a surprising braking power – only a fraction of a second, not even the time to really process and fully understand how effective our partnership in crime is that I go back treading the gas pedal to the floor, giving free rein to an exhaust suitable for daily cohabitation, but which thanks to the sports system becomes ideal for agitated moments that require an equally engaging soundtrack.
DAY II: CARRERA 4 S
On the evening of the first day, in the silence of my hotel room, I finally have the opportunity to rearrange the ideas and sum up a couple of things about the 992. Nothing has been left to chance, as for the door handles, now ready to dive while on the move and earning that microscopic difference in terms of aerodynamic resistance. The hormonal and engineering increase has brought centimeters and kilograms, but at the same time the sporting character has not been lost (unlike the legendary cup holders). All this is not so much to be attributed to the gain in power, as to the perfect balance of a chassis able to satisfy every expectation and whatever situation is given to it. And although the winding asphalt gutters of Corsica are not the ideal playground to test its 0-100 kph in 3.7 seconds (3.6 for the all-wheel drive) and a maximum speed of 306 per hour, they are the ultimate battlefield for putting under stress every single bolt of a car that has the hard task of being great always, especially in the real world.
The Carrera 4 S is the logical option for my second day here. About 50kg more for the possibility of distributing traction to the axles on 50/50, while it is distributed 95% on the rear while driving in standard situations. Having already tested the potential of the sister with powering wheels only at the back, I try to minimize the pleasantries to understand how different they really are. Although it may seem difficult, you can feel the kilos of difference, but at the same time this one gives the feeling of being more glued to the ground. The first kilometers of the route do not follow the sea perimeter, but penetrate towards the mountains, passing first through an area with dense vegetation still with an early morning damp asphalt, then giving life to a panorama which only lacks the “Wish you were here” caption. On this model there are no steering rear wheels, but trust me if I tell you that it is effective enough to toss you around the cockpit like a pinball machine in the throes of hysterics. Right, left, right again and then a hairpin bend, a straight and I’m already at speeds that don’t suit a good family man. But what’s going on? After 24 hours and knowing the 992 a little better, I gained such a confidence that I am taking freedoms that would have led to certain death with a 964.
The precision while cornering is the result of perfect visibility and a steering direction that seems to have been conceived on another world. There is not even the slightest hint of pitching or body rolling, and while I try to upset the frame, it seems to run on a platform whispering to me almost as if I could have dared more, much more. The lack of a manual gearbox – don’t get me wrong – is not so dramatic, for the simple fact that traveling in the upper part of the speedometer you are pretty busy holding on to the steering wheel, with the all-wheel drive that allows you to widen the back, provided you have enough liver to unbalance the weights. And then you eat the asphalt, close to the ground even when the ground is not perfect, as the car processes, filters and transmits the necessary inputs, only those that it deems appropriate and it is precisely here that I realize how much an exceptional piece of metal it is and how Porsche managed to improve an already almost perfect car, yet maintain that bit of margin to be able to give life to models more devoted to an extreme driving experience and that will satisfy drivers more inclined to the art of speed (the GT series).
EPILOGUE
At the wheel of the new 992, even your grandmother could put a supercar in trouble. How do you see this? Yeah, all the time I’ve been shaking my mind and I’ve often found myself trying to reduce my first contact with the new 911 to two main topics that I think are the main ones. The ability and the character of the Porsche that everyone loves have been kept intact, but it is undeniable that in Stuttgart they have targeted a grand tourer characterization that distinguishes the 992 in a more relevant way than the previous series. The second argument is similar and at the same time diametrically opposed and concerns precisely the ability to offer supercar performance, in the body and at the price of a sports car, starting at € 123,999 (€ 132,051 for the 4 S) – certainly not figures accessible to everyone, but cheaper to more stylistically pornographic cars that you can laugh at when looking at them in your rear-view mirror, especially on winding roads like these. After all, the 992 is not just a great grand tourer, nor a supercar, it is simply what it should be, something that no one can ever emulate or take away from it: it is in a category of its own, it is a 911.
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