Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS | Test Drive

27 February 2023 Redazione News, Stories, Tested

The last alpine climb before the winter arrival is always here, on the Col de la Bonette. To celebrate our 100^th issue, we had to pick the embodiment of ultimate driving pleasure according to Porsche: the new 911 GTS. This is how emotions come to life.

Words Andrea Albertazzi / Photos Bruno Serra

6 am? No. 5 am? Not even. 4 o’clock? so close. A quarter to 4, just to be precise. This is what my alarm clock says today, but this time I don’t turn it off annoyed for a simple reason: it is about to be fun. Why do we do this? They often ask me and the answer seems so obvious to me that I almost struggle to make myself understandable, in fact I can’t make things simple and clear for certain people. To me there’s nothing better than waking up before dawn – ok, maybe I’m a tad bit exaggerated – and drive while the outside world is still asleep. But being on the road so early isn’t like driving in the middle of the night, it’s a subtle difference between late night and early morning. Difficult to explain, I told you that.

Intending to elevate the driving experience for such an important milestone as the 100^th issue of our magazine, I chose the road that I consider to all intents and purposes the best playground for a sports car: the Col de la Bonette. The Alpine pass which boasts the highest asphalt strip in Europe is a fixed destination for our editors and for some years it has represented the last drive of the alpine season, incredibly managing to offer the same emotions of unspoiled nature, adrenaline on the edge of the precipice and a ribbon of asphalt with almost no sign of traffic. All of this is poised to translate into a ton of fun, but to further enhance the excitement we chose one car in particular, the one that the entire office would have agreed on because it has managed – for over half a century – to combine real usability together with performance of an authentic supercar.

You guessed it, it’s the 911, the immortal sports car according to Porsche, now with the 992 generation and here in the Carrera 4 GTS version, which means fitted with all-wheel drive and that set-up halfway between a traditional Carrera and the more extreme GT3. Compared to the first we have 30 more horsepower, with the twin-turbo flat-six delivering 480 horses on both axles and through an 8-speed dual-clutch PDK automatic transmission (alternative to the 7-speed manual). The GTS treatment provides for a more generously shaped bodywork and a list of upgrades that are offered as standard with this series, such as for example suspensions lowered by 10 millimeters, sports center-lock wheels (the same as the GT3), sports exhaust, oversized brake discs and calipers and chrono pack, just to mention a bunch of them. The final price rises, but it will be worth it and we’re about to find out why.

Once the kilometers that separate us from Jausiers have been swallowed up, the darkness slowly gives way to the first rays of light of a cold morning which lets us glimpse the meadows now tending towards orange. The scarcity of vegetation gives shape to the lunar landscape, exactly the way I like it. There are still a few flocks with their shepherd and barking dogs trying to drive the GTS away from that patch of land they think only belongs to them. That’s no problem, also because our target is hundreds of meters higher, towards the Cime de la Bonette, far beyond the clouds. The 992 GTS can be considered as the missing link between a random 911 and the 911 Turbo and 911 GT3, a less extreme and more multifaceted vision, above all due to a look that despite the details that have always characterized the GTS spec, keep it civilized enough that it can blend into traffic without looking like a racing car with plates and insurance.

However, the driving perception is different, even compared to the 991 GTS, given that the feedback thrown at the driver, especially in Sport mode, is sharper and you soon realize that you are not dealing with a simple missing link, rather with the ideal product in terms of price/quality. I refuse to transform this article into a boring treatise on aseptic numbers and technical quotes, because I believe that those who still prefer a 911 to a Taycan today, with the exception of the logical differences in terms of roominess, do that for a very specific reason that don’t care about emissions and all those yells that want to be stuck in the head of the whole world. The reality is that a self-respecting enthusiast will be able to adapt to electrification, but his heart will not change sides. The reason is very simple and can be explained in just three words.

First, second and third. The GTS bellows at the top of its lungs, trying to awaken those few animals that have anticipated their seasonal hibernation. The 3-litre twin-turbo is pure pleasure, an engineering miracle that combines the reactivity of a supercharged engine with the typical range of a naturally aspirated one. So I can literally feel all the 480 horsepower pushing the 911 into the next corner. The entry is surgical, with a steering that seems to move even more precisely than I was imagining the split second before. It remains flat, pressed to the ground and incredibly agile even through the most sudden direction changes. I can feel traction being thrown to both axles, appreciating the sense of extra grip offered by the Carrera 4, fitted with 295 rear tires that look like a magnet crawling on two invisible rail-tracks.

The power peak comes at 6,800 rpm, high, especially if we consider that it is a turbo engine. The beauty is precisely the fact that the tachometer loves to go up and that even in the lower gears you have plenty of time to realize the speed you’re swallowing, before pinching the paddle on the steering and engaging the following gear. The 570 Nm of torque is not immediate and comes into full play at 2,300 rpm. In this way you get a more full-bodied delivery and above all you have the feeling of really having control over the increase in engine revs. In the middle of the bends I therefore find myself playing with the PDK, always fast and very precise, trying to undermine a perfect weight balance.

Unfortunately, but only because of some inexperienced driver who may have blurted out the tires on a racetrack just before our test, there is a vibration when braking, but I don’t want this factor to affect a moment of pure motoring ecstasy like this. The hope is not to arrive close to a hairpin bend realizing that the brakes are literally gone. I keep playing with this wolf in sheep’s clothing, I can’t help it. The GTS isn’t as nervous as the GT3 or as fast as the Turbo, but today and on these curves I wouldn’t choose any of the other 992s on the list. With an asphalt that alternates between good conditions and some dips, I’m happy to have a set-up that, although stiff, isn’t extreme at all and the power available is more than enough for this carousel that takes me from the valley to the top over and over again.

Ultimately, despite the traditional supercars that bring more power and the theatricality of a more dramatic look into play, the strength of the 911 GTS is precisely in the effectiveness with which it manages to compete in a higher-sounding group, at least on paper. It’s like that hero who doesn’t need mask and cape, but everyone has to rely on to get out of trouble. It doesn’t matter where, how or when. What matters is that the GTS is the exact answer to any question and it is therefore superfluous to ask; you just have to enjoy its marvelousness. I’m back on board and I feel at home. The Alcantara cockpit is minimalist, you can appreciate or hate the small lever of the automatic gear selector, but when you give life to the flat-six and the five-element (digital) instrument cluster appears in front of your eyes and you grip that steering wheel you already know that the next kilometers will be unforgettable.

Porsche’s is a story of passion, one of those that go against the tide like the fact of positioning the engine hanging over the rear axle. Yet it is precisely the strength of an unusual balance that makes the behavior between the corners unique and unattainable for others. Compared to decades ago we are dealing with a fast and grippy 2+2, but deactivating traction control and setting the sportiest mode from the knob located on the right-hand side of the steering, allows the possibility of sliding with the tail from a hairpin bend to the other. The GTS, which the moment before was a docile and comfortable lamb for home and work, becomes a ravenous wolf that grinds its fangs in search of curves enhancing the very concept of high performance. Performance in the order of just 3.3 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 kph and a top speed of 309 per hour. All this in a Porsche 911 defined as anything but extreme.

But then, where is the limit that defines a sports car from a supercar? Good question. One of those that is difficult to answer because this limit is probably only in our heads and in the need to catalog everything around us. This translates into a bloody complete car capable of excelling from every single point of view. I repeat, the 911 GTS (whether it’s all-wheel drive or only rear-wheel drive, automatic or manual) is perhaps the ultimate 911. Not just because it is very fast, but because it incorporates a whole universe of sensations and makes them available to the driver in a car suitable for an all-round coexistence.

I am preparing to attack some more switchbacks with the knife between my teeth, I press hard on the gas and as the engine revs rise in a hurry, the rear widens. With a simple movement I turn the steering outwards and gently bring it back inwards as I place the sweet spot behind my shoulders. It seems to be in a video game, yet it is the surreal experience that one of the best Porsches ever made offers you. The lack of a flashy rear spoiler – maybe – won’t make it the ultimate dream car, but for those who think first of all about the value of pure driving rather than looks, the GTS is second to none. I tackle the next corners in the opposite way, with the kindness that is appropriate for an introspective moment like the one in which I finally realize that this is the best car I’ve ever driven.

It’s not the fastest, nor the most luxurious, nor the noisiest and you don’t lose ten years of life when you get close to your limits (since you need a professional driver and a racetrack to reach “its” limits), but the 992 C4 GTS is the one who knows how to touch your soul. It’s not the usual ending in which I’ll try to convince you that you don’t need exasperated powers and enormous spoilers, pretending that in some cases you could be satisfied and be happier. I won’t, because I’d be selling my cat to get behind the wheel of a GT3. But the moment I stop in the heart of the Restefonde and let the ticking of the red-hot mechanical organs fill the cool, fine mountain air, a strange feeling pervades me. It’s that desire to stay here forever, to do it with the GTS and go through these curves in an infinite loop. For now I’m enjoying the freedom to do it on this magnificent deserted road, since I’m pretty sure we’ll do it again, for another hundred issues and who knows how many more. As long as there are cars like this, it will be a honor.