Introduction
This is the latest Porsche 911 Turbo S, the facelift if you will of the 992-generation (992.2 in Porsche-speak) Turbo.
But with it has come such a raft of mechanical changes that it might as well be a new generation car, and just about the most complete all-round supercar there has perhaps ever been, at that.
Is the Porsche 911 a supercar? A definition for another time, perhaps; we tend to think of those as mid-engined, more exotically constructed and lower to the ground than a 911, which can even be had with two rear seats. But what else would you call a car that has 701bhp, can do 200mph and 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds and costs all but £200,000?
Design & styling
Key to the those performance figures is the adoption, as we knew was coming, of the new 3.6-litre hybrid flat-six cylinder engine that made its debut in the GTS last year, called T-Hybrid.
Mechanically much of it is the same as in that application. It has the same block, married to an eight-speed automatic transmission that has an 80bhp electric motor between the engine and the clutch. The 911 Turbo is automatic-only and four-wheel drive only.
The car never drives on the motor alone – this 400v system is about performance rather than economy, and with this level of urge the latest 911 Turbo S is some 14 seconds around the Nordschleife than the current car (not a figure I’d normally note, but that is an awful lot, isn’t it?).
The adoption of the high-voltage system means that the engine is shorn of various pumps and ancillaries which would normally live atop the block, making the engine itself a little lower, with the space left above occupied by high-voltage systems.
Interior
The cabin of the Porsche 911 Turbo S is essentially the same excellent one you will find in the Porsche 911 Carrera.
Perceived quality is high, and while many people still take issue with the stubby gear selector, in general Porsche’s plastics feel and look so fine that it plays perfectly into the brand’s sport-luxe vibe. Note, however, that the major touchpoints continue to use more authentically expensive-feeling materials.
Luggage space remains excellent. Up-front storage is fine, with deep door pockets, but the capacious front boot and the ability to throw large bags into the rear of the car make the Turbo S far more suited to touring than any mid-engined alternatives.
Engines & performance
The most notable difference between the GTS and the Turbo S is that in place of one turbocharger, there are two, slightly smaller in diameter but able to spin faster – up to 145,000rpm rather than 125,000rpm. As in the GTS, they’re electrically assisted.
Some of my colleagues will tell me that means they’re technically superchargers, not turbochargers, but they’re still fundamentally boosted by exhaust gases; the electric motor between the compressor and the turbine is there to get them spinning quickly and to slow them and return energy to the modestly 1.9kWh battery (weighing 27kg), which lives near the front of the car. The exhaust is made of titanium, saving around 7kg.
The result is one of the fastest and most responsive cars on sale. In an EV age, the 0-62mph acceleration time of 2.5sec may not seem as extraordinary as it once would, but the fact is that the Turbo S has spectacular accelerative urge from rest, in-gear thanks to the response of the electric turbochargers and the additional drive motor, and yet on top of that initial response the urge keeps on coming, and coming, deep above 100mph. If you were in Hamburg and had, say, an appointment in Frankfurt, it’s the sort of car you’d pick first and foremost; made for demolishing big distances at high speeds.
Ride & handling
Suspension is by MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link arrangement at the rear, with adaptive dampers and, more significantly, active anti-roll bars. These are driven off the 400v system, which makes them much more responsive; likewise the rear-wheel steering.
If all of this sounds complicated, I think you’re right, but Porsche is better at tuning complex dynamic systems better than perhaps anyone bar Ferrari, which has a smaller operating breadth anyway.
If it also sounds a little heavy, again you’re correct. The Turbo S weighs 85kg more than before, at 1725kg, and this is now measured without rear seats (because those are now a no-cost option), which would add another few.
It’s just inevitable with all of the additional hybrid hardware, which accounts for about 65kg of the gain, with bigger brakes (420mm and 410mm carbon-ceramics front and rear respectively), wider rear wheels (with 10mm-wider, 325- section rear tyres) than before to cope with the additional power, plus the body now has to be around 10kg heavier after some strengthening to meet latest legislation.
Frank Moser, vice-president of Porsche’s 911 and 718 model lines, tells me that I won’t feel the weight gain – and I think he’s mostly right.
My drive comes in a coupé on relatively good Spanish roads to the Ascari race circuit. And on these it’s really precise, very responsive for overtakes, as you would expect, with medium-weighted and geared but incredibly accurate steering, and it feels impeccably well-tuned.
It rides really well, you wouldn’t know the active rear steer is doing its thing (Porsche does do such systems better than anyone) and I could imagine commuting in it in summer or putting on a set of winter tyres and heading to the Alps in winter.
On circuit, some people have previously found the Turbo S a little cold, a little too perfect. Not a bit of it; not this time.
In its more tightly suspended drive modes, body control is impeccable, some roll and pitch is allowed to lean reassuringly against, there’s a hint of understeer that can be quelled with power or trailed braking and it really moves around if you want it to.
It feels like there’s tremendous integrity too. This being a Porsche, I drove the car off the road, straight onto the circuit and ragged the bejesus out of it, with no drama, no fires, just some monitoring of the tyre pressures.
MPG & running costs
The 911 Turbo S is now all but a £200,000 car without options, and there won’t be a Turbo S that leaves the factory without any of those.
However even though Porsche says that the T-Hybrid system is about performance, because the 911 is still (relatively) compact it’s more frugal than most cars of this performance. You could expect near 25mpg in daily driving – unless you put your foot down.
Verdict
The Porsche 911 Turbos S is an ‘and’ sort of car car, in that it will do the lot. Country road driving, high-speed autobahn miles, track laps, in-town commuting and even trips to the mountains on winter tyres: it’s hard to think of a car that will do all of those things with such composure and ability.
In short, Porsche has done it again. The 911 Turbo S is world’s most complete supercar, made more so.
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