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Road Test: Porsche 911 Turbo (2006-) |
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Written by http://www.channel4.com/4car
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by: Chris Harris
The new Porsche 911 Turbo is, predictably, the fastest, most expensive
version ever produced by the Stuttgart company and it will cost £97,840
when it goes on sale mid-summer.
It sits at the top of the 997 model range that,
despite only being in production for two years, is already straddling a
line between looking comprehensive and overcrowded.
But if the spec sheet appears to show that the
new Turbo is quite close to the recently launched GT3 in terms of price
and performance (the GT3 is 80bhp weaker and £18,000 cheaper), the
reality is that the two have quite distinct intended roles. Whereas the
GT3 is very much the hardcore occasional track day tool with no rear
seats, the Turbo is an everyday road car.
Porsche's intention was simply to take the
recipe for the previous 996 Turbo -rightly regarded as the definitive
everyday, all-weather supercar - and add a good dose of extra ability
in every conceivable area. Given how competent the old car was, the 997
version could represent an entirely new level of all-condition
performance car.
RELIABILITY AND QUALITY RATING: |
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It should come as no surprise to learn that Porsche's durability
testing is legendary and that, in comparison to other performance
brands, it has a fine reliability record.
But the cars are not faultless and, given that
the engine of the 997 shares many of its basic components with the old
car, it's fair to assume it will inherit some of the same small
niggles. Rear main oil seals can fail after time and there are a horde
of complicated sensors that occasionally succumb to the heat of the
engine bay. But that's about it and, for the performance on offer,
these engines are remarkably robust.
| IMAGE RATING: |
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When it releases year-end results in July, Porsche expects to announce
global sales of 90,000 units, with nearly a tenth of those made in the
UK. Our appetite for these cars seems insatiable and it's only natural
that such a reduction in exclusivity has slightly tarnished the image.
Equally, there's a fair amount of chintz on this
car: the front styling is busy and the wheels have a whiff of the
aftermarket about them.
But Porsches will always be deeply aspirational
machines and the Turbo has traditionally occupied its own special niche
in the marketplace.
DRIVING RATING: 
If the bare figures don't make you sit up and pay attention, which, on
balance, they really should, then the way the Turbo goes about its
business certainly will.
There are faster cars on sale against the
stopwatch in the clinical surroundings of a proving ground. But out on
the road, on cragged asphalt with narrow lanes and dawdling traffic,
the Turbo is the supreme performance car. There is nothing with four
wheels (with a sensible level of cabin space and creature comforts)
that comes close.
Grip from the 19" Michelin Pilot Sport 2s is
extraordinary on dry and wet surfaces and the car has one of the few
worthwhile electronic damper facilities on sale. It offers two
settings, one supple and one firm: both are excellent, although UK
users will only want to use the more yielding set-up. The ride is firm,
but underpinned by freakish wheel control at all times. The bottom line
is, it's comfortable.
The Turbo is a car that makes you feel
invincible. The steering rack is identical to the standard Carreras,
but wider tyres and altered suspension geometry have added weight and,
somehow, an element of accuracy. The Turbo is 22mm wider than before,
but still small enough to feel manoeuvrable on tighter roads. It's
all-wheel drive system is judged to perfection: rear biased under
normal circumstances but electronically controlled to react instantly
should the front axle need to help drag the car from a corner.
PERFORMANCE RATING:
Headline figures don't do the 997 Turbo justice.
By
any standards 192mph, 0-62mph in 3.9sec and 0-100mph in 8.3sec are
devastating - and the tiptronic self-shifter carves a full 0.5sec off
that zero to 100mph effort because the engine ECU is mapped to get just
the right torque delivery after each gear change. Big brother isn't
just watching you, he's quicker too.
But the fact is, Ferrari has just launched the
599 GTB Fiorano and, whichever way you look at it, the Fezza's numbers
are of a different magnitude altogether.
But, just as its chassis is all about
accessibility, the Turbo's performance is far more effective than even
those ballistic figures would suggest. This is a car that produces
457lb-ft of torque at 1,950-5,000rpm. This has even greater effect than
the impressive 473bhp at 6,000rpm. Its turbochargers are the first to
use variable vane technology in a petrol engine, altering their pitch
according to turbine speed - the result is freakish levels of
mid-range. Brush the gas and the Turbo doesn't accelerate in the
conventional fashion, it picks itself up and deposits its mass 200
yards further down the road. This isn't conventional poke, it's genuine
thrust.
It does lack something in character next to
rivals from Aston and Ferrari though. Induction noise is always muted,
and whatever exhaust noise filters back into the cabin is drowned by
the twin turbochargers.
| SAFETY AND SECURITY RATING: |
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If accident avoidance is the greatest asset in the safety war, then the
997 Turbo is surely one of the safest cars ever sold. It has such high
levels of grip, traction, acceleration and braking that drivers stand
the best possible chance of not being in the wrong place at an
inopportune time.
The full complement of air-bags and
pre-tensioners work in the cabin and the 997's immensely rigid
structure provides all the crash safety you'd expect.
RUNNING COSTS RATING: 
Fuel consumption on the Turbo is pretty drastic. Its 67-litre tank
struggles to provide a 150mile range under a heavy right foot and,
using all 473bhp leaves you in the high 9/10mpg area.
It's not cheap either, but then it is the best
everyday supercar ever made, will scalp a Ferrari 430 any day and is
still £20,000 cheaper than the Fezza.
COMFORT AND EQUIPMENT RATING:
The Turbo's trump card is its usability.
It
has a moderate amount of boot space and a pair of rear seats that only
the smallest of children will find acceptable, but which double as a
perfect golf bag perch and whose squabs fit a swollen supermarket bag
to perfection.
The front cabin is spacious, the standard seats
are better than the winged optional sports efforts and every
conceivable option is available - although some will cost you extra.
Sat nav is standard though.
This is a car that proves very comfortable over
long distances, which is both good and bad news. It gives the Turbo an
air of usability that no rival can match, but it also exposes the
hopeless fuel tank: you'll be stopping for petrol, not because your
body feels in any way fatigued.
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