Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe

Source: Exec Digital USA

Date :8/22/2008 1:10:26 AM

The high-end brand may be well into middle age, but the new Carrera Coupe still has the ability to turn heads

It's one of the most easily recognized silhouettes on the road and it’s one that we’re all familiar with both in the flesh and from glossy magazine photo shoots. But the 911 still holds a surprise or two when you get up close and personal.

Perhaps it’s down to the arty shots of body kitted and bespoilered versions such as the GT2 and GT3 that so frequently feature in magazines and TV shows giving a distorted impression of size, but it’s always striking how petite a standard Type 997 911 is in the flesh.

Sure, it has those bulging rear arches and tires nearly a foot wide, but its low in height and short in length. Style follows substance. 911s look this way because it’s the most functional way for them to be. There’s a reason why that basic body shape has hardly changed in more than 40 years. Compact and sleek, but with extravagant bulges to cover the extravagant running gear. The fact that we’ve all come to know and love the shape is a convenient bi-product of necessity.

Despite its lack of physical size the 911 has no shortage of presence and, even in the Carrera Coupe basic specification, an abundance of performance. Sporting the traditional air-cooled flat-six engine with its charismatic rumble and ever-present heat haze, the model effortlessly accelerates with no drama or forced induction surge.

The 3.6-litre unit provides an earthy 325bhp that makes for excellent throttle response. It’s not a car that strains at the leash, being perfectly happy to cruise at low revs on the motorway, but there’s always acceleration there if required. Drop it down a gear, maybe two, and you’ll find breakneck acceleration partly due to a torque peak that sits just above halfway on the rev counter.

There-in lies the 911’s appeal. It’s a useable super car; commuter one minute and performance track star the next.

It’s only as tiring to drive as you want it to be. Drive flat out and you’ll probably flag long before it does.

Amble around town and you’ll find the clutch reasonably light, the steering operable without breaking a sweat and visibility excellent.

That’s not to say the 911 is perfect. Sacrifices have been made in the name of sporting prowess. The manual gearbox can be crunchy and reluctant for the first three minutes on a cold morning. The wide rear track and lack of weight over the front wheels mean that creeping forward on full lock will cause the front tires to skip and judder across the surface.

But once warmed up and with a much-anticipated stretch of open road before it, those little annoyances transform into much refreshing qualities. The gear change is precise and weighty with a short throw, the nimble front end changes direction with the unflappable sharpness and the rear follows it with a vice-like grip on the road.

Of course, the 911 has entered motoring folklore as a car that likes to swap ends on drivers who overestimate their talents. The layout hasn’t changed - the engine still defies logic by sitting at the rear, beyond the drive wheels - but the use of a lightweight aluminum unit and some clever chassis engineering means it now defies physics, too.

Driven hard, the 911 feels as though it’s relying on rear end grip more than delicate balance but there’s little reason to fear the reaper - particularly with Porsche Stability Management, which will reel in any over enthusiastic rear end activity but still allow the driver to test the limits. Porsche’s lightweight, fade-free Ceramic Composite.

Brakes are another option well suited to performance drivers. They take a moment to reach operating temperature and lack feel until they do, but once working correctly offer phenomenal stopping power.

Naturally, the Carrera Coupe interior is a high quality leather affair, beautifully presented and well laid out considering the space restrictions. Rear seats are for the most occasional of occasional use only, but the storage in the front end is surprisingly deep and will suffice for a couple of small cases.

There are cars that will offer a similar level of performance for a similar amount of money, but Porsche’s 911 is unique in the way that it delivers it. The sensation of speed doesn’t feel quite the same in anything else. ¬