It's widely accepted that the Porsche 911 is the world's most admired and accessible sports car. Turning heads since 1963, the road hugging coupe with curves in all the right places has pretty much remained its same iconic self on the outside, despite countless variations.
So maybe the familiarity is part of its popularity.
Then there's the mechanical pedigree: the peerless handling, the innovative powertrains, the chart-topping 0-60 mph times, the 2+2 seating arrangement in a flat six-cylinder rear-mounted engine.
There's something else. Something more, that in our week with the 911 Carrera 4S made a minivan mom jokingly threaten to rev her engine at a stoplight before she let out a resigned sigh familiar to parents everywhere; that lit the twinkle in a retiree's eyes reminiscent of him as a teenager long before he had logged thousands of hours as a driving pro; that makes kids desperate to shed the exoskeleton of youth and be free independent adults (with unfettered fantasy island access to daddy's Porsche); that makes friends and strangers alike express awe, admiration and no shortage of sharply worded jealousy.
The most common comment we heard, from the school drop-off to the race track queue, was about the light gray-blue color of the test model, a chameleonic hue that appeared bluish in sun and gray in shade. Porsche calls it graphite blue metallic. It's yet another one of those subtle but striking differences that makes the 911 stand out.
Before we get into the differences for the second iteration of the seventh generation 911, and since there are more variations of it than other models made by Porsche (pronounced PORSH-uh) here's some context on the most confusing naming system to ever muddle one single model.
Since 1963, each generation has carried a different internal designation that fanboys like to throw around as if they were involved in its development. The last generation was known by Porsche and Porschephiles as the 997; the 2017 model is the second iteration of the 991, which was fully redesigned in 2011. So this 911 is the 991 II, or 991.2. Confusing and not really necessary for anyone who isn't a Porsche hipster.
More telling is the alphanumeric code that follows the 911 badge.
The Carrera is essentially the base model Porsche 911. Add a 4 and it means all-wheel drive; add an S and it means Sport, or faster.
Changes to the Carrera 4S (C4S) include a lighter, faster engine, a new all-wheel drive system, a new sport package and new tech.
The surface changes are subtle: new four-point daytime running lights square off the oval headlights to make the 911 more distinct from the front, the light strip between the rear lights is sharper to make it more distinct from the rear, and the all-wheel drive, or 4, has a wider rear end with flared wheel arches that house wider, grippier 11.5-inch wheels. If you like rear ends, you'll love the C4S. The test model came with optional, rounded twin-exhaust pipes mounted in the middle, much like its racing-oriented siblings.
And how sweet the sound emanating from those pipes. In normal mode at low speed it's refined inside and out, so I didn't feel like a fool dropping off the kids at school. In sport mode with the baffles opened, that enticing warble sounds like a pot full of miniature hounds from hell kept under a lid until the throttle blows it open. Underscoring this wild growl is the zip-line whir of the twin turbocharger. It's this dynamism, from refined to wild, civilized to nasty, that is so damn endearing about the 911.
The 4S uses a new, lightweight twin-turbocharged 3-liter flat six-cylinder, or boxer, engine that makes 420 horsepower, or 20 horsepower more than the outgoing engine. Twin turbocharging makes all 368 pound-feet of torque available between 1,700 and 5,000 rpm, which is a long wide band to get your speed fix anywhere, from on ramps to highway passing moves, to jumping out of tricky turn No. 6 at the track.
Pair all this power to the superlative PDK transmission, and the 911 C4S hits 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, which is a staggering 0.3 second faster than the outgoing, naturally aspirated C4S PDK. We did not reach the new top speed of 188 mph, which is 4 mph faster than the old one.
Also new to the 911 C4S is an all-wheel-drive system lifted from its racing siblings. Sports coupe purists might scoff at an AWD with an automatic transmission, but they would be wrong. AWD is 0.1 second quicker to 60 mph than RWD and there is so much electronic wizardry delivering torque to the appropriate wheels-and safety to those ungrounded wheels-that AWD is an automotive unicorn, faster, better and safer.
For the first time, the C4S comes with a button to raise the suspension 1.5 inches to avoid scraping the splitter when driving over the curb into the driveway.
It also comes available with rear axle steering as part of the $6,810 sport package: The rear axle steers independently of the front wheels. At low speeds, under 31 mph to be exact, the rear wheels turn opposite the front wheels for better agility. Essentially, it shortens the wheelbase, making a U-turn into that parking space a whole lot easier. At higher speeds, the rear wheels turn in the same direction as the front, essentially stretching the wheelbase for better stability, so you can turn at higher speeds and ride that line.
If you really, really need to drift, you can always shut off Porsche Stability Management, or let Sport Plus mode disable the most limiting parts.
We felt no need to switch it off during our track day. The Sport Chrono package on the test model included the GT steering wheel, which is unfettered except for the drive mode switch derived from the 918 Spyder supercar. Drivers can toggle between Normal, Sport, Sport Plus, and Individual Mode, which is a customized blend of inputs. We stayed safe in Sport mode, and even pro driver Tom Bagley claimed he didn't realize there was a faster, wilder Sport Plus mode. That is another charm: the responsiveness is equally thrilling to drivers of much different abilities.
We played around with the paddle shifters and the manual function of the gearbox, but the automatically shifting PDK seven-speed transmission simply was a smarter, better shifter. It let me focus on hitting the apexes and following the line of least resistance to stay at speed. PDK reads the inputs and responds appropriately, so if you slam the throttle, it could stay in second gear until near 70 mph; conversely, on the highway, it can stay in seventh gear even as you slow down to coasting in the mid-50 mph range. To call its shifting seamless would be an understatement.
It is part of the job to find fault, inconsistencies, or misfires. In press materials, Porsche touted its new infotainment system (Porsche Communication Management). Highlights include handwriting recognition on the seven-inch touch screen that is meant to approximate smartphone capability. Pinch and zoom, rotate maps, and connect with Apple Car Play. It's still a small screen and the buttons beneath it are small and cramped. I couldn't have cared less: much of the most valuable info is available on the vehicle info display, accessible by a stalk on the steering column that is a little too close to the right paddle shifter. When playing with the paddles off-track, we accidentally hit the stalk more than once. Having all that info, from the latest phone call to trip odometer to the G-force gauge made the touch screen somewhat irrelevant. Voice commands were average.
The rear seat backs fold down to extend a bit more space from the little hatch shelf above the engine. Not enough for golf clubs, but enough for longer, flatter items that won't fit in the front trunk, or frunk.
These are more trade-offs than criticisms in a car of this kind. I have no idea how you'd remedy the proximity of the stalk to the paddle shifter, or how you would be able to fit a bigger screen and smarter button placement in a center stack whose real estate is at capacity.
The question with any new car is if it is worth the price. The 911 C4S is a lot of money for a car with limited applications, but it's a joy to drive in town, country and track; there really is nothing else like it.
There is something about its essence that is more than just a car. It's intelligent, athletic, sexy, dynamic, adaptable, suggestive, restrained yet dangerously powerful, confident yet sensitive to its surroundings: It embodies those traits we admire in each other, and behind the wheel of such a machine you can't help but feel better about yourself.
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2017 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S at a glance
Vehicle type: Sports coupe
Base price: $110,300
As tested: $137,510 (excluding $1,050 delivery)
Mpg: 21 city, 28 highway
Engine: Twin-turbocharged 3-liter flat six-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic PDK to AWD
Parting shot: (Sigh)
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Robert Duffer is the editor of the Chicago's Tribune's auto section. Readers may contact him at Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Fifth Floor, Chicago IL 60611 or [email protected]