Car loyalty can be a funny thing among us petrol heads with some being fiercely faithful to a particular marque. Porsche seems to be one of these brands, no doubt helped by the fact that they consistently churn out damn good cars. Unlike a number of the TT team, I’ve never owned a 911, so when it came to the ideal person to review the latest 911 GTS, I’m not exactly the most qualified. Fortunately however, when Porsche Edinburgh gave us a car to take along to the annual Porsche In The Glen show, no-one else was available to collect it so I had the hardship of being it’s custodian. I’ve had worse weekends!
Although I’ve never owned Porsche’s icon, it’s one of those cars which I’ve always felt I ‘should’ own at some point (circumstances permitting). Their huge success must be for a reason, right? Due to this, it is (relatively speaking) a fairly common sight on the roads. Combined with the fact that the majority are finished in subtle colours, means that they can be relatively discreet. I guess this can be good or bad depending on your point of view but there was no such problem with ‘our’ example. The Lava Orange paintwork, combined with the GTS styling, lowered ride height and optional aero kit, gave it much more of an aggressive appearance. In short, it looked fantastic.
Designed to sit between the regular Carrera and the GT3, the GTS offers more performance without being too uncompromising. Inside, the driving position felt immediately just right (not a common thing given my freakish height). The optional hard backed sports seats were superb, set nice and low in the car, as well as being both supportive and comfortable. As expected on a demo car, it wasn’t exactly light on options and you could buy a decent car for the price of the extras alone. A lot of these I could quite happily live without but the box for those seats would definitely be getting ticked!
One of the other significant options fitted to SM15 SKZ was Porsche’s PDK gearbox. Now thanks to a certain Mr Clarkson, some folk probably still think ‘flappy paddles’ are rubbish and not for ‘proper’ drivers. However, drive a car with one of the latest generation dual clutch ‘boxes and it’s hard not to be impressed – no matter how much you like to stir the gears yourself while heel & toeing to Tescos. I’ve driven a few examples of these from different manufacturers and Porsche’s execution is undoubtedly one of the best. Changes are fast and smooth with down changes accompanied by the obligatory blip of the throttle. In my opinion, when it comes to the manual vs paddle debate, it’s not a case of right or wrong, just different, and I’d be seriously tempted to tick the PDK option box too.
Leave the PDK in fully automatic mode (its default upon start up) and it’s an easy car to drive right from the off. It changes up surprising early and you can soon find yourself cruising around in 6th or 7th, even at city speeds. Although 911’s have grown in size dramatically through the generations, it doesn’t feel big or intimidating while you familiarise yourself with it, unlike some other sports/supercars. It’s easy to place on the road, rides well (considering the wheel/tyre size) and is generally pretty civilised and undemanding.
Now, this may not be what you expect (or want) from a 911, but this is where the various powertrain & chassis settings come into play. Sport Chrono Plus, switchable sports exhaust, dynamic engine mounts and PASM active dampers result in a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde character. Move the gearbox to manual, switch it into Sport mode, and things start to change. No more short shifting, the chassis is stiffened up, the throttle response is sharpened, the exhaust gets all shouty and it all becomes a lot more entertaining! The 424 BHP, 3.8 litre flat six is superb. It’s responsive, sounds great, is happy to rev while also being pretty torquey. Saying that, you soon find yourself changing up and down gears just for the hell of it because a) it’s so quick & easy and b) the crackle and pop from the sports exhaust is superb!
For some, the lack of a third pedal might take away some of the driving involvement, but the ability to perform seamless full throttle upshifts and instantaneous down changes adds a new element, and to be honest is pretty addictive! It also makes it very effective for capitalising on any sudden overtaking opportunities. When twisties run out, you can just switch back to the comfy dampers, quieten down the exhaust and its perfectly comfortable place to be while returning some pretty impressive fuel economy figures (nearly 30 mpg combined). One negative though, 7th gear is very long resulting in the need to drop a cog if you need any half decent acceleration, even at motorway speeds.
Over the years, with the help of some clever tech, a lot of the ‘traditional’ 911 handling characteristics have been engineered out. There is still a lot of weight slung out over the rear axle but you’re not really aware of it most of the time. When pushing on in less favorable weather conditions and with some of the electronics slackened off, it might be a different story but luckily I didn’t find out. In the dry at least, it’s a confidence inspiring car which can be driven hard without worrying that it’s going to spit you off into a hedge. For this 991 variant of the 911, much was made of the move to electric power steering. While it’s no Lotus Elise when it comes to steering feel, and a bit more feedback wouldn’t be bad, it is easy to position the car accurately.
As you might of guessed, I was pretty taken with the GTS.
Things I didn’t like? Well there wasn’t much to be honest. The dash is a little fussy with too many buttons dotted around, the double rear spoiler (part of the optional aero kit) didn’t look quite right, and it could have done with a few less badges on the back. Some folk might want a bit more power but in the real world it’s plenty quick enough. Overall, it’s a superb package and it’s confirmed that a 911 has be high on my ‘to own’ list!
PRICE: From £91,098 (as tested £111,819)
ENGINE: 3800 cc, 6 cylinder horizontally opposed, 7 speed PDK
POWER: 424 bhp
TORQUE: 325 lb ft @ 5750 rpm
PERFORMANCE: Top speed 190 mph 0-62 mph 4.4 secs
CONSUMPTION: 29.7 mpg
CO2: 223 g/km
TT Rating:
