dream | act | succeed

Having talked about the car in the normal mode here already, today, we will tackle the sport modes.

SPORT

The first thing you instantly notice when setting the car into the sport mode is the louder exhaust tone. Does it get too loud? Not really, but it seems kind of appropriate. Sure, compared to a screaming GT3 at 9000 rpm’s it sounds rather shy and conservative. But at least in my eyes, this is exactly what makes this car so special. It tells you that it is ready for the fight, without being too much over the edge already. And honestly, your neighbors will appreciate it as well, if you do not wake them every single time you leave home early in the morning on a Sunday, chasing after the morning sun.

It stays a real gentleman, even under these conditions.

The moment you lift off the gas pedal, you can hear backfires start to pop out of the exhaust pipes behind. But again, it is never too loud or too ambitious. It’s present, for sure, but not too loud. The car keeps a cool head and so does the driver.

But the engine sound is of course not all that is changing. The car also changes the throttle response, holds the gears longer and does the downshifts with more enthusiasm. The car gets basically more on point and even sharper than it was before. Sure, I missed the correct way how pedals are supposed to be positioned at a proper sports car steering wheel and ended up not using these buttons on the multifunctional wheel intentionally, because sometimes, I accidentally activated them in small corners, which honestly was really going on my nerves. What were they thinking? Why didn’t they listend to Walter Röhrl? But anyways, the PDK (Porsche Doppel Kupplung) did its job so brilliantly, I wasn’t really missing pedals after all. Sure, I would have enjoyed them driving around on twisty roads, but most of the time you let it in automatic anyways. Just for the sake of saving fuel!

But how does it really drives?

It drives exceptionally good. The handling, quite awesome, the steering, direct and due to the rear wheel steering quite agile. But it is just not intended to be a race car. The feedback is good, but not exceptionally perfect. You turn into a corner and the car just follows. If it’s wet or not, the car seems to do not care, but at the steering wheel, the feedback could just be a little bit more, at least for my taste. It feels a bit disconnected, even isolated.

Sure, if you want to have a sharp and on point racing machine, you should aim for the GT section and ignore the turbo area in your Porsche dealership next door, but every turbo customer knows that before buying such a car, hopefully.

Letting it fly on public roads, a very short thrill of acceleration, at least if you don’t want to overdo the speed limit and get into a driver license threatening kind of zone. Does the car get really edgy? Not really! I mean for sure, there is a lot of torque that wants to be handled, but if you understand the simple rules of driving fast, you may end up having an awesome time, even in the wet.

The performance, exceptionally good for a road legal car, but as always in life, there are so many factors you need to also have in mind. The tires you are driving on, the tire pressure, the tire temperature. Having driven the car on public roads, I can’t tell you something about the handling of the car at the limit. Why? Because I wasn’t there. As simple as that!

SPORT PLUS

Compared to the SPORT mode, SPORT PLUS is a totally different level. The moment you press the button next to you in the center console, the car seems to transform like Bumblebee did in the transformer movies. In the display, a warning pops up. Ride hight lowered!

As the front lip gets electrically moved into position, the rear spoiler rises up in the sky. Simultaneously, the car also activates the PDCC (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control), which makes cornering even more simple. In combination with all of that, you don’t get the feeling to sit inside a street legal car anymore, but instead might just sit in a fighter jet.

As the throttle response gets even sharper, the PDK changes the gears differently again, trying to act like a real race car now! Does it is too much? I honestly can’t tell. I wasn’t on a race track and the weather wasn’t particularly good. Having driven the car in that mode only in a kind of a wet situation, the car felt a little bit over excited, even nervous at first glimpse.

The chase to 100 km/h with cold tires in the wet, a real thrill, believe me! You drive out of a village, 30 km/h, 70% throttle and the tires just spin around. This mode is nothing for beginners, definitely!

In combination with the PCCB (Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes), the car can really perform! But the question is of course, does it really need to do that?

Summary

After having driven the car for quite some time, my resume looks like this.

The Porsche 911 991.1 turbo S may just be the perfect allrounder. On twisty roads, in city traffic, with 280 km/h in the left lane on the Autobahn, or starting it up on a Sunday morning at 6 am. The suspension isn’t too hard, but it is also not too soft. You can sit in this car for 12 hours a day if you want to and will not end up feeling exhausted. The cabin noise when driving fast is exceptionally good and allows conversations above the 200 km/h barrier without any problems. You feel at home and connected to the car. Other drivers will accept you on the road, giving you the space you need without being too aggressive or over ambitious while trying to catch you, like you may get when driving a GT3 around.

The turbo is in my eyes the perfect understatement. Its bloody fast, but can also be silent. It has grip in any kind of weather condition and doesn’t feel like too much.

You end up cruising around in a 560 horsepower car, sailing through the countryside and enjoy your time with a fast car being within the speed limit on twisty roads and even end up with a very low fuel consumption!

But for sure, you can also end up having a 20 + figure in your fuel consumption display. But honestly, I am impressed! If you really want to save fuel without being slow, this car has definitely over performed! I wasn’t expecting it to be that good when knowing how to save fuel.

Would I buy one? I guess the answer is yes! If you want to have one car that does it all, this is your car. Sure, it might be a little bit expensive, but if I look at how much money I need to pay for a basic 911 these days, this car looks like a real bargain to me!

Sure, a car like this with ceramic brakes and stuff doesn’t represent the entry level Porsche, but at least it will be a car you are ending up loving so much, that you will probably keep until you die.

See you next time!