Review: 2020 Porsche 911 Turbo S

Which was all very well in theory. But it has left the 911 flagship open to criticism that, for all its pulverising pace, the Turbo is somehow less of a driver’s machine than lesser 911s, more of a blunt instrument for clubbing its way from place to place, rather than the finely-honed driving machine many believe it should be. Well, says Porsche, this new 992-based Turbo is where that all stops. We shall see about that.

Design

The person saying this Turbo will be different is Frank-Steffen Walliser, Porsche’s new ‘Mr 911’ whose previous job for the company was making GT3s, GT2 RSs and all Porsche’s 911-based racing cars. So hopes are high.

Then again, on paper the formula seems remarkably similar: there’s still a 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six under the engine cover and it still drives all four wheels. There’s another 70PS for the Turbo S version tested here, but so too is there another 40kg of mass, making the cabriolet version, at over 1,700kg, the heaviest 911 ever seen. Even the coupe, at 1,640kg, is more than twice the weight of the lightest street legal 911, the 911R of 1967. As expected it comes with widened bodywork and a lavish list of standard equipment to justify its £155,970 price, some £73,175 more than Porsche charges for a base Carrera. So you’re going to have to really want one.

There are only a couple of clues to suggest this might be a new kind of Turbo: the engine may displace a very similar capacity to the bland sounding unit in the previous car, but it is entirely new, and based on the latest generation of motors introduced for the facelifted 991-series in 2016. Secondly, though the car is indeed wider, it’s grown much more at the front than back, suggesting an appetite within Porsche for rebalancing its handling.

Performance and handling

As is always the case with very powerful cars these days, it’s not the power per se that determines your sense of the car’s performance, but what the car does with it. And in this case, with four-wheel-drive and the traditional traction advantage conferred by the engine’s location, what the Turbo S does is dump the lot on the tarmac without so much as a chirrup from the tyres if the road is smooth. A launch control start is actually quite a violent experience, sufficiently so indeed to be not particularly pleasant. Look at that 2.7 second 0-62mph claim, and remember Porsche always, always, always underestimates such things. In the real world you’d need a Bugatti Chiron to step away from the line substantially more smartly than this.

Some old issues remain: the engine is relatively slow to respond at low revs, but perhaps no more than you might expect of a motor required to produce over 170PS per litre of capacity. It sounds better than the old Turbo engine too, but is still less characterful than the 3.0-litre units in the Carrera models.

And you can feel the car’s size and weight too: this is a car that likes wide open spaces far more than narrow twisting lanes. But place it in the right environment and you will not doubt that when it comes to blending outright capability with real driver interaction, this is a 911 Turbo like no other before.

Where Porsche has been clever is not to mess with the formula that has brought it so much success over the last quarter of a century. You and I might want a 911 Turbo to be a rewarding driving machine, but many who buy them actually just want that image wrapped up in a fast and supremely capable car. And that core component of the car’s character remains in full. I’d say the ride was a little firm and the tyres somewhat noisy on coarse surfaces, but in all other regards, this remains every inch in the long distance business-person’s express.

But there’s something else here too, something new. There’s a heft to the steering I don’t recall, and an appetite for an apex that was missing from the car it replaces. Drive it quite hard you’ll notice most how it just always hits its marks: it’s more accurate and responsive which is great. But up the effort rate a little further and you’ll find something else here too: a balance missing from the old car. It is more eager to adjust its line according to throttle setting, more resistant to understeer and happier than ever to let the back slide wide. Walliser was right: it is a far better driver’s car.

Interior

There’s no question than the cabin of this 992-generation of 911 most suits the Turbo S. Of course it is covered with all the highest quality materials you’d have to buy in as extras on lesser models, but really it’s the ambience in here that fits the Turbo’s character so well. You might think those glossy black screens a little characterless in a sports car like a 911 Carrera, but in the mobile office that is the Turbo S, they sit far more comfortably. And from an operational standpoint this is one of Porsche’s best cabin’s yet, offering easy and intuitive access to a simply staggering amount of data and information.

Technology and features

The 911 Turbo S comes with an impressive suite of Porsche goodies as standard, from carbon ceramic brakes to active anti-roll bars and engine mounts. That said, there is still plenty of scope to empty your pockets further: a carbon-fibre roof is £2,500, lowered suspension another £1,000. If you want adaptive cruise control it will cost you £1,200 while a sports exhaust is near £2,200. At almost £173,000, the test car cost comfortably more than twice as much as a standard Carrera…

Verdict

This is the best Porsche 911 Turbo there has been, because it retains undiminished its capacity as probably the fastest point-to-point car in the remotely real world, while reintroducing at least an element of fun that has been missing for far too long. For 911 Turbo fans it is all, and more, than they could have hoped it to be. But that is not to say it is either the best or most entertaining current 911. It is not, and that’s true right now, even before the GT3 version of the current car is introduced. A Carrera S is lighter on its feet, slimmer in the lanes, a little easier on the ear, a lot easier on the wallet and for almost everyone, more than fast enough. It is that car, and not this, that remains the jewel in the 911 crown.