First Drive: 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo

November 13, 2009

It’s as easy as pie: 1) press the Sport Plus button on the dash; 2) place your left foot on the brake; 3) mash the happy pedal (“Launch Control” illuminates on the right steering wheel spoke and the revs hover around 5500 rpm); 4) clench sphincter; and 5) release brake. Keep your foot in it and 200 km/h is yours in 11.4 seconds.

2010 Porsche 911 Turbo. Click image to enlarge

The base car with six-speed manual takes a more leisurely 3.7 seconds – the published figure for such stalwarts as the Corvette Z06, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari 430 Scuderia and Porsche Carrera GT.

Granted, with all-wheel-drive, straight-line acceleration has never been a Turbo weakness. If you could level any criticism at the previous Turbo, it would be for the almost aloof way it delivered its ballistic pace.

There was nothing aloof about the way Porsche factory driver and Le Mans winner Romain Dumas threw the Turbo around the famed Estoril racetrack – the first lap completely sideways like a WRC rally car with second taking the faster “clean” line. I rode shotgun, losing my grip on the oh-shit handle and my lunch in equal measure.

During my slightly more sedate negotiation of Estoril, the Turbo proved very easy to drive quickly, offering sensational grip, quick turn in, and great balance. It was happy to settle into a perfectly manageable four-wheel drift that was easily massaged with gentle throttle and steering inputs.

Most of the test vehicles here were equipped with the optional carbon-ceramic brakes that will require an additional $12,050 in our country, and indeed they were truly effective on the track.

2010 Porsche 911 Turbo. Click image to enlarge

In light of the fact that few 911 Turbos will be used in this way, half of my seat time was spent in a red Cabriolet coursing the incredibly scenic and serpentine Portuguese coastal and inland roads. Yes, the ride is a bit stiff, even with the standard PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management), but certainly not punishing. The $600 optional sport seats were tailored perfectly for my thin frame. The interior is finely crafted and functional (save for the flimsy fold out cup-holders) in a no-nonsense Germanic way. Carbon-fibre buckets are available for $4,280.

For a cabriolet, the body structure feels very solid. There are a few more cabin quivers than you’ll get in the Coupe version, but the difference is negligible.

What you don’t get is the classic flat-six song that comes from naturally aspirated Porsche engines. The Turbo is considerably quieter, and when you hammer it, an angry whooosh comes from the tailpipes that sounds like a fire hose on full blast. Not pretty but certainly effective.

Porsche has bowed to pressure (mostly from pesky journalists, they say) to offer proper shift paddles with the excellent seven-speed PDK transmission. They work well and come attached to a new three-spoke sports wheel – all for $840. The wheel is not heated nor has multi-function capability, so if you want those features stick with the standard unit with its obtuse push-me-pull-you buttons. The paddles will make their way into other Porsche products in the future.

For those into East/West grudge matches, the 2010 Turbo shaves 10 seconds off the previous car’s Nurburgring lap time, crossing the line in 7 minutes and 39 seconds – just one second behind the Nissan GT-R.

Porsche test driver Walter Rohrl and a 935 from the Porsche Museum. Click image to enlarge

Rally legend and Porsche test driver Walter Rohrl was at this event, driving a couple of racers pulled from the Porsche Museum: a 1981 935 and a 1998 GT1. I asked him which of the three current uber 911s (the rear-drive turbo 530-hp GT2, the AWD 500 hp Turbo, or the sublime rear-drive naturally aspirated 435-hp GT3) would be fastest around Estoril in his hands. In the dry, the GT2 would be fastest, he says. In the wet, it would be last because with all that torque and non-linear throttle, it’s too hard to put the power down. The Turbo would be second fastest, but quickest in the wet, natch. The GT3 would bring up the rear (probably beat the GT2 in the wet), but is Rohrl’s favourite because of its scalpel-like steering and precise throttle control.

Hmmm. Best get all three, I reckon.

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