Lock & Load

The tale of the Porsche 911 Turbo began in 1973 when a prototype was showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show, ten years after the birth of the first 911.

A year later they released the production model, which aped the looks of the famed Carrera RS 3.0. It gathered adulation the world over for its fierce acceleration and huge ducktail spoiler, but along with the immense power came ‘turbo lag’. The late surge of power while negotiating corners would switch the car’s side, front to back, ending many a race and joyride wrapped around a tree or elsewhere. Hence the nickname — the widow maker.

But with 40 years of advancements in technology, the 911Turbo has been tamed with mechanical trickery such as all-wheel drive, suspension adjustments, etc.

For 2014, the widow maker returns in ‘Turbo S’ guise; this time pledging to vanquish rivals from the various speed houses of Italy, Germany and Britain whilst keeping both driver and device intact.

Design & Aesthetics

The 911 has been the favourite son of speed for as many as five decades. The adoration for the bug-eyed headlamps, pronounced rear haunches and sloping roofline has helped it hold the essence of its classic proportion. It has grown over the years, yet it remains an endearing size — pudgy little thing it is. At 4506 mm in length, it is about the same as a compact, and its height of 1296 mm will meet you a little over your hip. Only its shoulders are broad at 1880 mm, one mirror to the other. But in general, its dinky size won’t intimidate any driver, it actually makes it all the more manoeuvrable in traffic.

Lighting up the path of Porsche’s flagship is a 4-spot LED daytime running lights, brilliant LED main headlights that shine through the traditional, beloved ovoid light covers, replacing the standard bi-xenon lamps on the regular Turbo model. Three large air intakes painted in black dress up the Turbo S’s frontal design, and allow air to ingress and egress, aiding the car’s aerodynamics. The 911 design distinction is illustrated more from the side, where the highly raked roofline slopes right down to the rear bumper. This is what makes it recognisably 911.

The other thing you’d notice are the enormous 20-inch multi-spoke bi-colour forged alloy wheels that wear 245-section rubber upfront, and river-wide 305s at the rear. They provide for amongst the largest footprints, and as the formula goes — friction is directly proportional to the area of contact. A good thing in this case! Inducing cool air to the engine bay are intercooler air scoops also painted in black, ahead of the rear wheel, helping the engine develop power and keeping it within operable temperatures.

Do note that Porsche now fits their cars with hydrophobic windows, which will keep a lot of the water off. It is a good thing if you are driving in London, but in dry Dubai... not so much!

In the past, Turbo models used the Carrera 4’s wide body panels. This time, the Turbo S is even wider, measuring almost 76 mm wider at the hip over the base model. Also, the ducktail spoiler has been retained, but as a modern interpretation with active aerodynamics altering the rear wing in three different positions depending on the drive mode.

The rear lamps are also powered by LED. They are now a more elegant slit-like design — a big improvement over the 997.2 model — and fitted to the lower rear end are stainless-steel twin dual-tube tailpipes finished in chromate black. Our test car wore a sort of canary yellow livery that only bold designs like the 911 can get away with. That said, even traditional colours like black, white and even metallic brown fall well on the exteriors of this German might. And everything from the luggage compartment lid, front wings, doors, roof, rear lid etc are all made of lightweight aluminium, keeping the weight as low as 1605 kg to negate the weight of the turbo and all-wheel drive system.

The cabin of the Turbo S, or any 911 for that matter, is a great illustration of luxury and tradition with a performance focus. Keeping with Porsche racing tradition, the ignition switch is found on the left side of the steering column and analogue instrument clocks centre around the large rev counter. The gauges have black dials with aluminium-coloured outer rings and an illuminated “turbo S” logo. There is also a highly customisable high-resolution 4.6-inch colour display that is independent of the screen on the central console, where we have a 7-inch high resolution display and a number of hard buttons to help with the touch functionality of the screen. I must say that the size and spacing of the buttons and knobs are optimum; ergonomics have been a high priority.

More importantly, the steering wheel is a perfect execution of art and design. It feels soft and light in the hand, and apt to grip and steer the car while you are on the move. Even the pedals, shift lever and side mirrors are flawlessly placed.

The cabin may seem a little cramped, but whoever manages to get a seat, rem-ains seated in comfort. The adaptive sports seats are 18-way power adjustable and can accommodate even 6-foot frames. You can forget about the rear seats though — only Tyrion Lannister from the Game of Thrones would not complain! The memory function extends to both exterior mirrors and the steering wheel, not just the seats. So there are no complaints, even with two drivers in the house! And adding that extra gesture of luxury is the rooflining, A-, B- and C-pillars, all wrapped in Alcantara.

Powertrain & Performance

The crux of the Turbo models have always been its beguiling powertrain. Porsche uses a direct injected 3.8-litre flat-6 engine that is force-fed by two turbos with VTG, or variable turbine geometry. It’s coupled to Porsche’s quicker-than quick 7-speed PDK transmission.

It makes a mighty 552 bhp between 6,500-6,750 rpm — more than twice the power of the original turbo from 1974. But the horsepower only speaks half the story — this car is all about torque, and it has a mountain of it. In passive state, it can generate 700 Nm and with the OverBoost function, you get another 50 for 10 seconds to give a grand total of 750 Nm, more than both the Lamborghini Aventador or Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. The metallic exhaust noise it generates is pure aural bliss, in a very Porsche kind of way. Also, there is more induction noise now and a lot of chatter on the over-run, which makes you want to play with the pedal and redline often.

For experiencing that full-blown acceleration, you need to engage Launch control; which is an easy thing to do in the Turbo S. Prime the power train, inhale a large breath of confidence, keep the gas pedal buried and ditch the brakes. In an act that sort of defies physics, it catapults from rest to 100 km/h in 3.1 seconds, and in 6.8 seconds you hit 160 km/h. It is an experience that is both frightful and enthralling — like being hit by a bus, I suppose!

Funnily enough, Porsche is known to publish conservative performance figures: there have been claims of 0 to 100 runs in the mid-2 second range. That is shrugging shoulders with the 8-million dirham Bugatti Veyron. And as far as speed goes, you can forget about the scenery as it climbs to its claimed top speed of 318 km/h. You really have to rewire your mind to take this kind of speed. Yet, at any of these speeds, the Turbo S feels as composed on a curved line as it is on the straights. The gratification comes from the all-wheel drive system that allows power to be shuffled between the wheels with paramount traction. Technologies like torque vectoring and active rear wheel steer can — as you may have guessed — turns the rear wheels 2.8 degrees in a direction opposite to that of the front wheels at low speeds, thereby reducing the turning radius or 1.5 degrees in phase with the front wheels at high speed. This improves highway stability and keeps the Turbo S in the intended direction of motion. It is as surefooted as a mountain goat, yet it can be made to drift at will. Such is its dynamic flexibility.

Matching Porsche’s enthusiasm for speed is the car’s incredible stopping power. Squeezing the brake pedal activates the yellow-painted 6-piston brake calipers upfront, and 4-piston calipers at the rear. Besides being internally vented and cross-drilled, the disc rotors are made from ceramic composite material — aerospace stuff now accessible to the common man! You could easily stop from a 100 km/h, well under 100 feet.

The 911 shares ferocity with other supercars, but not their drinking habits. Its average fuel economy of 9.7 lt/100km is an indication that it won’t burn down a forest as quickly, and it’s C02 emissions of 227 g/km won’t burn a hole in the ozone as easily. And the decent size 68-litre tank gives you a range of about 500-plus kilometres.

You should also know, what makes this model special are race car-derived technologies like dry sump lubrication and dynamic engine mounts that have been incorporated into its powertrain. It is, by all means, a technological tour de force.

Features & Functionality

Upfront, where you usually find a monster engine buried under the hood, you have a 115-litre trunk. I’m not quite sure if your regular large luggage would find a place in there, but cabin-size would certainly fit. Thankfully, there’s space for two cup holders on the centre console, meaning a weekend drive enjoying your white chocolate mocha or tabakat from the cafeterias is not out of the question, plus the soft ride will keep it from spilling.

There’s a two-zone automatic climate control system that cools the cabin. But with the sun shining right above and no shade as cover, the leather seats can get too hot to handle, where the optional seat ventilation might be handy. You have ISOFIX mounting points for child seats as well. We are not quite sure how you can fit on in the back seat though. There are clothes hooks on seat backrests and B-pillars. It is real genius how they have managed to engineer all this into something as small as the 911.

And as the summer heat gets intense, you are required to check the tyre pressure more often; helping with that is the Tyre Pressure Monitoring system. You also get plenty of safety features like six airbags and seat pretensioner, adaptive cruise etc. Helping you park that rear end into the garage are parking sensors with their audible alerts, or the rear camera if you prefer visual. We are quite impressed with the standard Bose audio, but the lucky few who prefer the added power of the S model also get the upgraded 821-watt 16-channel 12-speaker Burmester audio system. We especially like the aluminium finish on the speaker covers and the Victorian font of the brand name.

Porsche gives its customer numerous customisation options. Red seat belts? You got it. Embossed seat headrests? Bingo. How about voice control or even an electronic log book to record your 0 to 100 km/h times? Of course.

Verdict

The 2014 Porsche 911 turbo S has gone from being the widow maker to being one of the most practical and usable supercars of our time. The mind numbing 
acceleration spares easy access to speeds, and the confidence it displays as both a road and racecar is sublime. Anyone would feel the pinch of the price tag, but then again, this is arguably the best bargain supercar out there!