Porsche 911 Turbo (2009-) Review

Overview

• Next: Reliability and Quality

This is the latest 911 Turbo and it's very different to the model it replaces, but you wouldn't know by looking at it.

Cosmetic changes include: new titanium coloured bits by the air ducts, LED running lights... and that's it. So Porsche's laid-back, 'evolutionary' approach to styling continues unabated then. Cue all the old jokes about chief designer on Project 911 being the easiest job in the world. Spend just over £110,000 on a 911 Turbo and only card-carrying Porsche anoraks will notice that it's new - and you probably wouldn't want to talk to them anyway.

But we're all used to Stuttgart's conservatism when it comes to looks. It's what's beneath the skin that really counts with Porsche. The 911 Turbo is a road weapon that remains one of the great automotive anachronisms: a sportscar with its engine in the wrong place. Yet over the decades, and throughout successive generations, engineers have managed to tame the inherent instability brought on by the rear-mounted engine, creating one of the greatest driver's cars on the market. Each generation a little better than the last.

This time, the rear-mounted flat six is bigger than ever, with a 3.8-litre capacity (up from 3.6) and an overhaul significant enough for Porsche to describe it as an all-new unit. This, we think, is fair comment since it's based on a different block from the last engine and has an integrated oil sump.

It's more powerful too, with a whopping 493bhp delivered at 6,000rpm (compared to 474bhp before), and drinks less fuel so pumps out fewer CO2 emissions. Then there's the new gearbox, the excellent Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe system - which must only be pronounced in a dodgy German accent after a deep breath - or just call it PDK. Joy of joys, it now comes with normal paddle shifters on the steering rather than the irritating rocker system which previously blighted the whole shebang. A manual 'box, by the way, is standard fit.

Then there's seriously smart electronic technology, which we'll talk about later, with intriguing names like the Porsche Torque Vectoring system and Sports Gearshift Strategy.

So on paper at least, this generation of 911 Turbo looks better than the last. But how did it perform on the excellent Estoril circuit in Portugal and on some fine and fast road routes? Read on to find out.