New Porsche 911 GTS Review
What’s hot: The best 911 ever (until the next one), more power, and an even more outrageously lovely noise
What’s not: The price - $268,700 in Australia, blipping downchanges on manual (which seems a little impure for a purist car)
X-FACTOR: Having a 911 is pretty cool, but having “the best one” adds some extra glister to the gold.
Vehicle style: Super-sports coupe, or cabriolet.
Price: $268,700 for the Carrera 2 manual basic one, or a lot more if you want a PDK gearbox, a Cabriolet or the Carrera 4 version, or all three in one for $312,690.
Engine/trans: Flat-six 3.8-litre naturally aspirated engine; 316kW/440Nm; 7spd manual or double-clutch automatic PDK transmission.
OVERVIEW
It’s hard to imagine that anyone else could get away with the Porsche business model, particularly as it is applied to the revered, legendary, 911.
The last all-new one, designated 991, was launched in 2011.
In just three years, Porsche has now unveiled what will be the 19th variant of that car: the GTS - those three letters signifying the best of all road-going, non-turbo, traditional Porsches.
Imagine Apple launching 19 iPhone variants in three years, and what that would do to its brand perception. (That might not be the best analogy… some idiots would actually buy 19 different iPhones.)
Essentially, though, if you buy a new 911 as soon as it comes out, you know the company is going to scoop you in pretty damn quick-time.
Clever buyers, of course, would have seen how good the last GTS was; a startling car - the best of the 997 range - the last 911 ever to be fitted with proper, hydraulic steering, and waited for this one to come along before shelling out the bucks.
Porsche’s engineers save all their best tricks for the GTS.