I've just arrived at the launch of the new Porsche 911 Carrera S.
The S serves as the base car for now and can be had for R1,708,000 - that's sportscar pricing for performance that has graduated to super - I'm talking about a 3.7 sec 0-100kph sprint (3.5 seconds with SportChrono) thanks to a 2981cc flat six endowed with 331kW and 530Nm.
What does that mean in the Nurburgring matrix? A 7:25 seconds lap. But first, the back story.
Conceived in 1963 but born in '64 – this latest iteration of the iconic 911 – in what Stuttgart reminds us is a constant evolution, is in fact the eighth generation. This 992 has big shoes to fill since its predecessor, the 991, is the best seller to date.
The new car is, in my opinion, the largest step between models (at least visually) in quite some time thanks to a gaping front end that makes the 992 resemble a Panamera when viewed in your rear-view mirror. At the rear, another great departure, but a much more successful one, with a bold light bar running the length of the boot, plus a vertically oriented louvre above it, itself hosting a brake light running parallel. The result is suitably retro for that teardrop profile of an icon.
The 'everyman super coupe'
Clamber aboard the cockpit and you'll encounter a dark cabin akin to what you'd expect in a Porsche, hardy tactile surfaces, but nothing to surprise nor delight you necessarily. Think 'everyman super coupe' and you'll get the idea - it does come with four seats after all.
The driver is treated to a classic array of instruments that spill over digitally to a pair of 7-inch screens. There's also a 10.9-inch screen that has taken over some of the more traditional controls such as the exhaust and spoiler buttons. We like buttons so, sad we’re sad to see them go, but we will console ourselves with what lies beneath the bonnet. Wait, no... That's the boot.
About that slippery exterior - it's broader now too thanks to wider wings wrapped around 20-inch (at the front) and 21-inch (at the rear) wheels. With the rears measuring 44mm wider across the axle than the previous Carerra S. We like the smoothed-over door handles and that sunken bonnet that harks back to 911s of old, but we really enjoy the new cross hair style headlamps.
Fun fact, Porsche have equipped the 911 with a new Wet Mode - acoustic sensors in the wheel wells now detect road conditions and will prompt you to equip this mode for more grip, less slip, and we appreciate this.
Then there's the performance. The old car was hardly a slouch with a 0-100kph sprint in just 4.1 seconds. Had you opted for the SportChrono package you could trim that to just 3.9s. The 992, however, will pounce in just 3.7sec with the SportChrono delivering a 3.5 seconds 0-100kph time, which is simply staggering.
This is all possible thanks to that flat engine in its bum, boosted to the high heavens aka 331kW and 530Nm. Measuring 2981cc and with rev peaking at a lofty 7500rpm, it will max out at 308kph, which I'm sure you'll agree, will do very nicely.
It shifts quicker than before with the newly revised 8-speed PDK transmission and beyond this, I have little else to report apart from how it drives.
The route was familiar - Cape Town to Rawsonville via Helshoogte, Franschhoek and Dutoitskloof Passes, the hilly trinity of Western Cape asphalt. Even with my fists of ham the 911 was able to carve these up with great precision and even greater verve thanks to a flavourful helm, a suspension that remained pancake flat and a throttle response balanced upon a razor's edge.
Rapid, fun and with the sort of aural drama only a boxer engine can deliver. All hail the 911. Long live the icon.
