Porsche 911 C4 S

Pete Wadsworth

So, Porsche delivered the 997 Carrera 4S to the office on Wednesday so that we could have a go in the Stuttgart company’s flagship after we enjoyed the Cayman S so much a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, our boss Bryn somehow managed to nick the keys off my desk and take the thing to Spa for the GP. As a result I didn’t get a great deal of time behind the wheel, but it was more than enough to get an impression of what the rear-engined Porsche is capable of doing.

I must confess that before now the only 911 I’d driven was a totally knackered 993 round a track with a slightly over-zealous instructor - and I didn’t enjoy the experience at all: the handling was horrible, the air-cooled flat-six felt – and sounded – like an asthma attack and there was so much rust on it that when I opened the door the hinge nearly pulled the mounting out of the door frame. I put this down as being like driving an MR2 with a 355 body kit and judging the 355 by that marker and deleted it from the bit of my brain marked ‘Worthwhile Experiences’.

Nevertheless, I like to think of my 911 greenhorn status as an advantage for reviewing this car, since it seems that every review of the latest Porsche flagship has to be peppered with constant comparisons to ‘old-skool’ 911s that were more feelsome, more involving and more exciting. But, you don’t want to spend the next few hundred words being told that you’ve missed the boat, do you? Still, it’s the only car in existence whose biggest competitor seems to be its predecessor but, since I’ve not driven any of them, I’ll be writing with total 911 objectivity.

Except for when I talk about the looks. The original 911 looks a lot like a Beetle that has been stretched out on Photoshop, but it’s a classic shape and I love it; the 993 looked great and, in GT2 form, still features highly on my ‘Lottery-win garage list’; the 996 looked odd with its ‘fried egg’ headlights but it did herald the birth of the GT3 and GT3 RS, both of which looked cool – the shape just didn’t work for lesser models, which looked cheap. The 997 on the other hand is perfect, particularly with the wide rear-arches you get on the four-wheel-drive models. It’s understated, smooth as a pebble, purposeful and practically proportioned; it looks great in every incarnation from bog-standard Carrera all the way up to the Turbo, GT3 RS and the pant-tighteningly-gorgeous GT2. This 911 has the details that best suit that seemingly timeless silhouette of Porsche’s greatest engineering achievement.

Having taken in the lines, it’s time to go for a drive. Despite the similarities in design between the 911 and the Cayman interiors, the cabin certainly feels very different: you seem to sit lower and closer to the wheel (even after you’ve found your ideal seating position), the pedals are a better distance from your hips and it is unmistakeably larger and more airy than the mid-engined car’s cabin.

Fire the 3.8 litre flat-six and you can feel the extra muscle nestling behind the rear axles. The idle is chunkier than it is in the Cayman, the clutch ever so slightly heavier, the throttle just a touch more eager. Cue insuppressible grin and urge to drive until the tank runs dry.

Of course, being a Porsche, there’s no real clue that you’re driving something very quick – the steering is easy, the gearbox is light and the clutch doesn’t make your thigh explode – until you bury your foot for the first time. At which point you realise that 380bhp is still a lot of grunt and, despite the Veyron doing 0-60mph in a skull-shattering two-and-a-half seconds, 4.6 seconds is still bloody quick. Snatch second gear in the Sports short-shift manual box and the 997 releases another torrent of forward motion, accompanied by that unmistakeable noise I first experienced in the Cayman S. From a standstill, the 4S gets off the line like a WRC car: using the tried and tested ‘handbrake launch for four-wheel drive cars’ technique, it’s possible to catapult yourself towards the horizon at an incredible pace – no hint of wheelspin, driveline shunt or axle tramp – just cold, hard acceleration. The Turbo must be spectacular.

With all that you read about 911 ‘handling characteristics’, I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at the first corner: would it be heaven or hell? Would I want to find the next bend as quickly as I could or park, get out and have a nice sit down? As it turned out, the 997 is - with no in spites ofs, in deference tos or howeverthelesses – a monumentally efficient and wonderfully involving sports car that, if I’d had a bit more time with, would have undoubtedly shown me even more facets to its already endearing personality.

The rear-engined set-up (on the road at least) was more jus than onion gravy – only making itself felt in the most subtle way rather than dominating the drive (in fact, I think the Cayman feels more mid-engined than the 911 feels rear-engined). The nose is a touch lighter than a mid or front-engined car, but it doesn’t feel ponderous and feedback through the wheel is worthy of a Lotus badge. It does have a tendency to understeer if you get on the power too early, but carry a touch more speed into the bend and wait a bit longer to get back on the gas and you’re treated to a fantastically balanced and searingly rapid exit on to the next straight. The four-wheel-drive system is mega, but I don’t think I had enough time with the car/guts/talent to really exploit the system and get a good feel for how it worked. I think a 911 Turbo for a week would really give me the chance to assess Porsche's four-wheel-drive properly. Please?

Hopefully we’ll have another 911 soon, and I’ll make a better attempt at hiding the keys next time so I’ll actually get to drive the thing.