The thing with Porsche 911s is that you can't really go wrong with any of them. Obviously, some are better than others, but the thing is, the more you pay, the better the car you're buying is.
So, you could say that no matter what you choose, you will always get the best Porsche you can afford. And by "best" we mean "quickest." That's a gross generalization that isn't really always true, but as generalizations go, it's probably not the most deceiving you will come across today.
However, things get a lot more complicated if you involve the used car market and the vast array of aftermarket modifications. Take these two into account, and you can easily build a quicker car than the new 992 Turbo S, for example, and less expensive. Not a lot less, though, since Porsches tend to keep their value reasonably well.
That's pretty much what this whole race is all about, even though the situation is somewhat reversed compared to the one we presented. Here, we're dealing with an older model that sat higher up the Porsche ladder, racing against a new but slightly modified one.
So, in the blue corner sits the Porsche 991 Turbo S, a full one-generation-old four-wheel-drive 911 fitted with a 3.8-liter turbocharged flat-six which generates 552 hp (560 PS). That's pretty straightforward, but in the red one, you'll find a car that requires a little more detailed introduction.
It started life as a 992 Carrera 4S, which means it's powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat-six putting out just 443 hp (450 PS). However, this particular 4S also has an Akrapovic exhaust, downpipes, and a Stage 1 tune that boosts its power by roughly 120 hp. It also gets the new eight-speed PDK transmission, compared to the 991, which only gets seven gears to play with.
That means we should have an interesting race on our hands since we're looking at cars that share similar power outputs, an all-wheel-drive system, and the Porsche DNA. By now, you should know things aren't always as simple as the black-on-white figures might suggest, and this race makes no exception. Stick until the end for a bit of telemetry data that should offer a more in-depth look at the gap between these two.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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