Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe Facelift Review

"It's the best 911 Turbo ever, but it ain't cheap"

What is it?

The Porsche 911 Turbo’s been given a mid-life facelift. But unlike some botox’d Hollywood celeb, it’s the bits under the skin that have been nip/tucked, making this 911 one of the greatest everyday supercars money can buy.

What’s it like on the outside?

The new 911 Turbo is standard ‘if it ain’t broke…’ 911 fare. Don your Porsche anorak and you’ll spot new bi-xenon headlights and more curvy LED taillights that feature across the 911 range; quite possibly the brightest daytime LED spotlights in the world, new-look 19-inch alloys and a nice set of chrome tailpipes. The changes are minor, but they bring the 911 Turbo up to date.

What’s it like on the inside?

I love 911 interiors because they’re comfortable, functional and really sensibly laid out. You sit in supportive yet comfy sports seats, there’s loads of adjustment, so you’ll find a perfect position, even with a helmet on thanks to the curve of the roof, and there’s plenty of toys like a decent satnav and a Bose stereo to play with.

What’s it like to drive?

This range-topping 911 has been given a brand new twin turbo, direct injection 3.8-litre unit which not only punts out a nice round 500hp, up 20hp from before, it also emits 18% less CO2 and consumes 16% less fuel. Magic.

The engine also has active mounts, which improve the ride comfort when you’re cruising, and keep things tight and focussed when you’re going for it. Seems to work too, as the Turbo will potter along the motorway really comfortably, using the effortless torque to ooze past slower cars without needing to drop down a gear. But when you really get going, it responds much more sharply, changing direction with minimal fuss, helped in part by a 15kg lower kerbweight than before.

Also noticeable is the new Torque Vectoring system which brakes the inside rear wheel whilst giving the outer more power, tucking the nose in and allowing you to carry more speed. It’s a weird sensation, but it really works well.

My car had a normal six-speed manual, which is excellent, but was a bit tight on my test car – it’d only done 300 miles when I picked it up – but 80% of buyers will opt for the PDK which now comes with proper paddle shifters. For a £2.5k extra fee of course.

Also extra is the Sport Chrono package which gives you the aforementioned engine mounts, a Sport button on the dash, launch control if you opt for the PDK ’box and a nice lap timer on the dash top. Press the Sport button and you get an overboost function, which gives you an extra 50Nm of torque for limited bursts, and a Sport mode for the suspension. It’s all great and the extra boost, especially when overtaking is exceptional, but why on a £100k car do you have to pay £2,629 extra for it?

Verdict

More than one in five 911s sold are Turbos, so this car is an important halo model for the brand. Granted it can’t cruise like a Panamera, and it isn’t as focussed as a GT3. But when it comes to a car that can come so close to offering the driving experiences of both cars, with the fewest compromises, the new 911 Turbo only misses out on the full five stars because of its price. And yes, at 7’39” it may not be as fast as a Nissan GT-R around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and does cost twice the price, but I want a 911 Turbo many, many more times more than a Nissan GT-R.

By Tom Phillips