Porsche 911 GTS 2011 Review

My son was disappointed that it wasn't turbo or supercharged. But it was this very thing that attracted me to the car. Force-fed engines have their place but there's nothing like the sound and feel of a free revving naturally aspirated power plant.

TECHNOLOGY

The 3.8-litre flat pack in the Porsche Carrera produces 300kW of power at a lofty 7300 revs and whips the car into action like the throrougbred it is. The dash from 0-100km/h takes 4.6 seconds and the car has a top speed of 306km/h — not that it matters much on our crappy bloody roads. So what if the Turbo's quicker off the mark?

The GTS comes with a six-speed manual transmission as standard or you can tick the box for the 7-speed PDK auto, which adds 4km/h to the top speed and reduces the time it takes to get to 100km/h from 4.6 to 4.2 seconds.

VALUE

It's also costs 100,000 more, not that I could afford either car anyway. Priced from $270,000 the new 911 Carrera GTS wears its badge well, with pumped out rear guards, black 19 inch alloys and fiery red brake calipers.

The quad exhaust outlets could he described as overkill, but what the hell — go big or go home? The GTS sits midway between the Carrera S and race bred GT3 with 17 more kilowatts than the S but 20 less than the GT3.

DESIGN

It's splitting hairs really because there's nothing unexciting about the way this car looks, sounds or performs. The GTS combines the wider body of the all-wheel drive Carrera 4 with its wider track together with a classic rear engined, rear-wheel drive arrangement.

It's a classic Porsche in every sense of the term, wtih guards that hide massive 305/30 series Bridgestone Potenzas designed to keep the bum pinned down.

Other features which set this car apart include the SportDesign front apron edged in black, special sideskirts, also in black, and the GTS logo on the doors and rear lid — in black or silver depending on the body colour (our car was white). The area between the two tailpipes at the rear is also finished in black.

The interior of the car is trimed in suede-like Alcantara and getting in and out can be challenging which explains why they sell so many Cayennes.

DRIVING

Slower it may be, but we'll take the manual every day thank you, because we like to drive and after all — isn't this what this car's supposed to be all about?

After punting around for a couple of days trying to stay away from the highway patrol we discovered the little button that adds a louder, more urgent note to the exhaust. That's the button you'll want to hit before going anywhere — too bad it won't stay on all the time.

The suspension is switchable and ranges between firm and very firm which can be irritating at times, especially on our beloved back roads — them's the breaks. The only thing we didn't like about the GTS was having to give it back (and all the wankers in Fords and Holdens that want to race you).

PORSCHE 911 GTS

Price: $270,100 (coupe), $288,700 (cabriolet)
Engine: 3.8-litre inline six; 300kW/420Nm
Transmission: 6-speed manual; 7-speed twin clutch auto
Thirst: 10.2L litres/100km (estimate)