2007 Porsche 911 Reviews

Ewan Kennedy reviews the 996, 997 and 991 Porsche 911 between 1998 and 2016 as a used buy.

I discovered something in the GT3 which I've never noticed before in a 911, despite sampling almost every one of the 14 varieties currently available here. In any other car it would be a flaw, but in the 911 it's character. A reminder that this is basically an evolution of a 40-year-old design which lost touch with logic a long time ago.What I twigged was that the driving position, something I'd previously regarded as perfect, was a little compromised. The throttle, brake and clutch are all offset a bit to the left. Stretch your feet directly out in front of you from the driver's seat and your toes don't alight automatically on the pedals. You have to adjust to them.I've no idea whether this is simply a consequence of moving the steering position from the left side of the car to the right. But I was amazed I'd never rumbled it before and could only put it down to one thing: for every flaw in this classic sportscar there is a more-than-compensating piece of perfection. Set your size 9s to work and you quickly appreciate the effort that has gone into connecting these metal tabs with the mechanicals. They're so precise and direct you feel like you could flex a toe and the engine would respond. They make the controls in other cars seem like baseball bats by comparison.That's the way it is with the 911 and why it retains its appeal. It's unique in the car world in retaining a rear-engined layout that defies physics by placing all the heavy bits somewhere south of the rear axle. The consequent handling qualities, even as ironed out by today's ubiquitous software systems, make it unlike any other car.It means you discover a 911 over time. One-week press loans are like little holiday romances, which leave you wanting to go back for more. The 911 has more than enough personality to suggest a long-term partnership would be a rewarding arrangement.The GT3 is one of the more extreme 911s, pitched at those who want to spend time at the track. In the 911 range, it sits at the other polar extreme to the Turbo Cabriolet I sampled a couple of months ago. That car, despite blistering pace, is a softie. It's really about being seen in the most expensive 911 money can buy.The GT3 is a wholly different beast. It forms the basis for Porsche's race series car, the GT3 RS, and bridges the gap between road cars and motorsport.It's also a pin-up for naturally aspirated engine performance, with a monster 305kW output from its 3.6-litre horizontally opposed six-cylinder. It revs through its power peak at 7600rpm to reach 8400rpm and generates loads of fabulous noise while flinging the GT3 to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds. The GT3 will reach 310km/h flat out, hitting the 160km/h in a blistering 8.7 seconds. A sport button liberates a little more power and torque, with the bonus of more sonorous depth to the sound emanating from behind the cabin.Unlike most other Porsche variants, there's no automatic option with the GT3. Just six, closely spaced ratios and one of the best manual gearshifts you're ever likely to use. There is a shift-up display in the rev counter, too. Despite being a few tenths slower on paper than the Turbo, with its superb throttle response the GT3 feels every bit as quick.Among extreme 911s it's more pleasing on the eye, too, and it gets more looks than any other Porsche I've driven.The GT3 sits noticeably lower on its suspension and the wide haunches, deep front intakes and especially the imposing two-element rear wing speak directly to the car's purpose. There's function in all this: some vents direct cooling air to the impressive brakes and the GT3 is one of the slipperiest 911s with a drag coefficient of just 0.29.That's just the beginning of its performance tuning, with 19-inch alloys running sports rubber, a limited slip rear differential and Porsche's active suspension available for the first time on GT3. There are two settings: firm or extremely firm. The latter delivers a very harsh ride on Australian roads but would come into its own on a track. The normal setting keeps things very tight in any case, with firmer settings than for other 911s.After the Turbo Cabriolet, the GT3 seems light, agile and responsive. There's a purity to the steering that seems to be diluted in the four-wheel drive Porsches and appeal in the fact it has to be driven more precisely.A highlight of the GT3's performance credentials is its weight reduction to just 1395kg — or around 250kg less than the Turbo Cabrio.As well as aluminium panels the interior has been stripped out, although not as radically as some skeletal track-focused machines. The rear seats, which are not especially useful at the best of times, have been removed. But the carpet stays and alcantara — the performance machine's interior fabric-of-choice this season — makes a welcome appearance, especially on the wheel and shifter. The cabin plastics are typically ho-hum and the control layout is standard Porsche, leaving the cabin feeling a little plain. But in a GT3, there's little reason for it to be otherwise.The racing bits fitted to the test car make it almost motorsport-ready, and turn driving the car on ordinary roads into an occasion. The sports pack adds a rollcage, racing seats, six-point harnesses and a fire extinguisher. Porsche had fitted its Sport Chrono gear to the test car too, which is a fancy electronic stopwatch that records lap times and the like.The seats really hug, even when you're strapped in with standard seatbelts, and unlike ordinary 911 pews, they lack height adjustment. Another ergonomic drawback? Well, if you've bought a GT3 and the driving position is starting to irk you, you know where to send the keys.This week Motor magazine awarded its Performance Car of the Year to the GT3 against some tough competition from Lamborghini, among others.“If there is one Porsche that best demonstrates that what we as a company learn on the race track we are able to build into our road cars, then the GT3 is that car,” said Porsche Cars Australia managing director Michael Winkler. “The GT3 is in many ways the ultimate Porsche.”Difficult to disagree. Although the 390kW turbocharged GT2 hasn't arrived yet...

On a weekday morning, even the fastest accelerating production convertible in Australia can take an hour to get from the Harbour Bridge's southern approaches to the F3 turn off.“Toupee-ripping” is how a colleague described the acceleration figure claimed by Porsche for its stunning 911 Turbo Cabriolet.“Hair-tearing” is usually the reality; in a city where noted stand-up comedian and part-time roads minister Eric Roozendaal reckons traffic is no heavier than 10 years ago.Although I long ago bid my follicles farewell; partly as result of enduring endless scenarios like this, it's a measure of this Porsche that it remained capable of shaking us to the roots.You won't often have the chance, but even so you'd need to have lapsed into a fairly deep coma not to be affected by the reality-blurring manner in which the 911 Turbo achieves 100km/h from standing.Flatten the go pedal of the five-speed automatic, surge forward, receive a turbo-charged kick in the pants and within half the time it takes you to get cognisant of what's occurred, a third numeral has flashed up on the digital speedo and the rear wing rises triumphantly.At a claimed 3.8 seconds, the hundred occurs 0.3 seconds quicker than in a Ferrari F430 Spyder. At least, it does in the version that teams the Tiptronic auto with the 3.6-litre twin-turbo six, good for 353kW and 620Nm.Although the $8000 cheaper six-speed manual is quicker over the 400 metre mark, the longer-geared auto dispatches the first benchmark 0.2 faster. But with either transmission, the topline all-wheel-drive 911s outsprint not only the Ferrari, but the nearest open top Lamborghini and Mercedes-Benz; these get there on the other side of four ticks.And at $357,500 for the manual and $365,500 for the auto, an example of which we drove, the Porsches are also much less expensive, even at a $22K premium over the 911 Turbo coupes. The cabrios do what they do whether the wind's whistling over the fabric roof that folds in 20 seconds or searing your scalp.But then the flow of air is, well, elemental with the 911 Turbo.A purpose-sculptured front bumper and aerodynamic planes directs air into the gaping intakes, which at 300km/h would channel 6400 litres a second of the breathing stuff. Most is rushed into the front vents to provide downforce and cooling, the rest into the intercoolers by way of those that open unmissably at the side.The rear-mounted powerplant features two fan-shaped turbochargers that alter the angle of their vanes to force-feed the engine.The last public frontier on this continent for fully exploring such a car closed when the Northern Territory government decided that excessive speed caused its constant road toll.Thus track days (and advanced driving lessons) are of the essence in 911 ownership; as would be optional $19,000 ceramic brakes.Yet even on our lamentably surfaced and ineptly governed roads the blown open topper cannot but convey its outlandish nature.Drive defaults predominantly to the rear wheels in Porsche's all-paw fashion, though with an electronic multi-plate clutch that will in extremis feed up to 100 per cent to front within 100 milliseconds, which is faster than any mere human could react.It could be argued that the human element is missing from a car that grips, corners and corrects with such an authoritarian poise and control. I'm among the 95 per cent who would be simply awed by the thing's ability to carve through tight corners at a rate we could not hope to approach in any lesser vehicle. This thing is clinically brilliant.Steering? It's a Porsche, so it's about as close to perfect as makes no odds.You could reasonably carp about the old, button-activated Tiptronic, though, which is not the sharpest of such things. Dominating the Volkswagen Group as it does, Porsche plans to move to a DSG set-up soon and a version such as the R-Tronic of Audi's new R8 would fit the 911 Turbo like lycra.All this power comes with PASM (Porsche Active Stability Management), which can be button-switched from normal to sport and is attached to the its latest traction control technology. These measures combine to ensure that, bar certifiable madness, the Porsche won't overwhelm you.As to kit, there's not much wanting with six airbags, Bose surround sound, bi-xenon lamps, 19-inch alloys and sat-nav. Like all 911s, there's rear seat room for two people aged less than 24 months. Not much to be done about this, but given the massive premium over a mere Carrera, a bit of differentiating trim would be in order.Which brings us back to where we started, stationary in the slow lane, far from anything like the Turbo Cabrio's natural habitat.Yes, either of the Italians, and certainly the Merc, might be more comfortable cabins at such times, but there's the consolation of knowing you can get away from here quicker than any of them. Even if only by a hair's breadth. SnapshotPorsche 911 Turbo CabrioletPrice: $365,500 (auto)Engine: 3.6L/6-cylinder twin tubro, 353kW/620NmEconomy: 13.7L/100km0-100km/h: 3.8 secondsQuote: “Steering? It's a Porsche, so it's about as close to perfect as makes no odds”  Rivals Ferrari F430 Spider   Price: $425,000Engine: 4.3L/V8, 360kW/465NmEconomy: 18.3L/100km0-00km/h: 4.1 seconds  Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder  Price: $439,999Engine: 5.0L/V10, 382kW/510NmEconomy: 17L per 100km0-100km/h: 4.3 seconds  Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG   Price: $374,900Engine: 5.4L/V8 supercharged, 380kW/720NmEconomy: 13.5L/100km0-100km/h: 4.5 seconds 

Many road cars are beaten by race track driving. Brake pads crumble, tyres disintegrate, clutches cook and the odd engine lets go. The 911 GT3 is different.

Thanks to the fact that a sparkling, new car is delivered and then taken away and detailed every week, there’s not much need for damaging their tender, type-tapping fingers on cleaning products.This is how I first knew that Porsche’s 911 really was something special, because many years ago my boss, slightly salivating, told me that he’d washed his Porsche press car, not once, but four times - in a week.Sadly, he wouldn’t let me drive it – in fact he laughed heartily at the very idea – but he did take me for a fang in it, and a fascination was born.One definition of a work of art would be that you stare at it repeatedly, even though you already know exactly what it looks like.It’s like that with the 911. During my most recent motoring affair with one, I found myself making excuses to go outside and gaze at it. I even took up smoking for the week to help with this.One night I found myself on the balcony, lost in reverie as I looked down on its roof.And it’s the roof, in particular, that was special about this 911 – because it was the Targa 4 model.Porsche has more variants of its 911 than Jacques Villeneuve’s hairdresser has had bad ideas and the Targa has been part of the line-up for 40 years.The traditional Targa top had removable roof sections and was about as practical as a brown-paper umbrella if it rained.The modern version has a seemingly smarter idea, with the entire roof made of glass.And yes, you could just call it a massive sunroof, but Targa is a far sexier word, obviously.Hold down the button between the rear seats and the whopping great glass panel slides back so that it sits flush with the rear window.This takes just six seconds and leaves you with a gaping hole through which you can sunburn your bonce (there’s also a perforated sunscreen that can be opened and closed separately).While this all sounds lovely, the problem is that when you then look in the rear-view mirror you are looking at the traffic behind you through two thickish bits of glass, with the result being a world view that’s fuzzier than a hungover man’s tongue.I don’t want to harp on about it, but seriously, it’s so, so rare for Porsche to stuff up anything that I was taken aback.Obviously, you can use your side mirrors, but this is hardly the perfect solution and perfection is what you expect when you’ve paid $233,600 (or $259,900 for the S version) for a car.Fortunately, just about everything else about driving it does bring the P-word to your lips.The Targa version of the 911 is based on the Carrera 4, which means it gets a stunning all-wheel-drive system, mated to the 239kW 3.6-litre flat six engine (or the 261kW 3.8-litre in the S).There is something that happens to your face when you corner quickly in this car, and I watched it happen to a passenger on a run up the Old Pacific Hwy.First, your jaw drops open, then you shake your head, causing your cheeks to wobble in the breeze, and finally you grin, irrepressibly, like a leering mad man.Time and time again we were both stunned into a silence broken only by the occasional snort of disbelief as the 911 hung on and hung on and then belted out of corners like an incendiary device.Its all-wheel grip is so prodigious that it makes the word prodigious seem entirely inadequate.And all the time the car is talking to you through its wondrously supple yet muscular steering.Going around the bend just shouldn’t be this much fun.By the by, it’s also quite quick – with a 0 to 100km/h time of 5.8 seconds, but straight-line speed is merely a sideshow to the cornering experience.All the while, that growling, howling engine spits its noise at you through the open Targa roof.After a while I must admit I really didn’t care whether I could see out the rear-view mirror.The car’s only other failing was the Tiptronic gearbox, a $5,500 option that I seriously can’t believe anyone ever pays for (but they do, about 50 per cent of Porsche buyers have lazy left legs, apparently).Porsche makes one of the world’s best six-speed manual gearboxes, but its five-speed semi-automatic effort is more serviceable than stunning.Left in auto mode around town it is far too quick to grab top gear, although its 370Nm of torque means it can get away with it.Changing gears using the buttons on the steering wheel is the only way to go, but in terms of tactile joy it’s like wearing nylon pants compared to denim.Frankly, though, I would wear a nylon sack, forever, if it meant I could have kept this car.Combining the joys of open-top motoring with the rigidity and practicality of a coupe is what the Targa model is all about, but frankly it’s the 911 DNA that makes it so deeply desirable.I could almost wash it. Almost.