Porsche 911 Carrera manual: review

The 911 for the working man proves there’s no need to stretch yourself for a more prestigious model

The new Carrera is the first of its kind with a turbocharged engine

21 November 2015

There’s a school of thought that says the lowest-powered version of your average Porsche tends to be the one to go for.

Stuttgart knows how to tempt status-hungry buyers into its more expensive cars, but when the base models are so good isn’t spending all that money on the letter S a bit of a mug’s game?

To put that theory to the test, here we are with the new 911 Carrera in boggo form. The world being what it is, ‘boggo’ in this case means just the £76,412, but look what that gets you.

The new Carrera is the first of its kind with a turbocharged engine. This may have been forced upon Porsche by emissions targets, but they’ve turned it into a virtue born of necessity.

The 3.0-litre engine is smaller than the old model’s but it won’t leave you wanting for pace

The 3.0-litre engine is smaller than the old model’s naturally aspirated unit. But 369bhp and 332lb ft won’t leave you wanting for pace.

Neither will the seven-speed manual gearbox which is standard in this model. It’s taller-geared in all but first and second, too, to make the most of the engine’s extra torque and the revs at which this is developed, and the clutch has been lightened as well.

It’s taller-geared in all but first and second, to make the most of the engine’s extra torque

So it’s easier to drive – and easier to drive fast. Just as rewarding, though.

The Carrera now gets Porsche’s PASM active suspension, bringing adjustable shocks to the party and dumping it into the weeds by a small but significant centimetre.

It’s easier to drive – and easier to drive fast

The result is a dynamic experience that will appeal to every sense you’ve got and quite possibly unearth a few you didn’t know you had. The engine makes that lovely urgent bark Porsche does so well, and with so much more shove at your back you can hustle it along with an effortlessness that defies the sheer speed with which you can cover ground.

That’s about more than just power, of course. And sure enough, the precision of suspension balance is right there. So too are the poise, the grip, the blissful steering feel. It rides beautifully, too. Dare we use words like ‘perfection’?

Porsche 911 Carrera: the backseats

Not many cars could hope to command such praise, but the 911 is emphatically one of them.

More so than ever now, in fact. Because as well as improving on its own sky-high dynamic standards, Porsche has sorted out one of the areas in which it used to let itself down by fitting a new entertainment centre.