Porsche 911 Carrera S Coupe
Australia's Best Driver's Car

2nd

Driving a 911 fast — very fast — requires commitment and no shortage of technique. Even in this latest '991.2' generation, it's the driver that must adjust to the characteristics of the king of sports cars... The 'accommodation' never happens the other way around.

We've already written plenty of words about the latest 911. We've covered the reveal, the news, the tech briefings, the international launch, the Australian launch and still we (well, certainly I) were surprised at the car's ability on ABDC's spectrum of roads and disciplines.

As you'll read elsewhere, the Carrera 2 was almost two seconds a lap faster at Baskerville Raceway than the best of the other 12 cars in this year's event. On the road the difference was not as black and white. In the tightest of battles, it just edged out the emergent BMW M2.

The Porsche's appeal was present across the spectrum of judges, from relative tenderfoots, right the way through to our hardened racers.

"Porsche has nailed it," Tim Britten announced.

"Believe the hype," Andrea Matthews stated.

"So many things are done to perfection," Nadine Armstrong enthused.

And it's a measure of the 911's competence that the hardest markers of vehicle dynamics were equally effusive.

"It's all about the touch points – superbly communicative," said Bruce Newton.

"[A] magic car with limits far beyond what you should reach on an open road," exclaimed Greg Crick.

"Consistently industry-leading in every aspect," stated Luke Youlden.

The 911 Carrera S drew consistent praise for basics such as pedal placement and the operation and feel of its seven-speed manual gearbox. The communicative nature of its steering (surely the benchmark for electrically-assisted systems worldwide) was commended by almost every judge, as was its combination of handling and ride – even on 20-inch wheels and tyres.

Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) adaptive damping is now standard on the Aussie-spec Carrera and Carrera S. It was previously a $3000-plus option and on some of the bumpier roads we traversed, the ability to 'tone' down the suspension from full Sport mode was a real bonus.

The 911 will never be described as limo-like but when compared to vehicles of equal grip (on the track Luke was able to generate over 1.7g in lateral acceleration!), its poise is remarkable.

"Intensely involving" was the way Marton Pettendy described its dynamics.

"Precise. Predictable. And with power everywhere," Matt Brogan summarised.

"I'm in serious love," was the protestation of Greg 'Snag' Leech.

Even in the face of this high praise for chassis and suspension tune, a large part of the credit for the engaging nature of the Carrera S must go to the lusty, seamless muscularity of the all-new twin-turbo flat six that makes its debut in this generation of 911.

"The engine is incredible. The sound... The response," Feanngio (Feann Torr) wrote in his dissertation.

This time, in a first for 'standard' 911s, the Carrera is force-fed – another step-change in the continual evolution of the world's most desirable everyday sports car. The engines have been shrunk to 3.0 litres (Carrera and Carrera S are the same) and redesigned with two turbos and their intercooling paraphernalia.

The resulting weight increase (limited to around 20kg model for model) is a triumph of the same sort of 'gram strategy' weight-reduction strategy Mazda made famous with its MX-5.

The engines are also more fuel efficient than before. The 16.36L/100km average across our week-long thrash is almost double the gazetted official combined figure of 8.7L/100km, but seven other participants used more.

Anyway, the real triumph of Porsche's turbocharging team is that the engine maintains a significant part of the signature sound and feel of its atmo forebears. In many ways, it presents to the driver just like the superseded 3.8-litre atmo engine with a dollop of extra torque. A big dollop! Only some turbo whistle at lower revs gives the game away.

At 309kW/500Nm, the Carrera S isn't on the ABDC podium in terms of outright power, nor torque. But at 1440kg it's as much as 400kg lighter than the heaviest car in this year's fleet. Eight of the other 12 cars are heavier!

All of this praise is tempered to some degree by the fact the Porsche is also the most expensive car here. Excellence might be expected, but it doesn't come cheap Down Under.

At $252,800 (as tested, plus on-road costs), the 911 Carrera S actually broke the boundary of our ABDC eligibility rules. Initially, we requested a standard Carrera but Porsche was unable to supply it – so we bent them (a little)…

I might get shot down in flames, but I'm confident that $30K-plus cheaper 272kW/450Nm 911 Carrera would have been just as well received.

2016 Porsche 911 Carrera S pricing and specifications:
Price: $252,800 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat petrol six
Output: 309kW/500Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed manual
Fuel: 8.7/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 199g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A

motoring.com.au’s 2016 Australia’s Best Driver’s Car

>> Get the full story of Australia's Best Driver's Car here