Porsche 911 Carrera S 2019 Review

Every time I jump behind the wheel of the latest Porsche 911 I think “this is it: this is the pinnacle of sports car engineering. They’ll never top this”.

Then with each new generation of 911, I’m proven wrong.

Porsche just keeps making the 911 better. I don’t know how they manage it and I don’t really know how the previous model deserves to be superseded. But with each sparkling new model that arrives, the 911 formula surely and steadily improves.

All the while the Porsche 911 somehow stays true to its essence. The blueprint adheres to the 911 we’ve come to understand and love. There’s a familiarity; a level of trust; an understanding the Porsche 911 imparts that’s hard to explain – and even harder for rivals to replicate.

It’s a magic that seems to seep from the walls of Porsche’s Stuttgart headquarters and find its way into each and every 911 produced. You feel it from the moment you turn the key, and it stays with you long after you’ve handed that key back.

Reviewing the latest Porsche 911 is always a bitter-sweet assignment. I love driving it, I love the experience and, frankly, I love the car. But I’m always doubtful that my humble opinion can do this engineering masterpiece the justice it deserves.

Simply, there’s more to the 911 than can be imparted on any page... At least without it coming off as hard-core hyperbole. But endure I must!

The ‘Guards Red’ 911 Carrera S tested here combines Porsche’s revised 331kW/530Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbo boxer six with a new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that must be driven to be believed. The driveline is smoother than many automatics on the market with throttle response that’s borderline telepathic.

Around town and at cruising speeds the Porsche 911 Carrera S is effortless. It’s calm, gentle and easy to live with. It disguises its hard-charging temperament with such graceful ease that you’re initially deceived of the urgency of which the 911 is capable. Flex your right foot and it’s all turned on its head.

There’s no build-up, no waiting. It’s as if I’ve somehow inserted myself in a slingshot mid-pull, my brain grappling to catch up. Acceleration is instantaneous, the soundtrack tingling, and the results of my speed-date with the throttle are quickly placing my licence at risk of suspension. If a 3.6sec dash to 100km/h seems fast, I can assure you, it is.

Porsche really wants motoring hacks like me to experience the 911 as an owner would. For that reason, you’ll rarely see a 911 on these pages that isn’t fitted with a multitude of options. But there’s a few among the list I’d really recommend.

Driving the 911 Carrera S with the optional $6750 Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control Sport (PDCC Sport) and $4730 rear-axle steering system disengaged might serve to highlight just how good the chassis is in its natural state. But flick the switch, and drive the same road over, and you really do wonder how (or why) you railed your way to the end without it.

The purity – and sheer immensity – of mechanical grip on offer from the 911’s buxom rear-end is simply astounding. With Wet Mode engaged , and on waterlogged roads covered in a minefield of post-storm tree litter, the Porsche 911 Carrera S refused to surrender its line... Well, unless provoked.

Accuracy and precision are words I often bandy about in describing chassis dynamics, but they’re reset, or at least heavily recalibrated, with each generation of 911.

In step with Porsche’s $1980, 10mm lower Active Suspension Management – set mostly in Normal for wet conditions – I’m able to precisely place the $2400 20/21-inch Carrera Classic wheels within millimetres of my intended course. The 911 responds with devout obedience; and the mischief in my right foot swells.

Braking is equally impressive. The left pedal is fluid in its modulation, allowing exacting levels of pressure to the athletic, cross-drilled stoppers. It bestows the 911 Carrera S with a degree of engagement I tip would feel as involving on the track as it is on the road.

If the engine and chassis performance of the new Porsche 911 Carrera S is matched by anything, it’s the fit and finish of the heavily revised and tech-laden interior.

That familiarity I spoke of earlier notwithstanding, the 911’s cockpit is a more advance control centre than it ever was; which depending on your viewpoint can beget mixed emotions.

Many of the hard-button controls of the former 911 are replaced with touch-screen prompts for the 992-series. It can mean accessing settings is more difficult on the go, but on the other hand relieves the centre console of its pedantry. I guess it’s a matter of ‘horses for courses’. Personally, I preferred the buttons.

The use of broad and luminous screens in lieu of the former model’s inset monitors is simultaneously striking and overwhelming. There is at times more data than one’s eye can interpret at a glance, which delays their gaze from the road ahead significantly.

It’s an issue of acquaintance, I’m sure. But one I don’t know will grow on me anytime soon.

Similarly, the view of the instrument panel’s outboard ‘modules’ is hindered by the $580 GT Sport leather steering wheel, which despite a wonderful level of adjustment never quite seems to sit right.

I’d also have preferred an Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel in place of the leather, and the $2440 Alcantara roof lining is an extravagance far better served elsewhere, in my humble opinion.

The headlining is just one of the options I think I’d forego. The $3750 carbon-fibre interior package seems also like overkill, so too the $2180 ParkAssist system and Surround View monitor.

The $6100 LED Porsche Dynamic Lighting System didn’t really impress me, either, while I’d take or leave the $4730 sunroof, $4890 Sports Chrono Package, and $8350 Sport-Tex Trim.

It’s money better saved for the soulful $5480 black-tipped Sports Exhaust, $2130 Adaptive Sports Seats, $1160 privacy glass and $930 ‘Guards Red’ seatbelts if you ask me…

The beauty of the Porsche 911 option list is that you can truly build a car bespoke to your own wants and needs. While not all of the technologies and extras fitted to the test car suited my tastes, I can’t fault the operation of any of it. So the ‘cons’ expressed here are mere preferences in a car that’s so close to perfection it really is hard to fault.

Sure, the new, squarer styling of the front-end isn’t to every taste, and the TicTac box gearshift is a little naff. But in its truest sense – as a car made for drivers and to be driven – the 2019 Porsche 911 Carrera S is an absolute marvel.

Somehow, Porsche has weaved its magic yet again. The march of progress has taken hold of the 911 and made it a better car than it’s ever been.

There’s a reason the 911 continues to be the benchmark in its segment; and I can assure you, it isn’t just to prove me wrong.

How much does the 2019 Porsche 911 Carrera S cost?
Price: $265,000 (plus on-road costs); $323,580 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre flat six-cylinder twin-turbo petrol
Output:331kW/530Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 9.5L/100km (ADR Combined); 11.1L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 216g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A