Porsche 911 Carrera S and 4S 2019 Review – International

Porsche's 911 is a standard bearer for its marque, its country and the concept that expert engineering conquers all. Its storied rear-engine configuration shouldn't work half as well as it does– and yet for the vast majority of its 56-year history, the 911 has been lauded as one of the world's pinnacle sports cars.

In this, its eighth generation, the new 992 Series is only set to enhance the legend that is the Porsche 911. Although the new variant is bigger and more luxurious than ever before (and could therefore be seen by some as more of a Gran Turismo than a pure sports car), it is still amazingly capable – on road and on the track.

Launched in rear-drive Carrera S and all-wheel-drive Carrera 4S form, the competence and potential of the new 992 Series chassis and mechanicals are only being hinted at by the new car's ability to shave fully 5sec off Porsche's own benchmark – the car's Nurburgring lap time.

Just when other manufacturers suggest they are matching the Porsche 911's capabilities (we're looking at you Aston) with its like-priced entry models, Zuffenhausen has moved the goal posts. Again...

The detractors of the 2019 Porsche 911 Carrera S and 4S will play down the changes between the outgoing 991 Series and this new 992. In reality, while the silhouette may be familiar and familial, the changes to the eighth generation of Porsche's benchmark sports car are manifest.

We published a pre-launch ride along before, and a detailed overview of the new Porsche 911, after, its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show late last year. Without duplicating things chapter and verse, suffice it to say, the new 992 Series 911 is a larger car that sits on a wider footprint and ushers in not only new external styling details, but a whole new interior concept. It also features a significantly updated turbo powertrain.

This series also dispenses with the 'narrow' body that has traditionally been used in rear-drive Carreras. Instead, the Carrera and the all-wheel drive Carrera 4 now share the same wider (44mm approx) body-in-white.

In terms of footprint, the new car approaches the dimensions and square, hunkered down stance of the current 911 GT3 series.

In this new generation, Porsche has upgraded almost every aspect of the car, in its careful, considered, evolutionary way. And even though arguably the Carrera S and 4S are the most pedestrian of the 911 models (a non-S Carrera will arrive later this year but won't be significantly dumbed down), Porsche has seen fit to grab concepts from its own motorsport halls to optimize the car's behaviour.

Witness the one-inch larger diameter and wider rear wheels and staggered tyres (front 20 x 8.5 with 245/35 ZR tyres; rear 21 x 11.5 with 305/30 ZRs), a tweak straight from the Carrera Cup and GT3 'playbook' and intended to deliver more linear handling characteristics and settle the dynamic balance of the car.

And this is but one example of the fine detail that has taken place in the step-change from 991 to 992. Other technologies include a new version of Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), which features electronically adjustable dampers that can alter both rebound and compression settings in milliseconds to deliver precise control and at the same time a real-world ride that is now standard setting in the sports car world.

At the core of the 2019 Porsche 911 Carrera S and 4S is a new body. And with the exception of the composite front and rear 'bars' and steel valances, all of the new Porsche 911 Carrera S and 4S external panels are now aluminium.

Indeed, Porsche says the proportion of steel used in the new 'MMB' platform has shrunk from over 60% to just over 30.

There's more use of aluminium cast sections and detailed changes such as the dumping of a separate engine cradle – instead, the active engine mounts now bolt directly to the rear chassis rails. What steel there is in MMB is largely limited to ultra-high tensile sections used for crash structures.

The end result is the new body-in-white is around 12kg lighter than the 991.2 and yet is stronger and stiffer. The overall weight is all but unchanged; Porsche says the turbo Carrera S comes in at 1515kg, 50kg lighter than the all-wheel drive 4S.

Aside from length (+20mm), key dimensions are also essentially unchanged. The wheelbase is carried over but there's a useful extra 12mm of headroom for front passengers (the driver's seat has been dropped 5mm). An extra 8mm of headroom in the rear will benefit few – the 911's rear seats are still only for very short people and/or short trips.

The wider body is shrink-wrapped over the significantly wider front track (+45mmm, close to the same as the current GT3) and the front hood gets an indentation that's straight from the playbook of the 1970s vintage G Series 911s. It's retro but not grating.

Although thoroughly modern all-LED units (smart 84-element LED Matrix headlights are optional), the 992's headlamps are more vertical in orientation and, in concert, mean the traditional 911 gunbarrel front fenders have made somewhat of a return.

The side sections of the new 992 Series 911 Carrera S and 4S are deliberately simple, with only the new pop-up door handles and refined side mirror designs breaking the flow.

At the rear, there's a less cluttered full-width LED light bar and a haunch-to-haunch pop-up spoiler that deploys in a range of performance and speed-related scenarios. Given its size, it cleverly incorporates an auxiliary central brake light.

Vertical engine-cover slats significantly alter the look of the rear of the 911 and are perhaps one of my few quibbles. I'm not a fan. They are colour coded: black for the Carrera S and silver for the all-wheel drive 4S.

Incongruously, the optional sports exhaust fitted to the launch cars has just two oversized outlets. The standard 2019 911 Carrera S' exhaust features quad tips.

What's different about the driveline of 2019 Porsche 911 Carrera S and 4S?
Although the 2019 Porsche 911 Carrera S and 4S builds on the turbocharged goodness introduced in the 991 Series 2, there are also significant changes to the engine and gearbox.

The core engine (and bore and stroke, etc), is essentially carried over but the changes in this new generation include new pistons, larger 'handed' turbochargers, a revised and relocated intercooler set-up, a new asymmetric ignition valve lift strategy and high-precision piezo fuel injectors – the first time such tech has been used on a 911.

The asymmetric valve lift system boosts swirl and mixing in the cylinder. Instead of the two inlet valves each lifting 3.6mm, one opens just 2mm and the other 4.5mm. Combined with the new injectors, which can fire off up to five squirts of fuel per cycle, combustion is optimised and emissions reduced.

The next result of all the changes is more power (331kW, +22), more torque (530Nm, +30Nm), albeit in an ever so slightly narrowed rev range, and lower fuel consumption.

Also new to the turbo powertrain is the use of petrol particulate filters, another factor in future-proofing the engine for most anticipated emission rule changes.

The other key change is the PDK dual-clutch gearbox which now packs in eight gears and room within its casing for the addition of a disc-shaped electric motor in eventual hybrid versions of the 911.

The gear set is all-new and effectively packs an extra ratio into the same spread as offered by the outgoing seven-speed PDK. To match the new ratios and the increased rolling diameter of the 21-inch rear wheels, the final drive (diff) ratio has been shortened (numerically increased).

Later in 2019, Porsche says it will reintroduce the no-cost option of a seven-speed manual gearbox.

The 4S' all-wheel drive system has also been updated for the 992 series with the front differential and clutch-pack both water-cooled. This system can transfer up to 50 per cent of available torque to the front wheels.

Inside, Porsche has also gone back to the future with the design of the new 992 Series 911 Carrera S. There's a much more horizontal orientation to the new cockpit and the classic five-dial cluster spans more than the width of the steering wheel – as was the case with early 911s.

Only the central tacho is analog. It includes a digital speedo. The flanking gauges are virtual and can be configured by the driver. In the centre of the dash is a large (10.9-inch) horizontally orientated infotainment touchscreen reminiscent of the Panamera and Cayenne.

A binnacle cowling runs over the big tacho and across much of the width of the dash and the design is punctuated with a lower 'ledge' a la the G Series cars.

There are multiple customisation options in terms of brightwork, inlay and finishes but the practical benefit of the ledge is that it's easy to rest your hand there while using the touchscreen functionality of the central screen. It also ideally sites your digits for the bank of five hard buttons located in the centre of the car which are dedicated to key chassis functions. It works well – even at speed on rougher roads.

The 992 Series features a simpler steering wheel design with revised drive mode dial, multi-function buttons and simple, tactile metallic gearshift paddles. The lower console and stubby gearlever are drawn from the look, feel and execution of the 918 Spider.

Porsche announced the pricing for the 2019 Porsche 911 Carrera S and 4S to correspond with the car's unveiling and no surprise it's gone up. If there's one thing that Porsche knows how to do it's extract dollars from the faithful Down Under.

In this case the difference is not huge – about $4K taking into account the PDK twin-clutch gearbox is now standard equipment.

There have been some other useful additions to standard equipment, not the least of which is the addition of a camera-based autonomous emergency braking system as standard.

You'll still have to pay extra for adaptive cruise control and the even more capable radar-based AEB that is part of the upgrade, however. Given that the new Porsche 911 Carrera S is $265,000 in Australia, this sort of equipment should be standard fit.

Comfort electrically-adjusted heated front seats are standard with a host of sport and other upgrades available at extra costs, including seat cooling.

Rear wiper, keyless access and start, front and rear parking assistance with rear camera are also now standard (a 360-degree round-view monitor is optional) as is speed sign recognition and lane change assist.

The latest Porsche Communication Management infotainment system with CarPlay compatibility, BOSE DAB+ audio and connected services is also standard on the 992 Series 911 Carrera S and 4S in Australia.

Sport Chrono with its launch control and other functions (including Porsche's new Track Precision track data app) is still an option across the 992 Series 911 Carrera S and 4S.

You won't however need to option up Sport Chrono to get the 992's newest feature, something Porsche is claiming is a global first – Wet Mode.

By way of (simplest) explanation, the systems uses acoustic sensors in the front wheel wells to detect whether the road is wet and advises the driver to select Wet Mode via a console button (or the steering wheel dial on Sport Chrono equipped cars). The system then manages multiple vehicle attributes such as throttle mapping, stability control and torque vectoring, gearbox and the antilock braking system, even the angle of the pop-up rear spoiler, to maximise the 911's wet road performance/safety balance.

A brief demo on a watered kart track soon showed us the efficacy of the system. It seems anything but a gimmick.

Save for a quick, essentially straight-line, freeway blast in a 4S, all of our serious behind-the-wheel-time was in the 911 Carrera S (rear-wheel drive). For the record, that translates to around 140km of a selection of well surfaced Spanish roads, the kart track Wet Mode shenanigans (see above) and some halfway quick laps on the 4.0km Circuito Ricardo Tormo near Valencia in Spain.

The cars we drove were all fitted with sports exhaust and the 10mm lower sports suspension option. But even considering that, and the relatively short period in charge of the new 992 Series 911 Carrera S, I'm convinced that Porsche has again moved the 911 story on.

Okay, so I've been smitten by 911s before, but only the most anti-Porsche commentator could find much to fault with this car. The wider tracks front and rear possess the car of serious levels of grip on the track and the new adaptive dampers make it better than ever in terms of ride and handling balance in the real world.

A new, quicker rack takes what was already standard-setting electric power steering to a new level of feel and precision – all-important given 911s require sensitivity to front-wheel grip to be driven at their best.

Meanwhile, the new turbocharged engine delivers serious torque, seemingly from idle, yet remains essentially true to the aural signature that is so much of the 911 legend. Best of all, the engine revs with alacrity to 7500 – quite un-turbo-like revs.

And for the turbo fans, there's even a little bit of whoosh and pop-off flutter on the road when you're really pressing on (the new wastegate is electrically operated). Delicious.

Although the new car is appreciably wider than the previous rear-drive Carreras, the more pronounced 'gunbarrels' up front give the driver a reference to better place the car – important on our test route where the road was a times very narrow with the choice of cliff face or precipitous drop left and right.

The new bonnet design with its inset delivers a touch of the G series 911 through the screen. In the sculptured side mirrors, the wider 'hippier' rear is a pleasant framing of the view.

The 992 is clearly a bigger car than it was just a generation or two ago, but Porsche has managed to retain the feel and good sight lines that you expect of a 911. And unlike some other sports cars, the new 992 series Porsche 911 Carrera S delivers the cabin width, seat travel and headroom that larger drivers need.

On the track, the Carrera S was simply stunning. There are amazing levels of lateral grip and in Sport Plus mode the chassis set-up, gearbox and traction/stability control systems all work to flatter the driver. On my first flying lap of a track I'd never seen before, I was up to pace with a smile a mile wide.

Brakes, always a strong point of the 911, are sensational – even in their standard 'steel' fitment. Optional PCCB ceramics are not necessary. Long-term buyers can however comfort themselves that while an expensive option, effectively, they will last the life of the car.

On our track laps we were led by a 911 GT3 RS, which while faster, wasn't totally a league apart from the new Carrera S. I can only imagine how effective the GT cars of this generation of 911s will be.

The new Carrera S is a car that with launch control enabled can sprint 0-100km/h in 3.5sec, and to double that in just 12.1. Its top speed is 308km/h and as noted above, it's faster around the Ring than 911 GT3s were just a few years ago. And yet it's more comfortable than ever and will happily cope with the day-to-day traffic travails as ably as a mid-sized hatch.

So, is this just another 911?

Yes, it is... And perhaps there's no higher praise...