Porsche 911 Turbo S 2020 Review – International

What we have here is a car that is close to double the price of its ‘base-spec’ Porsche 911 Carrera relative at the other end of the 992 range.

The Porsche 911 Turbo S is pretty much a half-million-dollar machine, whether you go for the circa-$475,000 Coupe as tested here or the showier $495K Cabriolet, both of which arrive here in the third quarter of 2020 (the standard 911 Turbo models will follow in the fourth quarter).

That’s a heck of a lot of money but, as we shall see, you get quite some car for the cash. Turbo S buyers get the usual Porsche 911 layout of a 2+2 cabin, making it relatively practical in an otherwise mid-engined supercar class.

However, it is better to think of the 992’s rear seats as less like chairs that might accommodate real, living human beings, and more like handy extra storage to supplement the meagre 128-litre ‘frunk’ (front trunk) that otherwise serves as the 911’s boot.

There’s a wealth of chassis and engine tech to validate the Porsche 911 Turbo’s lofty price, but it also comes as standard with the 10.9-inch Porsche Communication Management (PCM) infotainment, Matrix LED headlights with Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (PDLS Plus), keyless entry/start, front/rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and a high-end Bose sound system, among more.

As usual with a Porsche, though, a lengthy and costly options list can swell the Turbo’s ticket considerably beyond $475K.

Porsche no longer wants the 911 Turbo S to be the world’s ultimate point-and-shoot automotive weapon; it wants this car to engage its driver in a way no 911 Turbo has before.

To that end, this version’s bulging bodywork hides a rear track that’s 10mm wider than on a regular 992, but more tellingly a front axle that is also 45mm broader, in an effort to negate understeer.

Similarly, the Porsche Traction Management (PTM) all-wheel drive can funnel up to 500Nm to the leading axle, yet it always favours the rear wheels for power delivery.

The Porsche 911 Turbo S runs Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) adjustable dampers and the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) as standard, while the rear axle is equipped with the Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus) limited-slip diff.

The aerodynamics are active, so air intakes can open/close automatically as appropriate, while both a front splitter and that imposing, fixed-looking rear spoiler have elements that extend to reduce lift when the car is in Sport Plus mode.

Brakes are of the Porsche Ceramic Composite (PCCB) variety and the rotors are whopping – 420mm diameter front, 390mm rear.

Those of you sharp at metric-to-imperial conversion and savvy on 911 history will have fathomed that the 992’s 16.5-inch front brake discs are bigger than the 16-inch Fuchs alloys fitted to the 1975 930 Turbo.

Owners can specify more to further sharpen the 992 Turbo S, such as a carbon-fibre roof to lower the car’s centre of gravity and a 10mm-lower Sports Suspension PASM upgrade.

Oh, and grip isn’t a problem either, because its 20-inch front, 21-inch rear alloy wheels are wrapped in enormous 255/35 ZR20 and 315/30 ZR21 tyres, respectively.

So far, only the ultimate ‘S’ derivative of the Porsche 911 Turbo has been launched, with 478kW and 800Nm at its disposal. That leads to a bonkers 0-100km/h time of 2.7 seconds and a searing 0-200km/h run of 8.9 seconds. The top speed is 330km/h.

That the Turbo S’s savagely violent speed translates from crushing on-paper promise into startling real-world delivery shouldn’t be a massive surprise, but even when you’ve girded your loins to open the 911’s taps fully, the first time you experience the devastating hit of its acceleration is genuinely shocking.

There is a modicum of turbo lag, mind. The alpha 992 uses a development of the Carrera’s 3.0-litre flat-six, with the same stroke but an increased bore leading to 3745cc and making a mockery of the 3.8-litre badging.

The usual turbochargers are replaced with two bigger, variable turbine geometry (VTG) blowers, while upgraded intercoolers and piezo injectors permit those colossal output figures.

But, despite the brilliance of the engine tech and the immediacy of both the eight-speed PDK auto and the PTM all-wheel drive, if you ask the 911 for maximum warp at anything below 2200rpm with the gearbox in manual mode, it will (briefly) hesitate as the VTG turbos begin to spool up.

If anything, this momentary delay only makes the ensuing carnage even more enjoyable. Once lit, the way the Turbo S piles on the numbers is brain-frying stuff.

With short, nicely spaced ratios in the transmission and the full torque smashing home at 2500rpm, the Porsche 911 Turbo S is monstrously fast from the mid-range, but it also has that remorseless high-end acceleration that differentiates merely ‘very rapid’ cars from the true supercar elite.

Better yet is the noise. Our car was fitted with Porsche’s optional sports exhaust system, which robs the Turbo S of its trademark rectangular-shaped quad exhaust tips for a couple of meaty oval exits.

Nevertheless, with a rasping bark approaching the 7000rpm limiter and an array of chunters, chuffs and whistles from the turbos when you’re not so high on the tacho, this 911 Turbo sounds epic from idle to redline.

Can the Porsche 911 Turbo S handle well enough to justify that whopping price tag? The short answer to this would involve a lot of emphatic swearing, preceding the word ‘yes’.

The longer exposition is that this is comfortably, by far and away, the greatest 911 Turbo yet built, and a car that should truly make well-heeled Porsche driving enthusiasts think long and hard before sinking their money into a 992 GT3.

The handling of this car is involving in a manner that has always eluded previous 911 Turbos. Yes, there’s a mental security blanket in the form of the 992’s AWD, which means you get on the power sooner in a corner than you probably ought to with 478kW shovelling away at the wrong end of the car, but this singular 911 can handle it.

The majesty is that it doesn’t feel like just any punter could climb into the Turbo S and get the best of it.

There’s a wealth of useful information flowing from the Porsche’s tyres back to its driver, both through the variable-assistance steering and the base of the seat. And while its body control is near-absolute in faster bends – leading to an eerily flat cornering stance – there’s a sensation that if the 992 Turbo S is going to do anything when it breaks traction, it’s going to oversteer first and foremost.

That makes it feel like it is dancing on tiptoes through curves, rather than bludgeoning them to death with the grip of fat rubber and the tenacious traction of PTM.

Furthermore, it is decently comfortable and refined on a cruise, albeit with a bit more tyre roar and a sharper edge to the way it deals with big suspension compressions than you’d experience in a 992 Carrera.

While the Porsche 911 Turbo undoubtedly has always had an intrinsic desirability as a relatively practical yet supercar-humbling land-based missile, it has never reaped the sort of glowing acclaim that its more focused siblings from Porsche’s Motorsport GT division have.

In simplistic terms, posers bought the Turbo; serious drivers chose a GT3.

All that changes with the 992 Turbo S. It is a stunning achievement. It backs up its sensational, steroidal looks and sublime, high-quality cabin with a driving experience that, while not quite second-to-none, is nevertheless a long way from being an ‘also-ran’ in both the 911 lineage and also the wider world of high-performance sports and supercars.

Sure, the 992 GT3 is coming and, if it keeps that 4.0-litre naturally aspirated engine, it will be an almost impossibly hard thing to ignore.

But the magnificent, wide-body Porsche 911 Turbo S is, at last, the car that might just convince you that motorsport influence is not the only way to get your hyper-fast 911 kicks.

How much does the 2020 Porsche 911 Turbo S cost?
Price: $473,900 (plus on-road costs)
Available: September
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo petrol flat six-cylinder
Output: 478kW/800Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 12.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 271g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A