Porsche's newest 911 variant is just like the rest–only better.
Keeping track of Porsche's current crop of 911 variants, now 19-strong, is like plotting the Duggar family tree, so allow us a quick cheat sheet on the latest iteration, the Carrera GTS.
Like the first GTS-badged 911, which debuted in 2011, this new model is essentially a greatest-hits compilation of performance and luxury options at bargain-bin prices. The playlist includes an uprated version of the 3.8-liter flat-6 engine packing 30 extra horses, dynamic engine mounts and a bellowing sport exhaust courtesy of the Sport Chrono pack, the Porsche Active Suspension Management electronic damping system, and an interior swathed in leather and Alcantara.
The four available GTS iterations include rear- and all-wheel-drive options for coupe and cabriolet body styles, although the rear-drive GTS gets the wider, flared-fender body from the Carrera 4. Porsche aficionados will discern the GTS via its lower track, wider stance, and a bunch of sinister details like gloss black, 20-inch center-lock wheels; blacked-out adaptive bixenon headlights; and a custom rear apron with black tailpipes.
In any configuration, the GTS is offered with either a seven-speed manual (hallelujah!) or seven-speed dual-clutch PDK transmission. Top speed for the rear-drive/manual is 190 mph, while the fastest sprint to 60 mph, at 3.8 seconds, comes from the all-wheel-drive coupe with PDK. Unlike the last-generation 911 GTS, this one doesn't signal the end of the chassis run, but like that car, it is a financial bonanza. Ranging from $115,595 for a coupe to $127,095 for a cabriolet (all-wheel drive adds $6700), the GTS is always cheaper than an analogous Carrera model with an identical options sheet.
Philosophically, the 911 GTS is meant to strike a balance between the base Carrera S and the berserk, concentrated GT3. On paper, the GTS edges closer to the former, but behind the wheel it seems closer kin to the latter's rabid, high-revving, tremendously engaging nature.
Around the hairy, high-speed Big Willow track at Willow Springs in Rosamond, California—and the twisty, rolling public roads surrounding it—the rear-drive GTS coupe delivered the closest thing to the GT3's preposterous cornering and braking. The additional horsepower over the Carrera S—available above 6300 rpm, at which point a vacuum flap opens the second intake tract for better breathing—helps transform even the longest straight into a rearview memory.
And now, a very uncomfortable disclaimer: We should all love the automatic PDK transmission. Porsche's dual-clutch option is so good, so fast, so omnipotent, and so exceeds the capabilities of even the most skilled human, it's hard to argue against it. In short, the PDK is brilliant. Thankfully, the manual shifter is likewise excellent, with intuitive, assured throws, and great feel in the hand. But if you're the type of guy with a crappy, slow, straight commute and definite plans to head to the track on the weekends, you would be doing yourself a disservice to ignore the automatic transmission. It's a hard cast, voting for the machines, but there you go.
Then again, Porsche's clear goal is to create a 911 variant that appeals, individually, to every driving human everywhere in the world. Now that Porsche is stocking a cash-saving version—manual or automatic, rear- or all-wheel drive, coupe or cabriolet—that delivers a superlative driving experience by any definition, the cheat sheet just got shorter. In other words: Buy one.
Source: www.roadandtrack.com
