Porsche 911 Review

2009 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe

With the exception of a few disparate models scattered over the decades, Porsche has built its fame and fortune on a single rear-engine sports car, the 911. From rather humble beginnings, the Porsche 911 has gone on to be one of the most influential and most recognizable vehicles in the world. Today's version of the car provides stunning levels of performance without sacrificing much in terms of day-to-day usability, and many Porsche purists still consider the 911 the only "real" Porsche.

The history of the Porsche 911 dates back to the 1960s. In 1965, it superseded the 356, Porsche's first production sports car. Like the 356, the 911 had a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. This basic layout can be attributed to Ferdinand Porsche's original design for the VW Beetle (from which the 356 had its mechanical roots) and offered the practical economy-car benefits of tight packaging and enhanced traction.

Alas, what might have worked on a 24-horsepower Bug suddenly became somewhat of a problem on a 160-hp sports car. In short, having that much mass at the rear of the 911 made it susceptible to massive oversteer. There are countless stories of drivers of earlier Porsche 911s entering a turn too hot, intuitively lifting off the throttle and being left hapless as their shiny Porsches pirouetted off into the bushes. Or worse.

Surprisingly, this basic configuration of a horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine driving and hanging over the rear wheels has held true through each one of the 911's 10 generations. Thankfully, Porsche's engineers have been making continual improvements to quell the car's peculiarities while keeping its distinctive attributes of lightness, responsiveness and power. The 911 has also had enormous success as a racecar and spawned many iconic variants, such as the Turbo, Carrera RS and GT3.

For the sports car shopper, a wide choice of drivetrains and body styles through the years means there should be a new or used 911 that fits one's desires. And although other sports cars have been able to outperform the 911 in one area or another, nothing has yet to match Porsche's overall blend of performance, practicality and that endearing connection between car and driver.

Current Porsche 911

There are essentially 15 models available for the current Porsche 911. The most common are the Carrera and Carrera S (both of which are available with all-wheel drive -- indicated by a "4" after the "Carrera"), which are further broken down into regular coupe, convertible Cabriolet and the Targa 4 with its giant glass sunroof. There are also the high-performance offerings, including the sublime GT3, the track-ready GT3 RS, the ferocious Turbo and the ultimate GT2. Each has its own docket of standard equipment, but all 911s have a lengthy optional features list that can elevate the price quickly.

At once refined and visceral, most of the 911 variants are equally comfortable tearing through a twisty road or smoothly dealing with the daily commute. In short, the car offers world-class performance while being more than civilized enough to serve as a daily driver. The high-performance editions are less commuter-friendly, but they offer performance and handling on par with exotic supercars. Yet the "base" 911 Carrera should be more than enough, as that car will blast to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds and hit a top speed approaching 180 mph.

The current 911 is part of the car's 10th generation, which debuted for 2005. This update brought with it a return to the classic 911 face with the headlights and turn signals as separate units. Compared to past models, the current 911 features a wider track for better handling, larger wheels and tires, an available active suspension system and a much improved interior in terms of materials quality, comfort and ergonomics.

Although the present 911 is mostly unchanged since its debut, its full model range was unfurled over time. The Turbo, GT2 and GT3 models produced for '05 actually belonged to the previous generation and went on hiatus until they re-emerged in their present form. The all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 and 4S arrived for '06, while the Targa, GT3, Turbo and limited-edition GT3 RS followed the next year. The GT2 emerged for '08.

Past Porsche 911 Models

The previous (ninth) generation Porsche 911 (1999-2004) marked the first time water cooling was used for the car's flat-six engine. Styling was an evolutionary step, but the front end, especially the lighting clusters, was identical to the Boxster. The switch to water cooling and the Boxster-like nose left many 911 fans irked. There was, however, no dissatisfaction with the increased performance, thanks to a jump to 300 hp (and later, 320) for the standard 911 and a heady 415 hp in the Turbo.

The eighth generation (1995-'98) marked the last of the air-cooled 911s, which were now producing 270 hp. This era also brought a glass-topped targa model and saw the Turbo put out 400 hp and adopt all-wheel drive. For some 911 buffs, these are considered the last "real" 911s. The seventh-generation car (1990-'94) brought smoothly integrated bumpers along with available all-wheel drive and the Tiptronic automatic gearbox. Standard Carreras at this time were pumping out 247 hp, while the Turbo's output ranged from 315-355 hp.

According to consumer feedback in our forums, any one of these Porsche 911s will provide plenty of thrilling performance and should prove to be fairly reliable, though as expected, maintenance is pricey.

SELECT A SPECIFIC PORSCHE 911 MODEL YEAR*

* Edmunds.com maintains vehicle data as far back as 1990.