http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/RoadTestsHistory/Porsche-911-3.6-Carrera/234424/
No car today has benefited from such consistent and dogged improvement as the Porsche 911. It is nearly four years since the latest 997 iteration emerged, and although still a hugely competitive car with few direct challengers, these latest improvements amount to more than light titivation.
But that's what you might initially think; only LED running lights, larger front air intakes, redesigned door mirrors, bi-xenon headlamps and new wheel designs identify the exterior of this latest iteration.
The big change lies beneath the bootlid, where a new direct-injection flat six delivers sharper performance and usefully improved economy.
Carbon dioxide emissions fall too, as Porsche tackles one of the biggest challenges facing it today (its model range is nowhere near the 130g/km CO2 corporate fleet average demanded by the EU for 2012).
There are detail improvements besides, but the other big news is the availability of a seven-speed double-clutch transmission in place of the five-speed Tiptronic; it's this model we test here.
This latest 911 is a mid-life evolution of the 997 series launched in 2004. Unrelenting development has been the key to the 911's success; it's a major reason why this 45-year-old design continues to be such a successful sports car.
It might have gained a reputation as the favoured mount of the newly monied, but this is a car with more engineering substance than virtually any other.
Order your Carrera with the PDK transmission (for Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, or dual-clutch gearbox) and you get a 911 with an almost entirely new driveline.
Not only is this seven-speed transmission new but the flat six is too, an extensive redesign introducing direct injection. The '09 911's brakes are improved too, but the rest of its mechanicals are unchanged.
Direct injection brings performance, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions improvements, power rising to 341bhp from the previous 321bhp, while torque increases by 20lb ft. CO2 output falls by 15 per cent to 225g/km, while fuel consumption drops by more than six per cent for the manual and 12.5 per cent for the PDK version.
The paddle-shift 'box scores a bigger improvement with its seventh speed and because of its greater mechanical efficiency.
That 25 years have passed since Porsche first used a double-clutch gearbox in the 956 and 962 racers is down to the non-availability of software advanced enough for a road car, says Weissach, and the challenge of engineering a compact, light 'box that's up to the torque.
This can be enhanced with the Sport Chrono package (good value at £729 on PDK versions), which not only includes launch control but also Sport and Sport Plus settings that provide more urgent gearshifts as well as firming up the Porsche Active Suspension Management (a £1030 option on the Carrera), although this can be overridden.
The transmission is adaptive, harvesting vehicle speed, engine speed, throttle movement and longitudinal and lateral acceleration data, as well as deducing the road's profile to influence its self-shifting strategy.
In Sport the gearshift times are shortened, downshifts occur more readily under braking and it kicks down more eagerly. In Sport Plus, suggested only for track use, its responses are further sharpened and seventh gear closed off.
This car is hugely fast, but the real surprise is the performance you get for the pound, particularly with the Sport Chrono pack, which provides launch control.
This allows a 0-60mph rip in 4.4sec, 100mph in 10.4sec and a claimed 178mph "" enough performance to outsprint the more powerful Aston Vantage V8 and Audi R8.
It's a shame, though, that the engine's distinctive sound has almost disappeared below 4000rpm. Quite often its music will be swamped by road noise, which was a real issue in the test car fitted with stiffer PASM sports suspension.
The PDK transmission, however, is mostly superb. Its gearchanges are often best detected by glancing at the gear indicator, its subtle throttle blips serving seamless downchanges.
But you can catch it out. Launching from a junction at which you have just stopped can induce a pause, and re-applying the throttle when the transmission's brain must choose a ratio can do the same. But the PDK's intuition is generally excellent.
Porsche has made few changes to the 911's chassis beyond upgrading the brakes and further refining the optional PASM for a smoother ride.
The further uprated PASM sports suspension is an option to be avoided, the 20mm reduction in ride height and bigger wheels stiffening the car to the extent that it skittered across the top of a tight, badly surfaced corner. The standard set-up is vastly better.
But the steering certainly scores for not being over-sensitive at high speeds; the larger, more measured inputs you must make produce deeply entertaining interaction when the pace is hard and the road demanding.
The PDK transmission's user-friendliness makes it easier to concentrate on the niceties of 911 handling, besides making the 911 a quicker car.
Whether you'll miss a clutch pedal only you can decide, but this is a far better transmission than Tiptronic ever was, and the best dual-clutch 'box to date.
This time around the 911's cabin has received little attention, and in places the lack of development is starting to show. The dashboard is not the most elegant structure, but more disappointing are the fake aluminium door handles and steering wheel spokes.
The eccentric markings of the 200mph speedo fail to highlight the UK-critical speeds of 30, 60 and 70mph, making the additional digital speedo vital, and the plastic used for much of the centre console is sub-standard.
The Sport Chrono pack's Sport buttons, designed to line up with the transmission stick in manual, are consequently further away too. Porsche's insistence on a paddle-shift logic consistent with the old Tiptronic gearbox means that both can be used for up and downshifts, running counter to the "˜left for down, right for up' used by everyone else, and the transmission lever functions in the opposite sense too.
But so many essentials are right. The driving position is excellent, visibility good and the car less intimidating than many because it's smaller.
The upgraded infotainment system is clear and intuitive to use too. Less impressive were the squeaks and creaks from the cabin of one of a pair of test cars we tried.
This car is excellent value. It is also legendarily tough "" creaks and squeaks notwithstanding "" and holds its value fairly well. Many option prices, including the £2338 for the PDK transmission and the £729 for the Sport Chrono/launch control pack, are strong value too.
Servicing costs are slightly reduced (intervals are at 18,600 miles or two years) and oil consumption is down; in combination with strong economy for a car so potent, these factors make 911 ownership less pricey than it might be.
Equipped with sports suspension, the 911 gets only three and a half stars, its general excellence seriously undermined by a crashing ride and sometimes thunderous road noise.
With the standard suspension it's much better, even if road roar remains too intrusive. Some areas of cabin quality are below par, but the new PDK gearbox is excellent, spoiled only by the peculiarities of its paddle layout. It very rarely falls short of a swift response and shows commendable versatility in its shift strategy when combined with the Sport Chrono pack.
Then there's the excellence of the direct-injection flat six. It may lack aural drama, but its sharper throttle and heightened efficiency combine with the PDK transmission to produce remarkable economy. This is a usefully better 911, at last with a two-pedal transmission worthy of the rest of the car.
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No car today has benefited from such consistent and dogged improvement as the Porsche 911. It is nearly four years since the latest 997 iteration emerged, and although still a hugely competitive car with few direct challengers, these latest improvements amount to more than light titivation.
But that's what you might initially think; only LED running lights, larger front air intakes, redesigned door mirrors, bi-xenon headlamps and new wheel designs identify the exterior of this latest iteration.
The big change lies beneath the bootlid, where a new direct-injection flat six delivers sharper performance and usefully improved economy.
Carbon dioxide emissions fall too, as Porsche tackles one of the biggest challenges facing it today (its model range is nowhere near the 130g/km CO2 corporate fleet average demanded by the EU for 2012).
There are detail improvements besides, but the other big news is the availability of a seven-speed double-clutch transmission in place of the five-speed Tiptronic; it's this model we test here.
This latest 911 is a mid-life evolution of the 997 series launched in 2004. Unrelenting development has been the key to the 911's success; it's a major reason why this 45-year-old design continues to be such a successful sports car.
It might have gained a reputation as the favoured mount of the newly monied, but this is a car with more engineering substance than virtually any other.
Order your Carrera with the PDK transmission (for Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, or dual-clutch gearbox) and you get a 911 with an almost entirely new driveline.
Not only is this seven-speed transmission new but the flat six is too, an extensive redesign introducing direct injection. The '09 911's brakes are improved too, but the rest of its mechanicals are unchanged.
Direct injection brings performance, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions improvements, power rising to 341bhp from the previous 321bhp, while torque increases by 20lb ft. CO2 output falls by 15 per cent to 225g/km, while fuel consumption drops by more than six per cent for the manual and 12.5 per cent for the PDK version.
The paddle-shift 'box scores a bigger improvement with its seventh speed and because of its greater mechanical efficiency.
That 25 years have passed since Porsche first used a double-clutch gearbox in the 956 and 962 racers is down to the non-availability of software advanced enough for a road car, says Weissach, and the challenge of engineering a compact, light 'box that's up to the torque.
This can be enhanced with the Sport Chrono package (good value at £729 on PDK versions), which not only includes launch control but also Sport and Sport Plus settings that provide more urgent gearshifts as well as firming up the Porsche Active Suspension Management (a £1030 option on the Carrera), although this can be overridden.
The transmission is adaptive, harvesting vehicle speed, engine speed, throttle movement and longitudinal and lateral acceleration data, as well as deducing the road's profile to influence its self-shifting strategy.
In Sport the gearshift times are shortened, downshifts occur more readily under braking and it kicks down more eagerly. In Sport Plus, suggested only for track use, its responses are further sharpened and seventh gear closed off.
This car is hugely fast, but the real surprise is the performance you get for the pound, particularly with the Sport Chrono pack, which provides launch control.
This allows a 0-60mph rip in 4.4sec, 100mph in 10.4sec and a claimed 178mph "" enough performance to outsprint the more powerful Aston Vantage V8 and Audi R8.
It's a shame, though, that the engine's distinctive sound has almost disappeared below 4000rpm. Quite often its music will be swamped by road noise, which was a real issue in the test car fitted with stiffer PASM sports suspension.
The PDK transmission, however, is mostly superb. Its gearchanges are often best detected by glancing at the gear indicator, its subtle throttle blips serving seamless downchanges.
But you can catch it out. Launching from a junction at which you have just stopped can induce a pause, and re-applying the throttle when the transmission's brain must choose a ratio can do the same. But the PDK's intuition is generally excellent.
Porsche has made few changes to the 911's chassis beyond upgrading the brakes and further refining the optional PASM for a smoother ride.
The further uprated PASM sports suspension is an option to be avoided, the 20mm reduction in ride height and bigger wheels stiffening the car to the extent that it skittered across the top of a tight, badly surfaced corner. The standard set-up is vastly better.
But the steering certainly scores for not being over-sensitive at high speeds; the larger, more measured inputs you must make produce deeply entertaining interaction when the pace is hard and the road demanding.
The PDK transmission's user-friendliness makes it easier to concentrate on the niceties of 911 handling, besides making the 911 a quicker car.
Whether you'll miss a clutch pedal only you can decide, but this is a far better transmission than Tiptronic ever was, and the best dual-clutch 'box to date.
This time around the 911's cabin has received little attention, and in places the lack of development is starting to show. The dashboard is not the most elegant structure, but more disappointing are the fake aluminium door handles and steering wheel spokes.
The eccentric markings of the 200mph speedo fail to highlight the UK-critical speeds of 30, 60 and 70mph, making the additional digital speedo vital, and the plastic used for much of the centre console is sub-standard.
The Sport Chrono pack's Sport buttons, designed to line up with the transmission stick in manual, are consequently further away too. Porsche's insistence on a paddle-shift logic consistent with the old Tiptronic gearbox means that both can be used for up and downshifts, running counter to the "˜left for down, right for up' used by everyone else, and the transmission lever functions in the opposite sense too.
But so many essentials are right. The driving position is excellent, visibility good and the car less intimidating than many because it's smaller.
The upgraded infotainment system is clear and intuitive to use too. Less impressive were the squeaks and creaks from the cabin of one of a pair of test cars we tried.
This car is excellent value. It is also legendarily tough "" creaks and squeaks notwithstanding "" and holds its value fairly well. Many option prices, including the £2338 for the PDK transmission and the £729 for the Sport Chrono/launch control pack, are strong value too.
Servicing costs are slightly reduced (intervals are at 18,600 miles or two years) and oil consumption is down; in combination with strong economy for a car so potent, these factors make 911 ownership less pricey than it might be.
Equipped with sports suspension, the 911 gets only three and a half stars, its general excellence seriously undermined by a crashing ride and sometimes thunderous road noise.
With the standard suspension it's much better, even if road roar remains too intrusive. Some areas of cabin quality are below par, but the new PDK gearbox is excellent, spoiled only by the peculiarities of its paddle layout. It very rarely falls short of a swift response and shows commendable versatility in its shift strategy when combined with the Sport Chrono pack.
Then there's the excellence of the direct-injection flat six. It may lack aural drama, but its sharper throttle and heightened efficiency combine with the PDK transmission to produce remarkable economy. This is a usefully better 911, at last with a two-pedal transmission worthy of the rest of the car.
