2020 Porsche 911 | Review & Road Test

For the latest Porsche 911 pricing and information:
https://www.kbb.com/porsche/911/

The 992 Porsche 911 is wider than the model it replaced and looks every bit the elite performance icon it is. You don’t need me to tell you how to feel but let's review it anyway.

Inside there’s also plenty to appreciate. Check out these toggles! That tactile interest extends throughout the cabin to the climate control toggles, the drive selector, and the engine start key thingy. All the buttons have a positive, clicky quality. Even the door handles pull with surprising heft.

Skewing pragmatic for a moment, the front trunk provides a cozy 4.6 cu-ft. If that’s not enough, the rear seatbacks fold down creating a cargo floor with convenient stops to inhibit your bags from launching forward travel as you test the brakes. Flipped up those are technically seats. In the spirit of thoroughness, let me test it out.

Sitting up front is a much better idea. Especially with our car’s 18-way sport seats. (Adaptive Sport Seats Plus $3,470) Stellar lumbar support, lateral support is excellent without impeding arm movement.

Interestingly our Carrera S test car only came with 3 options. Besides those sweet seats, the other two are rear-wheel steering for added low-speed agility and improved high-speed stability, plus a sport package that merges a PASM sport suspension (PASM: Porsche Active Suspension Management) and the Sport Chrono package.

As the driver, you receive a constant information flow about the front tires and how they’re interacting with the road. But that flow is distilled to the essentials, making the modern 911 a more than agreeable daily driver. It’s an odd contradiction but Porsche has created a car that’s deeply engaging but not overwhelming.

Taking a break from the warm fuzzies let’s talk about the many permutations of 911. Here goes: There’s the Carrera (Carrera 379hp, 331lb-ft, $97,400), Carrera S (Carrera S 443hp, 390lb-ft, $113,300), the all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 (Carrera 379hp, 331lb-ft, $104,700), and 4S (Carrera 4S 443hp, 390lb-ft, $120,600), cabriolet versions of all those variants (Cabriolet starting at $110,200), the rocket ship 911 Turbo and Turbo S (show new 911 Turbo S, Turbo S (640hp, 590lb-ft, $203,500), plus GTSs, Targas, any other variants that might’ve emerged between when I wrote these words and when I spoke them. 3-pedal fans take heart, you can still get a 7-speed manual transmission in Carrera S models. All other 911s feature an 8-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission. In fact, our test car has the PDK.

Providing fast, smooth gear changes and the direct throttle response of a manual transmission the PDK is a shame-free alternative to the manual gearbox.

Regardless of engine, where thrust is concerned, the 911 is a true powerhouse. This is merely a Carrera S but watch how she launch controls. By the way, there’s no real setup. Just flip it to sport plus. Plant both pedals. Release brake. Feels crazy!

Even the base Carrera can blast from motionless to 60 miles per hour in 4 seconds according to Porsche. Make that 3.8 with the Sport Chrono Package. Go Turbo S with the Sport Chrono Package and Porsche claims a 0-60 time of 2.6 seconds with a top speed of 205 miles per hour. Yeah…

With all that speed potential you’ll be happy to know that the brakes feel amazing. The pedal super firm but easy to manage. The brakes give you the confidence to drive just that much quicker. And those are just the standard brakes, not even the optional carbon ceramics.

From the driver’s perch, I also have to note that visibility out is clear in all directions. It’s hard to overstate how a clean view of the world through which you travel can elevate the joy of driving.

VO: For altering the drive experiencing there are sport and normal modes but if you spring for the $2,700 Sport Chrono Package not only do you get active driveline mounts, an analog stopwatch on the dash, and launch control in PDK-equipped cars, you also get this steering wheel-mounted knob to select normal, sport, sport plus, individual, and wet drive modes. Each offers distinct accelerator, steering, transmission, and chassis behavior.

Placed in the middle of that knob is the Sport Response Button. Press it and the 911 prepares itself to deliver maximum performance for 20 seconds.

Keep it quote-unquote “simple” and a base Carrera includes heated seats, 2-zone climate control, an 8-speaker audio system, and a 10.9-inch infotainment display. The interface looks clean, modern. I like that Apple CarPlay doesn’t take over the entire screen through scrolling through the submenus on the left side while driving is fairly distracting.

I’m guessing if you’re shopping 911s only a 911 will do. But, as a reminder, $100 to $200 grand could also buy you an Aston Martin Vantage, an Audi R8, or a very well-equipped Corvette. But again, if you’ve always dreamed of owning a 911 or you’ve owned countless Porsches before, only a 911 will do.