I fell in love with Porsche as a kid watching a few movies. The first was Risky Business. Something about joyriding my father’s sports car excited me and inspired me to do exactly that when I got my license. The second was a Corey Haim movie called Dream Machine - a classic story about someone buying a car from a widow for a price too good to be true; spoiler alert - there’s a dead body in the trunk. The third movie was called No Man’s Land; amazing story line - a police officer goes undercover to capture a Porsche thief played by Charlie Sheen. This movie has probably one of the best Porsche chase scenes ever.
This Wednesday, September 4, 2019, Porsche will introduce a fully electric car that people have been waiting for since 2015. While everyone will talk about how fast the car is, how well it handles for an electric car, and how the car will save the planet, I wanted to talk about a car that never will need to be benchmarked against any other sports car since it is the car every car measures itself against - the 911.
I fell in love with Porsche as a kid watching a few movies. The first was Risky Business. Something about joyriding my father’s sports car excited me and inspired me to do exactly that when I got my license. The second was a Corey Haim movie called Dream Machine - a classic story about someone buying a car from a widow for a price too good to be true; spoiler alert - there’s a dead body in the trunk. The third movie was called No Man’s Land; amazing storyline - a police officer goes undercover to capture a Porsche thief played by Charlie Sheen. This movie has probably one of the best Porsche chase scenes ever.
So what do I love about the 911? It’s all business. The car doesn’t have the same theatrics as a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. It doesn’t have the panache of coachbuilders like Bertone or Pininfarina. Its never had the muscle of the American cars. It is all business. The goal of the 911 is to have a friendly face up front and an all business rear end.
The design language of the interior is German - extremely modern and cold. The newer cars have more screens than I care for, but the gauge cluster remains Porsche from the Macan to the GT2RS - tachometer in the middle, speedo and other measurements to the periphery. The older 911s were ridiculously spartan, with a steering wheel, gauges, a shifter, & you got heat and a/c if you were lucky.
No other exotic or not brand has the seating position spot on as Porsche does. It is the best in the business. It is low enough that you feel like you’re in a race car, but the cars body is designed in a fashion that you’re 360 visibility is not hampered whatsoever. Once again, this exists from a Cayenne to a GT3RS - they all have the ideal seating position.
Obviously, the 911 does not “suck”. It is an amazing car to drive and surpasses all expectations. I can go on and on about how exceptional the steering is, how responsive the throttle is, how awesome the gear shifts are, how traction is enhanced after you master a rear engine car’s driving dynamics, but I want to talk about the durability, reliability, and how much punishment these motors want to take. I had an E46 M3 that I preemptively maintained - meaning I would change the oil after every track event and replace every bushing that physically was on the way to a part I wanted to modify;, yet after every track event, there would be a new rattle.
That never happened with the 911. After every track or autocross event, it was as if the 911 was asking me - “is that all you got?” It’s not like I was babying the car either, I was pushing it as hard as I could, and it was always prepared to take it in stride.
What more can I say - the 911 is the ultimate sports car. Unfortunately, the reputation that comes with being a 911 owner/driver/lover is not the most ideal, and I have tried my hardest to not want to love the car, but whenever I have the chance to own or drive one, there are no other cars like it and I know that it will always be up to any challenge that I throw at it. I love that I hate the 911.