We drove the wholly re-designed Porsche 911 on the roads of Abu Dhabi as well as on the Yas Marina circuit
Ogling at sports cars is quite fascinating. For petrol heads the only thing that would be more appealing is to get an opportunity to drive them. When I got a chance to do just that, I jumped at the idea. A reaction most auto journalist would share with me if offered to drive the all-new Porsche 911 (also known as 991). When Shreyans Automobile, the people who import Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari and other sports cars to India, invited Car India to test-drive the new Porsche sports car in the Middle East, I didn’t think twice before saying ‘yes’. I stuffed a couple of clothes in my backpack, hopped on to the earliest flight and, viola, I was standing in the world’s richest city*, Abu Dhabi. A quick splash and dash and I headed straight to the automotive pilgrim site of the city, also know as the Yas Marina circuit.
As I walked towards the parking lot, I saw the 911 sitting eagerly in the parking lot, waiting to swoop on to the track at my command. The new 911 has been re-designed from scratch with almost 90 per cent fresh parts. It now has a longer, wider and lighter body-shell that has been designed by Michael Mauer, Director (Style), Porsche. The German designer explained that the 911 completed 48 years since its launch in 1963 and that he had it in his hands to transform the car into a modern design without altering the 911 essence. So you still have the convex and concave surface treatment that is a typical Porsche trait, but now the fly-line is lower and faster with a dropping roof-line.
The 911 has got a longer wheelbase and wider front track, which would improve the car’s dynamics. Though it retains the round headlamps, which have become the product’s identity, they are further out, with the lower roof making the front of the car look more aggressive. Like at any Porsche design, the fenders are higher than the hood, but the air intake comes without any classic grille. The strong shoulders on the rear wheel are more pronounced. Mauer said that this was the best looking 911 ever and I couldn’t disagree.
It was time to taste the pudding, so I slid open the door and sank into the deep driver’s seat to find myself just about five inches above the ground. Perfect sports car seats. To my surprise, the door still shut with a reassuring thud, even though the car has been made from aluminium and steel hybrid body and is 40 kilograms lighter than the outgoing model. I was glad to be greeted by the familiar three-spoke steering, which now has the gear paddle wrapped on it, and the five round and large instrument scoops with the rev counter in the middle. I was informed that the racing centre console has been inspired by Carrera GT. The 911’s rich leather upholstery, with a great combination of cutting-edge technology, analogue dials, soft-touch buttons and a classic clock sitting in the centre of the dash made the cabin feel special.
Time for some action. I just had to master the circuit’s 21-odd turns in a day and shave off some seconds from Sebastian Vettel’s lap time of 1:40.279. Not true. What I really had to do was to feel the difference or improvement the current 911 has over its predecessor. But before that, I had to get a feel of the car on city roads and the track was reserved for the next day. Nooo! Can’t I just stick to the race track for both the days? My solemn looking instructor shook his head.
Like the US, Abu Dhabi drives on the right side of the road, which, for us Indians, is the wrong side. It’s concoction of confusion with the steering wheel on the left, with the traffic coming on the left and three zillion roundabout to decipher which exit to take. It was easy when there was traffic around and one just had to follow them. Unfortunately for me, around the golden fuel city there wasn’t much except Jaleel and Jameel, the two wild camels I saw grazing on the sparse growth of the desert. To add to all this Abu Dhabi has strict speed limits and invisible speed cameras that scan for speeding confused foreigners. Which, by the way was, me. I was pulled over by the vigilant cops, who, after some pleasantries, explained that I was doing 80 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. Grinning sheepishly I showed my IDP (International Driving Permit), explained the situation and told them that I was there to test-drive the new Porsche 911. After checking for my name in the UAE’s top 20 over their walkie-talkie, the cops let me go with a warning to drive slowly.
It would be a simple task if I wasn’t driving the Carrera S with the latest 3.8-litre boxer motor, that happily produces a staggering 400 PS of peak power and 440 Nm of torque, with 0-100 km/h attained in just over four seconds! Come on, this car has this new electro-mechanic steering that lets me communicate with the road with crystal-clarity. It’s amazingly light at lower speeds and as the right foot gets heavy, it firms up and offers surgical precision.
Porsche use a whole lot of electrical jargon to make the 911 with its six-cylinder boxer engine behind the rear axle drive like a dream. You get PTV, the torque vectoring system works harmoniously with the rear axle’s limited-slip differential, then there is PASM, adaptive dampers and the extremely slick and intelligent PDK dual-clutch gearbox makes the seven-speed manual version less attractive. Porsche also included the optional package of PDCC, dynamic anti-roll system and PCCB, carbon ceramic brakes which would come rather handy when I hit the race track the next day.
Driving around the city I noticed how driveable this sports car was and I could use it everyday. Shift the gear stick to the ‘D’ mode and cruise like any luxury sedan. It even has an impressive fuel economy of around 12 kpl, which is achieved using the new ‘coasting function’ with the PDK. What it does is, as soon as you release the accelerator pedal, PDK deselects the current gear automatically and you begin to coast in neutral until you have reached your desired speed. The moment you engage the accelerator or the brake pedal, PDK selects the appropriate gear smoothly and seamlessly within a fraction of a second. Smooth stuff.
I drove back to my hotel a more mature and happier driver. However, true happiness came the next day when I finally got a chance to drive the 911 on Yas Marina. The Porsche engineers have honed the already accomplished super car, making it a sharp track tool. Surprisingly, the new 911 has become more agile, faster and, did I mention, sharper. It allowed me to kiss the apex fearlessly, carrying more speed that I though I could and exit even faster. While manoeuvring through the slalom course it held onto the track as if it were riding on rails, using PASM, adaptive dampers and the track-specific PDCC, dynamic anti-roll system.
When I switched on the ‘Sports Plus’ mode and activated the sports exhaust, put my left foot on the brake, revved the engine beyond 5,000 RPM and got the lingering taste of the launch control. On the straight it comfortably touched 250 km/h. With every lap it just kept getting better and better.
A weekend well spent, there were two learnings I got out of this Porsche 911 drive in Abu Dhabi. The first was that driving in India is a lot less stressful despite all chaos that prevails on our roads than most places abroad. The second was that the new Porsche 911 is one of the best sports cars that money can buy.
*Source: Wikipedia
Story: Sarmad Kadiri
Photography: Porsche
