Is the All-new 992 Porsche 911 Still a Sports Car?
Chris Harris hits the Hockenheimring in a bright yellow 992 to find out if the latest generation of the Porsche 911 has kept its identity.
“New and improved” is a phrase that’s been used so much over the past several decades that it’s almost meaningless. We assume that the latest generation of something is better than the last because it makes sense that a manufacturer would want to offer a product that seems so much more desirable than the outgoing version. However, in the car world, new doesn’t always mean improved, too. Greater levels of safety equipment and demands for creature comforts typically add weight, which can spoil a car’s dynamics. The 992, the latest model of the legendary Porsche 911, makes Top Gear‘s Chris Harris wonder if the 911 has lost its way. Is it still a sports car?
To find out, Harris hops into a brand new 911 S with the PDK dual-clutch gearbox and flogs it around the Hockenheimring circuit in Germany. It certainly looks the part. All 992s are the same width now, which means the two-wheel drive models are just as wide as the all-wheel drive models. Harris praises his test car for its wide hips and shoulders, and aggressive looks. He’s less than pleased with one particular area, though. The plastic engine cover gives you a view of what Harris calls “two fans from a gaming PC and a plastic badge that says, ‘Three-liter S.'”
Aside from the unusual placement of the cupholders and the button to change the damper settings, the interior is a hit with Harris. The more time he spends in it, the more he likes it. It has a certain 1970s vibe to its layout. Harris particularly loves the steering wheel and three-dimensional tachometer. He even likes the interior door handle on the driver’s side, which with a slight pull pops the door open a little to make exiting the 911 easier. According to Harris, “It’s been German engineered.”
In the grand scheme of things, those are details. The quickest way to find out if the 992 is a sports car is to drive it. Harris is glad to oblige…and flick the 911’s back end out multiple times. In doing so, he makes some remarkable discoveries. The steering loads up with weight in corners to his satisfaction. Despite the fact that the 443-horsepower S model’s three-liter flat-six is turbocharged, Harris thinks it sounds like the naturally aspirated F6 in a 996. The 992 itself doesn’t feel all new, either. Harris thinks of it as more of an updated 991 with increased power (and weight) – an evolution instead of a revolution.
Has the 992 evolved too much? Has it lost its identity as a sports car? Nope. Harris sums it up nicely by saying, “It’s lively and it wants to have fun. It’s got personality as well.”
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