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Stephen Corby24 Nov 2014
REVIEW

Porsche 911 GTS 2014 Review

As the penultimate, purist version of Porsche’s much beloved 911, the GTS shows off the company’s perfectionist streak, yet again

Porsche 911 GTS

Porsche is a company populated by perfectionists, the kind of people who never lose their remote controls, leave the house with a crease in their stiff shirts or sit at a desk that is anything less than compulsively clean.

It is often reported that the reason their cars feel so good — so solidly, scientifically constructed, with engines of barking brilliance — is that every single part of them is over-engineered by 300 per cent (also one of the excuses you’ll hear for why they’re so expensive). Put this to one of their perfectionist engineers, however, and they’ll look genuinely offended — because 300 per cent isn’t high enough.

This savage self-improvement streak is evidenced by the way they release a fantastic new car, like the 911, which seems close to flawless. Immeadiately they set out to make even better versions, like the new GTS, which has just been unveiled in Porsche’s biggest market, the USA.

The GTS badge now sits on Cayman, Boxster, Cayenne and Panamera, but it’s a bigger deal when the company’s pride and joy, its inviolable rear-engined sports car, gets the Gran Turismo Sport treatment. The Turbo and GT models inhabit a different stratosphere and are only for the hard-core or showily wealthy, this car, however, must sit above the Carrera S as the best of the real-world 911s and no amount of perfectionism is spared in making it so.

Looks wise, the changes are subtle in some ways (with as many mean-looking black highlights as they can tack on and chrome tail pipes), but significant in one, with the GTS copping the wider hips and wheel arches of the Carrera 4.

This change allows Porsche to widen the rear track by 36 millimetres to 1560mm. Slap on the 20-inch centre-lock wheels from the super-car Turbo S and you’ve got a recipe for better rear grip. Handling is then further improved by the PASM active-damper system, which lowers ride height by 10mm and provides the kind of cornering trickery that was outlawed by F1.

The combined result is a car that sits even flatter, and somehow manages to be even more dismissive of bumps, than the Carrera S.

A spirited drive into the mountains outside Los Angeles was truly revelatory, because it’s initially hard to believe a Porsche can be better to drive than the S, but this is seems both sharper and more stable.

The next stage of the launch was a few sweat-raising laps of the hugely demanding, high-speed Willow Springs track, where the further fettled version of the 3.8-litre flat-six engine was allowed to really strut its stuff.

Porsche’s engine nerds fully reworked the GTS' intake manifold, further perfected this brilliant powerplant’s combustion process, according to them, generating higher torque at low revs and even more power at higher rpm.

This thrilling, willing engine now makes 316kW, up by 22kW over a Carerra S and only slightly less than the previous generation GT3 track tearaway (320kW). It’s enough to shove it to 100km/h in a very precise 4.0sec (0.2 of a second quicker than the 997 GTS) and on to a top speed of 306km/h.

On the track, the response feels more scintillating than ever, while on the road you notice how much bandwidth you’ve got in each gear; a section of sharp bends can be taken just as easily in the lower range of fourth or the high end of third.

The combination of the improved handling and the extra grunt make for a potent track-day weapon, capable of the kind of mid-corner grip that tests your nerve while pounding your body with g-forces. The GTS is a fantastic thing to drive fast, and it would take a proper racing driver to get anywhere near its limits.

The steering, always a highlight of Porsches, and the 911 in particular, feels sublime, perhaps even better than the Carrera S, although it’s possible your brain is fooled slightly by the different tactile sensations of the Alcantara steering wheel, which is standard, along with other racy interior touches, like carbon-fibre trim.

What is undeniably better about the uber 911 is its exhaust note, which has what Porsche calls an “unmistakeable GTS sound”.

The sports exhaust system is fitted as standard and delivers a series of percussive pops and bangs on the overrun that’s a joy to the ears. The interplay between the engine and the flaps that open within the exhaust at certain rev points has been specially tuned to make the noise “more passionate”.

The result is a strident howl that starts out deep and angry as you launch off the line, builds basso profundo through the mid range and then shrieks into the redline. It’s an instrument you can play with your right foot.

Old-school purists will be thrilled to hear that you can buy a GTS with a manual gearbox, albeit one that has a less traditional seven speeds and which, cleverly yet disappointingly, will blip on the down changes for you in Sport Plus mode. This just seems a shame when the pedals are so perfectly set up to help you heel and toe yourself.

Even here, the engineers have been busy, creating a transmission that requires less force to shift between gears and has more precise gates. It’s typical of Porsche to go to the trouble, even when they know manuals will make up just 10 to 15 per cent of GTS sales.

Ask them if they think the next generation of 911 will even offer a car fitted with a clutch pedal and they’ll only smile wanly and say they hope so. The PDK is, of course, brilliant, with nigh-on imperceptible shift times, and very handy to have when you’re on a track.

The GTS is the ultimate version of the classic road-going rear-drive Porsche -- we drove ours straight off the track and back down a great mountain road — which makes it surprising that you can also get the badge on a Carrera 4 version, which is no faster to 100km/h and merely adds weight and complexity (and reduces top speed).

Purists will also steer clear of the Cabriolet versions, but Porsche knows that quite a few of its customers are posers and will want to be seen in their extra-special GTS versions.

For once, the cheapest version is the one you should buy when the GTS arrives Down Under in February 2015; at $268,700 the rear-drive 2 GTS manual Coupe is undoubtedly the pick. PDK takes the 2 GTS to $276,090 and the range topping version at $312,690 is the Carrera 4 GTS Cabrio with PDK.

Perfection is, of course, an unattainable goal, but when you’re making sportscars it’s a worthy one, and Porsche tries harder to hit it than most. The exciting thing is that they’re already working on an even better 911. Bring it on.


Porsche 911 GTS pricing and specifications:

Price: $268,700 ( Carrera 2 GTS man,plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.8-litre flat six-cylinder petrol

Output:
316kW/480Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed manual (PDK optional)
Fuel: 9.5L/100km (NEDC combined)
CO2: 223g/km (NEDC combined)
Safety rating: not tested

What we liked: Not so much:
>>> Grip, traction >>> The fact it’s probably the last manual one ever
>>> Power and performance >>> The price
>>> Steering, manual gearbox, everything really

Also consider:
>> BMW M4
>> Audi R8 V8
>> Mercedes-Benz AMG GT

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Written byStephen Corby
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Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Expert rating
89/100
Engine, Drivetrain & Chassis
19/20
Price, Packaging & Practicality
15/20
Safety & Technology
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Behind the Wheel
19/20
X-Factor
18/20
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