Interior
Significantly less exuberant has been done when putting together the interior. Logical: after all, you don’t want to be distracted by all kinds of peripheral matters as soon as the boundaries of the Porsche 997 Carrera 4S are explored. Fortunately for the enthusiast, those limits are pretty far away, making the adaptive sports seats particularly useful. But there is also such a thing as pre-flight: boarding is done over stainless steel sill strips and at rest, you put your left foot on a sport-look footrest. Ironically, it will still be your right foot that has to work hard. And let the accelerator pedal have just such a beautiful aluminium finish as the gear knob… More contrast in the all-black leather (up to and including the back of the centre console) Porsche 911 cockpit is provided by the 3 aluminium spokes of the sports steering wheel + white background of the analogue (!) counters and gauges that are traditionally arranged in a row of 5 in the instrument cluster. Clock number 6 has a prominent position on top of the black leather dashboard and is part of the Sport Chrono Plus package. We love it.
Options & extras
As sleek and pure as the styling is, the equipment level is generous: the adaptive sports seats are also heated and the businesslike interior layout lends itself perfectly to a large navigation screen + phone module from the Porsche Communication Management system. Furthermore, a 6-CD changer is attached to the excellent-sounding Bose sound system. Changing sound is also very easy by switching off the audio and opening the sports exhaust fully. When doing so, don’t forget to slide the electric roof back, because the more intense the classic boxer melody comes in, the better! After that, it’s just a matter of looking for the nearest tunnel… Once played out, Cruise Control can be put on. Or let the rear parking sensors guide you into the parking bay. Being blinded by beauty is always possible, of course, but the tinted track on the windscreen and automatic dimming interior and exterior mirrors prevent it from happening on the road. And then there is the integrated rain sensor; no idea what it has had to do for the past 16 years. Very much it won’t…
Technology & performance
Porsche’s philosophy has been gently trimmed in the new turbo era. Fortunately not in this case: the 6-cylinder boxer engine at the back is 100% “old school” and as atmospheric as it gets. In the case of 911 generation 997, the turbo was still only applied to the eponymous version. Without the help of additional blower technology, the 3.8-litre 6-cylinder still kicks it up to 355 hp and 400 Nm of torque. The PDK transmission only debuted in the later 997.2 and so, in this case, the manual version still trumps the (Tiptronic) automatic when it comes to acceleration. Those who stroke the 6-speed gearbox perfectly can rocket past 100 km/h from standstill in 4.8 seconds in the more powerful, all-wheel-drive 4S version. The top speed of 288 km/h is also narrowly better than that of the automatic. All well and good, but the advantage of a manual transmission is and remains the experience. No convenience, just old-fashioned work for performance! Isn’t that exactly why you are in the position to look at a car like this…? We see a perfect match.
