Porsche 911 Carrera S Review

The trick the 911 has pulled for decades is being the fast car you never have to make excuses for. The 3.0 litre twin-turbo flat-six now makes 473 horsepower, the eight-speed dual-clutch shifts faster than you can think about it, and the rear-engine layout that used to be a liability is now the reason the car puts power down out of a wet roundabout without drama. Visibility is good, the front boot swallows a carry-on, the seats work over four hours, and the software is legible rather than clever.

That competence is why it holds money better than almost anything else with this performance, and why a clean example three years old still asks close to what it cost. The costs that do bite are the options sheet, which can add forty percent to the sticker without much effort, and the fact that a routine service runs several hundred dollars while anything out of warranty is priced with the crest in mind. Fuel is merely poor rather than punitive. It is the sensible choice, and it is still thrilling.