2003 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S

2003 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S 2003 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S
Long-Term Road Test

A case can be made that the Porsche 911 is our favorite car. As evidence, we must confess that in the past 13 years we've managed to filch four 911s for long-term tests. That's a straight-faced way of saying we've had a 911 parked in our lot for about eight of those 13 years.

Having published a 40,000-mile test of a previous-generation Carrera in the May 2001 issue, we quickly got back in line for a new-for-2003 Carrera 4S, the all-wheel-drive model between the Carrera 4 and the Turbo.

In 2003, the 4S was a breathtaking $13,200 more than the standard-issue, $69,365 Carrera. For that you got the wheels and tires, suspension, all-wheel drive, and sexier bodywork of the $118,265 911 Turbo. Also breathtaking is any Porsche options list—there are more than a dozen options over $2000 available on this car—so unless your name is A-Rod, watch it. For example, we paid a stunning $1510 just to change the color of our leather interior to a slightly darker "natural gray." Gray floor mats to match were $115. You may wish to steady yourself after hearing the price of a three-spoke steering wheel with carbon-fiber insets: $1535. Xenon headlights were $1090, a carbon-fiber emergency-brake lever and shift knob were $880, heated seats went for $410, and finally, wheel center caps with a colored Porsche logo were $175. The tab was $88,280 in all, and thankfully, we didn't have to pay the sales tax.

In April 2003, our Speed Yellow Carrera 4S arrived with only 100 miles on the ticker. Immediately, staffers began appearing early at the office to sign out this rev-happy Porsche.

With the traditional hard ride of a pure sports car—it has very stiff springs and shocks and a lower ride height—the 911 was the universal choice as an in-town ride, but some of us here were reluctant to sign it out for cross-state trips. Although some eagerly went off on 1000-mile jaunts, others demurred, saying any distance over 100 miles was just too jarring. And with its stiff clutch, this Porsche could get tiring in stop-and-go traffic.

At our first visit to the track, we used judicious clutch slip and managed to get from 0 to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds and then turned a quarter-mile time of 13.1 at 108. Abetted by a rear weight bias, the 911 stops as well as it goes, from 70 mph to standstill in an outstanding 153 feet. The 911 circled the skidpad at 0.90 g and ran up to its electronically unimpaired top speed of 171, the fastest we'd ever clocked in a long-term car—until the final test, when 173 mph was recorded.

Life with the 911 was bliss until 3688 miles. The radio was reported dead, but maybe it never worked, since most drivers preferred the 315-hp flat-six's sweet melodies to anything on the airwaves. It was replaced at no cost under the four-year/50,000-mile warranty.

Although many people might point to a Honda or Toyota as a portrait of hassle-free ownership, Porsche says 911s only have to be serviced every 15,000 miles, a longer service interval than that of either of those cars. We're not sure that makes up for the pricey fact that the tires didn't make it that distance: By 13,302 miles, the rears were shot. So we swapped the Pirelli P Zero Asimmetricos for four Yokohama AVS Sport tires. They cost $920 installed.