Short Take Road Test
The press intro for the new 911 Carrera GTS in Palm Springs left some casualties on the battlefield. One car had a hole in its oil sump; another had its lower lip torn off. And a couple of vehicles still hadn’t returned as the sun was setting, so all that was available for testing was this silver cabriolet with Porsche’s PDK transmission. So much for our “Save the Manuals!” crusade. This is the pool car the Daughters of the American Revolution might keep around for dry-cleaning runs.
One thing about the PDK seven-speed dual-clutch transmission is that it executes flawless launches. Our tester, which came with the optional ($1480) Sport Chrono package and its launch-control programming, delivered four nearly identical 4.0-second zero-to-60 sprints.
With the rear-drive-only GTS coupe and convertible and the new, 356-copy Speedster added to the lineup, there are now 20 flavors of 911 on sale. If you factor in the 250 or so line-item options available on every 911, the possible iterations add up to something approaching Nicolas Cage’s overdraft.
When the broccoli is boiled down, the GTS is just a Carrera S with the extra 23 horsepower of the S’s optional ($16,900!) power kit and the wide-body fenders of the AWD Carrera 4 model, plus center-lock RS Spyder wheels, GT3-like Alcantara interior trim, and some special GTS badges and flocking.
And it all comes at a discount compared with the powered-up S. Prices are $104,050 for a base GTS coupe and $113,850 for the GTS cabriolet. The PDK with steering-wheel paddles adds $4320. If you bought this GTS over a similarly equipped 2011 Carrera S, you’d save $5230. And you’d get the 1.7-inch-wider hips, the nifty wheels, the sport exhaust with cockpit loud button, and the Alcantara for free.
Now, Porsche is proud of the fact that it doesn’t resort to showroom spiffs to move the metal. But it cut some prices from 2010 to 2011, and as the current model nears replacement in 2012, the GTS represents the best rebate you’ll ever get on a Carrera.
The 3.8-liter flat-six’s extra 23 horses come from fitting up a dual-ram-length intake runner with six individual control flaps instead of a single flap in the center. The change, plus grinding out one millimeter of metal from the inner wall of the intake ports near the valves, improves cylinder filling, says Porsche, especially in the middle of the GTS’s rev range where the torque curve flattens out. Peak torque of 310 pound-feet is unchanged but arrives 200 rpm lower, at 4200, and stays on tap longer.
The GTS rolls you around in the sheets more like a regular Carrera than the hyper-limber GT3, but it can still mash your torso with its grip. With no driveline hardware to weigh down the nose, the steering often goes disconcertingly light while you’re accelerating out of a corner, causing an adrenaline rush that will be familiar to 911 lovers.
The Porsche Active Suspension Management is standard, though on the softest setting, the ride is still fatiguing. Yes, even fitted with the PDK transmission, the GTS bludgeons you with the full 911 experience. Well, except for the reduced price. That’s not normal.
