Atlblkz06
02-25-2010, 10:49 AM
Automobile's list of top 10 911s. LINK TO FULL ARTICLE (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1003_ten_favorite_porsche_911s/1973_carrera_rs_27.html)
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187156+w750+st0/1003_13_z+1973_porsche_911_carrera_rS_27+rear_thre e_quarter_view.jpg
911 Carrera RS 2.7
Model year: 1973
Engine: 2.7L flat-6, 210 hp, 188 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 5.8 sec
Top speed: 149 mph*
Weight: 2150 lb
Production: 0/1580 (U.S./total)
Original price: $10,200 (1973, est.)
Is the 1973 Carrera RS the ultimate 911? Maybe so. I remember driving both the relatively comfortable Touring model with sunroof and the bare-bones Sport with race seats, a stripped-out interior, a plastic rear bumper, and double-decibel noise levels. To reduce the curb weight to an incredibly low 2150 pounds (2370 pounds for the Touring), Porsche used thinner-gauge sheetmetal, lighter glass, and body panels made of a synthetic material that wasn't very good at maintaining color or shape. The displacement of the engine rose from 2.4 to 2.7 liters, and power increased to 210 hp. The deeper front apron and the ducktail rear spoiler allegedly improved downforce at speed, but in combination with unequal-size tires, Bilstein dampers, and fatter antiroll bars, the RS was still the cannonball ride that its legendary reputation is based on. The phenomenal performance and relative affordability (it cost roughly the same as a 911S Targa) pushed the sales of this weekend racer from the originally planned 500 units to 1580. The fastest 911 of its time epitomized the early virtues of the breed: four strong disc brakes sans ABS, super-accurate and ultraquick steering sans power assistance, and telepathic throttle response sans traction control. The Carrera RS was the most honest, most transparent, and most unforgiving 911 I ever had the pleasure to spin - and spin again - thankfully without damaging anything but my own ego.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187159+w750+st0/1003_14_z+1978_porsche_911_turbo_33+front_three_qu arter_view.jpg
930 Turbo 3.3
U.S. Model years: 1978-1979, 1986-1989
Engine: 3.3L turbo flat-6, 265 hp, 291 lb-ft
Transmission: 4-speed manual
0-62 mph: 5.4 sec
Top speed: 163 mph
Weight: 2867 lb
Production: 5817/15,022 (U.S./total)
Original price: $36,700 (1978)
1978 930 Turbo 3.3: For more than ten years, this 911 Turbo remained in production in Europe almost unchanged, with only minor modifications introduced in 1983, '85, and '88. It became a legend simply by being there. The Euro-spec model developed a healthy 300 hp, but the catalyst-equipped U.S. version was rated at a comparatively breathless 265 hp. Although a five-speed gearbox had long been standard in lesser 911s, the Turbo had to make do with a four-speed, which ran out of cogs at high revs and spun too fast at a leisurely pace. This was very much an old-school turbo that suffered from enough throttle lag that one was inclined to rethink every second passing maneuver. Its Matterhorn-shaped torque curve peaked 1500 rpm below maximum power, and it employed one large turbocharger that took ages to build full boost pressure but practically exploded when all 300 horses crashed the gate at once. Starting in 1982, Porsche offered a WLS pack, which added a conservatively rated 30 hp. This version, too, was hampered by Jekyll-and-Hyde running characteristics caused by the fact that the center-mounted blower was connected to the six horizontally opposed cylinders via a spiderlike network of extralong intake pipes. Since test cars at the time were dispatched only to major media, former racing drivers (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1003_ten_favorite_porsche_911s/1978_turbo_33.html#), and friends of the house, I had to wait thirty-two months for my first Turbo experience, but it got me hooked for good. Twenty-three years later, my garage was graced by a 996-series 911 Turbo Cabriolet. It lacked luggage space for my Samsonite, which traveled to and from Munich International strapped upright into the passenger seat, and it was fitted with the lethargic Tiptronic gearbox to make the car drivable for my wife, who tried it one wet winter evening, promptly got scared, and never went near the Turbo again.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187168+w750+st0/1003_16_z+1981_porsche_911_sC_targa+front_three_qu arter_view.jpg
911SC Targa
U.S. Model years: 1981-1983
Engine: 3.0L flat-6, 180 hp, 175 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 6.8 sec
Top speed: 147 mph
Weight: 2560 lb
Production: 5143/9837 (U.S./total)
Original price: $29,815 (1981)
1981 911SC Targa: I can already hear the debate beginning to rage: Why the 1981 to 1983 model . . . why not the much more complete 1984 to 1989 Carrera 3.2? Why the stupid Targa and not the classic coupe? Because. The SC featured the most evolutionary, 180-hp (204 hp in Europe) version of the normally aspirated 3.0-liter flat-six and was the last truly affordable 911 before American-educated president and CEO Peter W. Schutz stepped in and added $20,000 to the price in five years. And because Porsche's controversial targa body style is such an interesting conceptual failure. A functional oddity, the Targa is neither pretty nor practical, but it was the car in which my wife Raphaela announced to me that she was pregnant with our first son, so we took the roof off and drove into the sunset, vexed with emotion. I tried to buy that particular blue metallic car from the press fleet but couldn't afford it, so Sebastian's first ride in a Porsche owned by his father took place in a rather more humble 924 Turbo.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187147+w750+st0/1003_03_z+1987_porsche_911_clubsport+front_three_q uarter_view.jpg
911 Clubsport
U.S. Model years: 1987-1989
Engine: 3.2L flat-6, 217 hp, 195 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 6.1 sec
Top speed: 153 mph
Weight: 2555 lb
Production: 28/340 (U.S./total)
Original price: $48,895 (1988)
1987 911 Clubsport: This was the time Porsche discovered that less could be more - as in more money for less weight and less equipment. The 1987-89 Clubsport cost about five percent more than the standard coupe, which was not exactly lavishly equipped, either. Missing from the Clubsport (or CS) were such items as rear seats, door trim, a parcel shelf, insulation, electronic heater controls, the passenger's sun visor, a radio, a glove-box lid, power windows, and foglamps, netting a savings of 220 pounds. While the engine delivered a nominally unchanged 217 hp, lighter intake valves pushed the rev limit from 6570 to 6840 rpm. Together, these measures knocked 0.4 second off the 0-to-62-mph acceleration time. Even more significant was the urgent kick-in-the-butt midrange punch, the sharper handling due to a variety of suspension tweaks, and the enhanced (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1003_ten_favorite_porsche_911s/1987_clubsport.html#) directional stability thanks to the whale-tail rear spoiler. Despite a fetching delete-option CS decal that straddled the entire right front fender, Porsche's increasingly comfort- and convenience-hungry clientele failed to see the attraction of the go-faster-by-taking-out-weight concept. In the course of three model years, Porsche sold a mere 339 Clubsport coupes and only a single CS Targa.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187150+w750+st0/1003_09_z+1989_porsche_911_speedster+front_three_q uarter_view.jpg
911 Speedster
U.S. Model year: 1989
Engine: 3.2L flat-6, 217 hp, 195 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 6.1 sec
Top speed: 137 mph
Weight: 2756 lb
Production: 818/2103 (U.S./total)
Original price: $65,480
1989 911 Speedster: We're talking here not about the anemic and considerably more rare slimline version, but rather the much better and much better-looking wide-body Turbo-look car, which also swipes the brakes, wheels, and suspension from the Turbo. The roof, which stows away beneath a bubble-shaped plastic lid, is very much a manual operation. After a lot of pulling and fiddling, it should eventually attach to the special cut-down windshield frame that offers about as much rollover protection as a baseball cap. The Speedster arguably looks prettier with the top up, but in that configuration, it is hard to see out of and headroom is virtually nonexistent. When it rains, the cabin steams up and the canvas roof is prone to leak. Although it lacks power windows and standard A/C, I still love the Mark 1 Speedster (but not the comparatively ungainly 964-based model) for its rare mix of street presence, driving pleasure, and investment appeal. I came very close to buying the car we borrowed for an "On the trails of James Dean" story [March 1988], but at the eleventh hour, the PR guy let it go to auction - or so he said.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187141+w750+st0/1003_30_z+1992_porsche_911_turbo_s+front_three_qua rter_view.jpg
964 Turbo S
Model year: 1992
Engine: 3.3L turbo flat-6, 375 hp, 362 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 4.6 sec
Top speed: 181 mph
Weight: 2844 lb
Production: 0/86 (U.S./total)
Original price: $118,935 (est.)
1992 964 Turbo S: Fear comes in strange shapes and sizes, like bucket seats that look like professional torture elements, semislick 265-series rear tires, a huge slatted rear wing, and yellow paint that's blinding in its intensity. There I was, a forty-one-year-old automotive journalist and a seasoned 911 pro - but still scared shitless at the mere sight of this machine. The limited run of eighty-six lightweight 911 Turbo S coupes would top a creepy 181 mph, a speed our photographer refused to record on film because he, too, was pale-faced with angst. Having sampled almost every street-legal 911 variation ever made, I still get goose bumps from the mere memory of this particular 964 version. How come? Because the Yellow Peril incorporated the worst of all worlds. It tramlined horribly, its suspension was about as compliant as a cast-iron street lamp, its aerodynamic performance suffered from latent liftoff fits, and the operating forces required to work steering, brakes, clutch, and transmission called for athletic abilities I never pretended to possess. An evil thing through and through, the 1992 Turbo S confirmed, corner by corner and crest by crest, that the difference between hero and idiot can be frighteningly narrow.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187201+w750+st0/1003_27_z+1995_porsche_911_carrera_rS_38+front_thr ee_quarter_view.jpg
993 Carrera RS 3.8
Model years: 1995-1996
Engine: 3.8L flat-6, 300 hp, 262 lb-ft
Transmission: 6-speed manual
0-62 mph: 5.0 sec
Top speed: 173 mph
Weight: 2800 lb
Production: 0/1014 (U.S./total)
Original price: $105,000 (1995, est.)
1995 993 Carrera RS 3.8: Back in the old days, they would have called this version the 993 Clubsport. But the new Clubsport designation stood for an even more extreme, track-oriented concept featuring a factory roll cage, six-point belts, race bucket seats, a fire extinguisher, and strategic body reinforcements. The Clubsport package was available for the 300-hp Carrera RS, which plugged the gap between the 272-hp base model and the 408-hp twin-turbo edition. Fitted with a bigger-bore, 3.8-liter engine, a close-ratio five-speed box, and a limited-slip differential, the RS weighed 220 pounds less than the Carrera 2. Its suspension was lower and firmer but not quite as low and firm as that of the previous-generation RS and Turbo S. Again mind-bogglingly quick and nimble, the 1995-96 RS turned out to be more user-friendly than its harder-core predecessors - thanks to new power steering, more generously assisted brakes, and a slick new six-speed gearbox. Although it was a whopping twenty percent more expensive than the Carrera 2, the RS found more than 1000 takers. Sporting eighteen-inch Speedline aluminum wheels and a subtle yet effective aero kit, the no-frills 993-series RS is arguably the prettiest and most pragmatic 911 of them all.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/26760605+w750+st0/1003_11_z+1998_porsche_911_turbo_s+front_three_qua rter_view.jpg
993 Turbo S
U.S. Model year: 1998
Engine: 3.6L twin-turbo flat-6, 424 hp, 400 lb-ft
Transmission: 6-speed manual
0-62 mph: 4.3 sec
Top speed: 186 mph
Weight: 3307 lb
Production: 181/336 (U.S./total)
Original price: $161,720
1998 993 Turbo S: Inspired by the European WLS performance package, this car's uprated, 3.6-liter engine delivered an extra 16 hp over the standard Turbo. Porsche would later increase the output to an even brawnier 450 hp with the WLS II package, thereby matching the numbers of the rear-wheel-drive GT2. The 993-series Turbo was the first of its kind to feature four-wheel drive (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1003_ten_favorite_porsche_911s/1998_993_series_turbo_s.html#) as standard equipment, and the S version - although it weighed about 450 pounds more - outaccelerated the rear-wheel-drive GT2. There are those who claim that it takes a big heart and even bigger cojones to push any 911 CS or RS to the limit, while any wimp can slide a four-wheel-drive 911 Turbo like Walter Röhrl on a good day. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Although a four-wheel-drive 911 is better balanced, more neutral, and easier to drive fast than a rear-wheel-drive 911, power oversteer on dry tarmac is about as alien to its DNA as ski jumping is to a zebra. You need a lot of road, plenty of inertia, and the determination of a hangman to make this four-wheel-drive 911 Turbo waltz the way its notoriously loose predecessors danced in their sleep.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187183+w750+st0/1003_21_z+2004_porsche_911_gT2+front_three_quarter _view.jpg
996 GT2
U.S. Model year: 2004
Engine: 3.6L twin-turbo flat-6, 477 hp, 472 lb-ft
Transmission: 6-speed manual
0-62 mph: 3.9 sec
Top speed: 198 mph
Weight: 3131 lb
Production: 29/324 (U.S./total)
Original price: $192,465
2004 996 GT2: This was a different animal, in a different league, with different ambitions. The GT2 was a question not many well-to-do 911 customers dared to ask. The company sold some 200 993-based GT2s; only 963 examples of the early 996-derived GT2, which was available from summer 2000 to winter 2001; and no more than 324 late-model GT2s, built between 2003 and 2005. I drove my first GT2 in November 2000. It was shod with shaved tires, and I was explicitly told to bring it back in one piece, since a couple of Greek journalists had recently destroyed the only other GT2 in the press fleet. As we crossed the Swabian Alb heading for Munich, it started to snow. Those were the days when Porsche fitted ceramic brakes as standard to the GT2 but still charged extra for stability control. I had no choice but to pull over and wait out the snow for several hours. Thankfully, the weather improved over the next few days, and there were plenty of opportunities to relish the car's awesome performance. Unlike other 996-based versions of the 911 - such as the Carrera 4S and the GT3, which felt suspiciously light and unstable through very fast autobahn bends - the GT2 was rock solid and much more confidence-inspiring than its rear-wheel-drive layout suggested. For the inevitable cornering trials, we waited for the weather to move on, headed to an industrial park under construction, and played hooligan between two virginal roundabouts.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187186+w750+st0/1003_22_z+2010_porsche_911_turbo+front_three_quart er_view.jpg
997 Turbo PDK
U.S. Model year: 2010
Engine: 3.8L twin-turbo flat-6, 500 hp, 516 lb-ft
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic
0-62 mph: 3.4 sec
Top speed: 194 mph
Weight: 3516 lb
On sale: Now
Price: $133,750
2010 997 Turbo: Until Porsche introduced the new 911 Turbo, velocity was a term used within more modest dimensions. The quickest-ever pre-997 GT2 would do the 0-to-62-mph sprint in four seconds flat, the fastest Turbo S would top 190 mph, and the most extreme GT3 RS would storm from 0 to 125 mph in 14.0 seconds. But then the 2010 Turbo was launched, and all of a sudden these evolutionary boundaries didn't apply anymore. After all, this 500-hp road rocket can beam us from 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, does an honest 194 mph, and still averages 20 mpg at more modest speeds, thereby easily eclipsing any GT2, GT3, or GT3 RS. What we have here is a new level of accessible performance, total practicality, and absolute user-friendliness. The new Turbo explodes like a bomb from the word "go" all the way to the limiter at 7000 rpm. It can be ordered with the highly efficient PDK automatic, and it is as enticing to whip through the twisties as it is to chase the horizon on an empty autobahn. Thanks to the latest stability control software and the new four-wheel-drive (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1003_ten_favorite_porsche_911s/2010_997_turbo_pdk.html#) hardware adopted from the Carrera 4S, the 2010 Turbo is now even oversteer-friendly up to the point where the traditional tail-out, opposite-lock, whoopee! antics come full circle. This is the most complete contemporary Porsche 911 that money can buy.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187156+w750+st0/1003_13_z+1973_porsche_911_carrera_rS_27+rear_thre e_quarter_view.jpg
911 Carrera RS 2.7
Model year: 1973
Engine: 2.7L flat-6, 210 hp, 188 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 5.8 sec
Top speed: 149 mph*
Weight: 2150 lb
Production: 0/1580 (U.S./total)
Original price: $10,200 (1973, est.)
Is the 1973 Carrera RS the ultimate 911? Maybe so. I remember driving both the relatively comfortable Touring model with sunroof and the bare-bones Sport with race seats, a stripped-out interior, a plastic rear bumper, and double-decibel noise levels. To reduce the curb weight to an incredibly low 2150 pounds (2370 pounds for the Touring), Porsche used thinner-gauge sheetmetal, lighter glass, and body panels made of a synthetic material that wasn't very good at maintaining color or shape. The displacement of the engine rose from 2.4 to 2.7 liters, and power increased to 210 hp. The deeper front apron and the ducktail rear spoiler allegedly improved downforce at speed, but in combination with unequal-size tires, Bilstein dampers, and fatter antiroll bars, the RS was still the cannonball ride that its legendary reputation is based on. The phenomenal performance and relative affordability (it cost roughly the same as a 911S Targa) pushed the sales of this weekend racer from the originally planned 500 units to 1580. The fastest 911 of its time epitomized the early virtues of the breed: four strong disc brakes sans ABS, super-accurate and ultraquick steering sans power assistance, and telepathic throttle response sans traction control. The Carrera RS was the most honest, most transparent, and most unforgiving 911 I ever had the pleasure to spin - and spin again - thankfully without damaging anything but my own ego.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187159+w750+st0/1003_14_z+1978_porsche_911_turbo_33+front_three_qu arter_view.jpg
930 Turbo 3.3
U.S. Model years: 1978-1979, 1986-1989
Engine: 3.3L turbo flat-6, 265 hp, 291 lb-ft
Transmission: 4-speed manual
0-62 mph: 5.4 sec
Top speed: 163 mph
Weight: 2867 lb
Production: 5817/15,022 (U.S./total)
Original price: $36,700 (1978)
1978 930 Turbo 3.3: For more than ten years, this 911 Turbo remained in production in Europe almost unchanged, with only minor modifications introduced in 1983, '85, and '88. It became a legend simply by being there. The Euro-spec model developed a healthy 300 hp, but the catalyst-equipped U.S. version was rated at a comparatively breathless 265 hp. Although a five-speed gearbox had long been standard in lesser 911s, the Turbo had to make do with a four-speed, which ran out of cogs at high revs and spun too fast at a leisurely pace. This was very much an old-school turbo that suffered from enough throttle lag that one was inclined to rethink every second passing maneuver. Its Matterhorn-shaped torque curve peaked 1500 rpm below maximum power, and it employed one large turbocharger that took ages to build full boost pressure but practically exploded when all 300 horses crashed the gate at once. Starting in 1982, Porsche offered a WLS pack, which added a conservatively rated 30 hp. This version, too, was hampered by Jekyll-and-Hyde running characteristics caused by the fact that the center-mounted blower was connected to the six horizontally opposed cylinders via a spiderlike network of extralong intake pipes. Since test cars at the time were dispatched only to major media, former racing drivers (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1003_ten_favorite_porsche_911s/1978_turbo_33.html#), and friends of the house, I had to wait thirty-two months for my first Turbo experience, but it got me hooked for good. Twenty-three years later, my garage was graced by a 996-series 911 Turbo Cabriolet. It lacked luggage space for my Samsonite, which traveled to and from Munich International strapped upright into the passenger seat, and it was fitted with the lethargic Tiptronic gearbox to make the car drivable for my wife, who tried it one wet winter evening, promptly got scared, and never went near the Turbo again.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187168+w750+st0/1003_16_z+1981_porsche_911_sC_targa+front_three_qu arter_view.jpg
911SC Targa
U.S. Model years: 1981-1983
Engine: 3.0L flat-6, 180 hp, 175 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 6.8 sec
Top speed: 147 mph
Weight: 2560 lb
Production: 5143/9837 (U.S./total)
Original price: $29,815 (1981)
1981 911SC Targa: I can already hear the debate beginning to rage: Why the 1981 to 1983 model . . . why not the much more complete 1984 to 1989 Carrera 3.2? Why the stupid Targa and not the classic coupe? Because. The SC featured the most evolutionary, 180-hp (204 hp in Europe) version of the normally aspirated 3.0-liter flat-six and was the last truly affordable 911 before American-educated president and CEO Peter W. Schutz stepped in and added $20,000 to the price in five years. And because Porsche's controversial targa body style is such an interesting conceptual failure. A functional oddity, the Targa is neither pretty nor practical, but it was the car in which my wife Raphaela announced to me that she was pregnant with our first son, so we took the roof off and drove into the sunset, vexed with emotion. I tried to buy that particular blue metallic car from the press fleet but couldn't afford it, so Sebastian's first ride in a Porsche owned by his father took place in a rather more humble 924 Turbo.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187147+w750+st0/1003_03_z+1987_porsche_911_clubsport+front_three_q uarter_view.jpg
911 Clubsport
U.S. Model years: 1987-1989
Engine: 3.2L flat-6, 217 hp, 195 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 6.1 sec
Top speed: 153 mph
Weight: 2555 lb
Production: 28/340 (U.S./total)
Original price: $48,895 (1988)
1987 911 Clubsport: This was the time Porsche discovered that less could be more - as in more money for less weight and less equipment. The 1987-89 Clubsport cost about five percent more than the standard coupe, which was not exactly lavishly equipped, either. Missing from the Clubsport (or CS) were such items as rear seats, door trim, a parcel shelf, insulation, electronic heater controls, the passenger's sun visor, a radio, a glove-box lid, power windows, and foglamps, netting a savings of 220 pounds. While the engine delivered a nominally unchanged 217 hp, lighter intake valves pushed the rev limit from 6570 to 6840 rpm. Together, these measures knocked 0.4 second off the 0-to-62-mph acceleration time. Even more significant was the urgent kick-in-the-butt midrange punch, the sharper handling due to a variety of suspension tweaks, and the enhanced (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1003_ten_favorite_porsche_911s/1987_clubsport.html#) directional stability thanks to the whale-tail rear spoiler. Despite a fetching delete-option CS decal that straddled the entire right front fender, Porsche's increasingly comfort- and convenience-hungry clientele failed to see the attraction of the go-faster-by-taking-out-weight concept. In the course of three model years, Porsche sold a mere 339 Clubsport coupes and only a single CS Targa.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187150+w750+st0/1003_09_z+1989_porsche_911_speedster+front_three_q uarter_view.jpg
911 Speedster
U.S. Model year: 1989
Engine: 3.2L flat-6, 217 hp, 195 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 6.1 sec
Top speed: 137 mph
Weight: 2756 lb
Production: 818/2103 (U.S./total)
Original price: $65,480
1989 911 Speedster: We're talking here not about the anemic and considerably more rare slimline version, but rather the much better and much better-looking wide-body Turbo-look car, which also swipes the brakes, wheels, and suspension from the Turbo. The roof, which stows away beneath a bubble-shaped plastic lid, is very much a manual operation. After a lot of pulling and fiddling, it should eventually attach to the special cut-down windshield frame that offers about as much rollover protection as a baseball cap. The Speedster arguably looks prettier with the top up, but in that configuration, it is hard to see out of and headroom is virtually nonexistent. When it rains, the cabin steams up and the canvas roof is prone to leak. Although it lacks power windows and standard A/C, I still love the Mark 1 Speedster (but not the comparatively ungainly 964-based model) for its rare mix of street presence, driving pleasure, and investment appeal. I came very close to buying the car we borrowed for an "On the trails of James Dean" story [March 1988], but at the eleventh hour, the PR guy let it go to auction - or so he said.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187141+w750+st0/1003_30_z+1992_porsche_911_turbo_s+front_three_qua rter_view.jpg
964 Turbo S
Model year: 1992
Engine: 3.3L turbo flat-6, 375 hp, 362 lb-ft
Transmission: 5-speed manual
0-62 mph: 4.6 sec
Top speed: 181 mph
Weight: 2844 lb
Production: 0/86 (U.S./total)
Original price: $118,935 (est.)
1992 964 Turbo S: Fear comes in strange shapes and sizes, like bucket seats that look like professional torture elements, semislick 265-series rear tires, a huge slatted rear wing, and yellow paint that's blinding in its intensity. There I was, a forty-one-year-old automotive journalist and a seasoned 911 pro - but still scared shitless at the mere sight of this machine. The limited run of eighty-six lightweight 911 Turbo S coupes would top a creepy 181 mph, a speed our photographer refused to record on film because he, too, was pale-faced with angst. Having sampled almost every street-legal 911 variation ever made, I still get goose bumps from the mere memory of this particular 964 version. How come? Because the Yellow Peril incorporated the worst of all worlds. It tramlined horribly, its suspension was about as compliant as a cast-iron street lamp, its aerodynamic performance suffered from latent liftoff fits, and the operating forces required to work steering, brakes, clutch, and transmission called for athletic abilities I never pretended to possess. An evil thing through and through, the 1992 Turbo S confirmed, corner by corner and crest by crest, that the difference between hero and idiot can be frighteningly narrow.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/32187201+w750+st0/1003_27_z+1995_porsche_911_carrera_rS_38+front_thr ee_quarter_view.jpg
993 Carrera RS 3.8
Model years: 1995-1996
Engine: 3.8L flat-6, 300 hp, 262 lb-ft
Transmission: 6-speed manual
0-62 mph: 5.0 sec
Top speed: 173 mph
Weight: 2800 lb
Production: 0/1014 (U.S./total)
Original price: $105,000 (1995, est.)
1995 993 Carrera RS 3.8: Back in the old days, they would have called this version the 993 Clubsport. But the new Clubsport designation stood for an even more extreme, track-oriented concept featuring a factory roll cage, six-point belts, race bucket seats, a fire extinguisher, and strategic body reinforcements. The Clubsport package was available for the 300-hp Carrera RS, which plugged the gap between the 272-hp base model and the 408-hp twin-turbo edition. Fitted with a bigger-bore, 3.8-liter engine, a close-ratio five-speed box, and a limited-slip differential, the RS weighed 220 pounds less than the Carrera 2. Its suspension was lower and firmer but not quite as low and firm as that of the previous-generation RS and Turbo S. Again mind-bogglingly quick and nimble, the 1995-96 RS turned out to be more user-friendly than its harder-core predecessors - thanks to new power steering, more generously assisted brakes, and a slick new six-speed gearbox. Although it was a whopping twenty percent more expensive than the Carrera 2, the RS found more than 1000 takers. Sporting eighteen-inch Speedline aluminum wheels and a subtle yet effective aero kit, the no-frills 993-series RS is arguably the prettiest and most pragmatic 911 of them all.
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/26760605+w750+st0/1003_11_z+1998_porsche_911_turbo_s+front_three_qua rter_view.jpg
993 Turbo S
U.S. Model year: 1998
Engine: 3.6L twin-turbo flat-6, 424 hp, 400 lb-ft
Transmission: 6-speed manual
0-62 mph: 4.3 sec
Top speed: 186 mph
Weight: 3307 lb
Production: 181/336 (U.S./total)
Original price: $161,720
1998 993 Turbo S: Inspired by the European WLS performance package, this car's uprated, 3.6-liter engine delivered an extra 16 hp over the standard Turbo. Porsche would later increase the output to an even brawnier 450 hp with the WLS II package, thereby matching the numbers of the rear-wheel-drive GT2. The 993-series Turbo was the first of its kind to feature four-wheel drive (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1003_ten_favorite_porsche_911s/1998_993_series_turbo_s.html#) as standard equipment, and the S version - although it weighed about 450 pounds more - outaccelerated the rear-wheel-drive GT2. There are those who claim that it takes a big heart and even bigger cojones to push any 911 CS or RS to the limit, while any wimp can slide a four-wheel-drive 911 Turbo like Walter Röhrl on a good day. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Although a four-wheel-drive 911 is better balanced, more neutral, and easier to drive fast than a rear-wheel-drive 911, power oversteer on dry tarmac is about as alien to its DNA as ski jumping is to a zebra. You need a lot of road, plenty of inertia, and the determination of a hangman to make this four-wheel-drive 911 Turbo waltz the way its notoriously loose predecessors danced in their sleep.
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996 GT2
U.S. Model year: 2004
Engine: 3.6L twin-turbo flat-6, 477 hp, 472 lb-ft
Transmission: 6-speed manual
0-62 mph: 3.9 sec
Top speed: 198 mph
Weight: 3131 lb
Production: 29/324 (U.S./total)
Original price: $192,465
2004 996 GT2: This was a different animal, in a different league, with different ambitions. The GT2 was a question not many well-to-do 911 customers dared to ask. The company sold some 200 993-based GT2s; only 963 examples of the early 996-derived GT2, which was available from summer 2000 to winter 2001; and no more than 324 late-model GT2s, built between 2003 and 2005. I drove my first GT2 in November 2000. It was shod with shaved tires, and I was explicitly told to bring it back in one piece, since a couple of Greek journalists had recently destroyed the only other GT2 in the press fleet. As we crossed the Swabian Alb heading for Munich, it started to snow. Those were the days when Porsche fitted ceramic brakes as standard to the GT2 but still charged extra for stability control. I had no choice but to pull over and wait out the snow for several hours. Thankfully, the weather improved over the next few days, and there were plenty of opportunities to relish the car's awesome performance. Unlike other 996-based versions of the 911 - such as the Carrera 4S and the GT3, which felt suspiciously light and unstable through very fast autobahn bends - the GT2 was rock solid and much more confidence-inspiring than its rear-wheel-drive layout suggested. For the inevitable cornering trials, we waited for the weather to move on, headed to an industrial park under construction, and played hooligan between two virginal roundabouts.
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997 Turbo PDK
U.S. Model year: 2010
Engine: 3.8L twin-turbo flat-6, 500 hp, 516 lb-ft
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic
0-62 mph: 3.4 sec
Top speed: 194 mph
Weight: 3516 lb
On sale: Now
Price: $133,750
2010 997 Turbo: Until Porsche introduced the new 911 Turbo, velocity was a term used within more modest dimensions. The quickest-ever pre-997 GT2 would do the 0-to-62-mph sprint in four seconds flat, the fastest Turbo S would top 190 mph, and the most extreme GT3 RS would storm from 0 to 125 mph in 14.0 seconds. But then the 2010 Turbo was launched, and all of a sudden these evolutionary boundaries didn't apply anymore. After all, this 500-hp road rocket can beam us from 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, does an honest 194 mph, and still averages 20 mpg at more modest speeds, thereby easily eclipsing any GT2, GT3, or GT3 RS. What we have here is a new level of accessible performance, total practicality, and absolute user-friendliness. The new Turbo explodes like a bomb from the word "go" all the way to the limiter at 7000 rpm. It can be ordered with the highly efficient PDK automatic, and it is as enticing to whip through the twisties as it is to chase the horizon on an empty autobahn. Thanks to the latest stability control software and the new four-wheel-drive (http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1003_ten_favorite_porsche_911s/2010_997_turbo_pdk.html#) hardware adopted from the Carrera 4S, the 2010 Turbo is now even oversteer-friendly up to the point where the traditional tail-out, opposite-lock, whoopee! antics come full circle. This is the most complete contemporary Porsche 911 that money can buy.