No. To truly appreciate the benefits of masterful engineering, you’d push tools closer to the limits of their capabilities. You’d take an epic hike in your new boots. You’d hookup a VR headset to your new computer and play the most graphically demanding game available. I’m not much of a power tool user, but, I’m pretty sure you’d want to use your new kit for something slightly more exotic than unscrewing a light switch cover.
As you may have read in an earlier post, or seen in an earlier video, soon after we picked up our Porsche 911 991.2, we drove it across North America, from Toronto to Los Angeles. The drive was fantastic, but what we thought would be analogous to an epic hike in new hiking boots turned out to be more akin to a stroll down a very long sidewalk.
The silver lining? It was a great warm up that landed us in California, one of the hiking capitals of the world (in more ways than one). Twisting, undulating, remote canyon roads are the true proving grounds for a Porsche 911, not bustling, flat, straight freeways. While in L.A., we get to call these paved rollercoasters “our backyard,” and there are few better spots to enjoy a 911 properly.
Note: The following reflections are specific to the canyon driving experience in this post. For additional thoughts on the car, including its build, specifications, power, profile, equipment and aesthetic, please check out our post, Toronto to L.A. in a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S 991.2.
It takes every ounce of willpower to listen to another, calmer voice assuring, “fear not and drive on, brave traveler, for this is a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S with Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (“PDCC”).” This second voice soothes, and panic subsides. Rotating the solid steering wheel causes lateral G-force to increase quickly, but the car’s grip becomes no less certain. Turn after turn, I come out the other side, foot planted on the gas, smile wide across my face, more alive than ever.
Combining PDCC with the 4S’s all-wheel drive and low center of gravity makes a car that launches quickly to high speeds, stays flat around corners, and nearly never spins out. It is rock solid and always ends up where you expect. As a result, it instills tremendous confidence in the driver so that spirited canyon drives are exciting, but never scary.
Carrera S models feature six-piston aluminium monobloc fixed brake calipers on 350 mm diameter, cross-drilled discs in front, and four-piston versions on 330 mm cross-drilled discs at the rear. In dry conditions, they are capable of slowing the 911 from 100 km/h to 0 km/h in about 42 meters. The car’s braking performance and reliability mean that I can continue to accelerate along straights for far longer than I would normally feel comfortable, while still having enough road to slow to an appropriate speed to enter the awaiting corner.
Normal mode (“O” on the wheel-mounted drive-mode selector dial) is best for most driving scenarios. It offers the smoothest ride, the smoothest gear changes, and, despite being the least sporty setting, it still delivers an abundance of power in short order.
“I” is an individually programmed setting, which we’ve programmed to behave exactly like O, except without the annoying auto-start disabled and with the sports exhaust enabled.
“S” is for Sport – quicker throttle response, quicker, more aggressive gear shifting, tighter suspension, tighter steering. Although we rarely use S, it’s sure fun to engage on empty, winding roads, such as those we visited for this post.
“S+” is an even more extreme version of S – it’s purely for the racetrack, or if you want to use the car’s Launch function.
Squeaking Chassis. We’ve had the car for about eight months now, and something in the chassis seems to squeak when driving over uneven terrain. Not a major issue, just a bit strange.
Errant Headlight Warning. Throughout our canyon drive, we stopped to photograph the car. To elevate the images, we turned on the headlights. About an hour in, a notification started to appear, alerting us to check the front left headlight. Nothing seemed wrong with it. After some time, the warning disappeared, and we’ve not seen it since.
Design Appeals to Rats. Yes, you read that properly. Not long after our arrival in L.A., the A/C stopped working. Technicians at the local dealership identified the problem as one common to 911 owners: rodents had nested around the engine compartment and chewed through a bunch of the wires. We’re staying in a lovely area, although parking is outside, as is common throughout southern California. Apparently, this car’s design, more than others, invites this gross, expensive and inconvenient phenomenon.
As reliable and comfortable as the 991.2 C4S is for a cross country drive, its power and handling prowess truly shine on hardcore driving roads. Ultimate precision and stability may suppress some emotion, but you won’t easily find a car that instills as much confidence in the driver, and that is still beyond fun to drive.
Whatever you’re driving, we urge you to take it to a proper proving ground. After every canyon drive, we look at the 911 (and think of the Stuttgart engineering team) with renewed awe.
Many more videos with this 991.2 out in California are in the works:
Car Meetups. We’ll stop at a Coffee and Cars event to see what TrackWorthy beasts lurk around Malibu these days.
Back to T.O. We’ll re-traverse the continent back to Toronto, this time taking Google’s recommended northern route, which should be more scenic and offer more dramatic topographic transitions. More importantly, it should also promise more open road, enabling us to shoot a video that is much more driving focused.
If you have any additional requests or recommendations, please contact us at info@trackworthy.com. We’d love to hear your creative ideas and we’ll do our best to incorporate them.
Photographs and Videos © Copyright TrackWorthy Group Ltd. 2018
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