Road Test: Porsche 911 2dr

Cowbells are clanking away in the awesome Bavarian mountain vista when the bark of a well-thrashed flat six engine splits the idyllic calm. Excellent, this'll be the freshly facelifted Porsche 911 then...

The lurid yellow example that's presently beckoning for a blat in the direction of the Austrian border has been subjected to the latest instalment in the series of gradual tweakery that's been ongoing since the 911 first hit the road some 37 years ago. If Porsche started to use Mitsubishi's system of nomenclature for outlandishly quick performance cars, this one would be the 911 Carrera Evo XXVII.

First of the useful improvements this time around is that, as mentioned, it's respectably louder. Superb car though it was, the '996' generation of 911s introduced scarcely four years ago was found by many of those jammy enough to try it out to be missing some of the unique character of its predecessors, gaining in its place a dose of overly effective refinement. Porsche's boffins have now added a vergröerter Sportsauspuff, or an enlarged sports exhaust to the rest of us, tuned to just squeeze through EU noise regulations.

Taking a peek around inside, there are a couple more handy additions. The steering wheel is now a neat three-spoke jobby as standard, unwelcomed shiny plastics have been banished from all immediately obvious switches and trim, a glovebox has sprouted out of the dashboard as has, perplexingly, a large cupholder.

The engine's capacity has also been increased from 3.4 to 3.6 litres, thanks to a new crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons. Also added is a VarioCam Plus system borrowed from the 911 Turbo which adjusts inlet valve lifts depending on how hard you're pushing, squirting in extra air/fuel when it's needed. The upshot is a 20bhp power increase to 320bhp, a 15lb ft torque increase to 273lb ft and a modest boost in fuel economy too.

There's a strong punch of torque from very low revs, assisted by the carefully spaced ratios of the strengthened six-speed manual gearbox. By 6,000rpm there's still more excitement to be experienced, the valves opening even further, the yowl emitting from behind my ears upping in volume and a hefty extra surge pummelling the car up the road until a further gear is called for as 7,500rpm approaches.

On the road, I flick a glance at the clock. The airport is 120 miles away and we're meant to be checking in in just over an hour's time. No problem. Push a little harder and despite its performance potential, this rarely feels an intimidating car to dice with. It simply corners flat with oodles of grip and fully informative feedback through the steering. More fettling has been going on underneath, with re-valved dampers, new suspension geometry and a wider front track combining to make it even more sweetly balanced than before. The bodyshell has been stiffened up while the alloy wheels are lighter and are available in a fresh choice of designs, with ten-spoke 17-inchers as standard and delicate optional five-spoke 18-inchers fitted to our test car.

We soon come to a section of slip road that tightly curves back on itself. Even in our rear-wheel-drive Carrera, the Porsche Stability Management system resists cutting in to hamper progress in these dry conditions.

A lengthy stretch of derestricted autobahn now lies between here and Munich. The speedo's needle is squirreling upwards yet the car remains reassuringly stable, having shrugged off the lightness at the front end that could be felt in previous 911s. Finally approaching the exit road, the four-piston brake callipers over cross-drilled discs haul it all in with complete confidence. Just 58 minutes after setting off, we're there.

There's one last obvious addition that I need to briefly mention. Gone are the headlamps shared with the Boxster and arguably modelled on a bloodhound's peepers, replaced by the more aggressive units sported by the Turbo. The cleanly spherical headlamps of the last '993' generation of 911s still do better it for me, but in all other respects the 911 you're looking at here is just a nose away from perfection.