Porsche 911 Turbo S (992.2) review: sit down, shut up and hold the hell on

What is it?

The newest, most powerful, most technical and lightly psychotic version of the legendary Porsche 911 Turbo. This time there’s just the ’S’ rather than a base and a separate version with the added consonant, and there’s a fair bit more stuffed into this car than just the usual twin-turbos and gobs of boost. As ever there’s all-wheel drive, a mid/rear-mounted flat-six and the usual practicality afforded a 911. But it’s got secrets. Dark secrets.

It doesn’t look that out-there though?

Don’t be fooled. This is not your GT-series car with a massive wing, with which you tend to look like a bit of a prat when popping to Asda for teacakes and milk. Instead, it’s relatively subtle, conservative and unlikely to be remarked upon when passed in the street. But it’s also a bit like a serial killer that everyone describes as ‘quiet’ just after some sort of bloody rampage: it might look normal, but it’s capable of murdering a backroad with very little conscience.

Powerful, then?

Very. But not in the same way that 1,000bhp isn’t uncommon these days. This is not performative bhp. Basically there’s a 3.6-litre flat six in the back, but it looks like it’s been steamrollered flat - Porsche engineers doing their best with new technologies and packaging. The turbos are electric - they feature an electric motor aft of the impeller on the shaft - which, although smaller than the single turbo in the T-Hybrid 911s, double up for max boost.

The motor allows fine control, spinning up the compressors without needing to wait for enough exhaust gas to pressurise the system (as would a traditional turbine), cutting lag. They also act as generators when off-boost, siphoning power back to a 1.9kWh battery. That battery powers the revised T-hybrid system, which features an 80bhp/139lb ft motor spliced into the eight-speed PDK transmission, again something that aids response times.

The ‘natural’ engine produces something in the region of 630bhp and 560lb ft, but with everything on, the official aggregated numbers are 701bhp and 590lb ft - they don’t just add everything together because of the way the Turbo S utilises the extra shove. Numbers are just the right side of startling - 0-62mph in 2.5 and 200mph top end. Although it can punch that 0-62 ticket on slippery tarmac and very possibly in the wet. And the mid-range will surprise an electric car. Plus, it makes power from 2,000rpm all the way to 7,200, with graphs like the outline of a table top. Typically, Porsche is a little coy and understated about this motor, but it’s a belter.

One assumes it’s not on beam axles and monotube dampers?

Electro-hydaulic chassis control to manage the damping, Porsche’s all-wheel drive system that can allow up to 369lb ft of torque to the front axle, Porsche traction management to finagle the grip if it does. There’s rear-wheel steer and a lot of Scrabble-sounding acronyms that start with the word ‘Porsche’ and four basic drive modes. What it adds up to is a car that’s perfectly capable of tootling around town with the - excellent - stereo playing something Enya-adjacent, and then ripping the spine out of whatever racetrack is foolish enough to let it in.

Ten-piston/420mm front brakes and four-pot/410mm rears mean it’ll stop 50ft before your brain will, but it’s not really the overarching experience here. The big news is how stable, lightfooted and confidence inspiring the set-up is. Bluntly, the Turbo S makes you feel like a superhero, and then doesn’t punish you for accidentally wearing your pants outside your trousers.

You can’t put absolute stock by Nürburgring Nordschleife times, but this Turbo S is some 14 seconds faster than the last one at about 7m 3s. FOURTEEN. And that’s a scary bit of tarmac that’s more like a road than a racetrack. That can’t be ignored.

What’s it like inside?

It’s a 911. So there’s embossed ‘Turbo S’ stuff on the electric and very comfy sports seats, another little badge on the dash, a smattering of special carbon weaves and the Turbo S-only Turbonite accent colour also used on the window surrounds and external badging, but it’s not night and day from a well-specced GTS. There’s a decent frunk which swallows more than you might think, and although the Coupe comes as standard without rear seats for extra storage, you can add them back in as a no-cost option. The Cabriolet is launched at the same time, and that comes with the back seats as standard. The sales split between Coupe and Cabriolet is roughly 70/30, apparently. But you really want the Coupe. After that, there’s everything you need in terms of tech, very little you don’t, and quality is superlative.

It’s not that aggressive looking - what’s gone on on the outside?

The point of the Turbo was always that it wasn’t as visually aggressive as the GT-series cars, and the new one is the same. So you’ve got specific wheels (with options), a front-end that features a lot of active elements, a new rear bumper and Turbo active spoiler, plus arches that are wider by 45mm in the front and 25mm in the rear. The front has vertical vanes in the lower element that can open for cooling or close for aero, an extendable front splitter (as per the previous-gen), plus flaps in the underside that can either reduce front-end lift or channel cooling winds to the brakes.

Interestingly, if it’s raining, the diffuser flaps will stay shut so that the discs don’t get wet and reduce performance. The rear wing extends up and back depending on need, and there are upticks in the extremities that are a bit like the flicks in the ends of aeroplane wings.

There’s a new titanium exhaust and tips, which are hexagonally angular as standard, or you can option oval twin pipes, and the badges and window surrounds are tinted in the bespoke Turbonite colour. It’s pretty subtle, all told.

What’s it like to drive?

‘Fast’ sounds like a really petty way of describing it. It’s not as precise or clinical as a GT3 RS around a racetrack, but it’s really good at magic tricks. As in turning ‘over there’ into ‘here’ without anyone noticing. The engine just kicks the lungs out of human beings, the suspension calmer than the speeds would suggest. You arrive at every corner 20mph faster than you thought, and then stop before you imagined you could thanks to the brakes. It’s a hugely stable, flattering and confidence-inspiring car.

But that in itself eventually gets quite dangerous as you imagine that you can get away with anything. Which you probably can’t. Eventually. All you have to do really is remember to keep the power on within reason - the Turbo S needs positive affirmations from the throttle to allow the suspension and systems to operate properly. After that, it’s sit down, shut up and hold the hell on.

The sheer linearity of the engine probably robs some ultimate character, and it does sound a bit industrial, plus the gearbox paddles are too small for comfort, but in terms of getting it done, there’s not much to match it.

The impression is that you like it?

It’s awesome. And that’s a literal description rather than weak hyperbole. The duality is really the impressive thing here; you can trawl through town, on a motorway, an A-road and have no idea what this car is capable of. You can park it and not have it keyed (probably), use it as a daily. And it’s even better on a B-road because it’s not too big. But give it death and it’ll chew tarmac and spit out the bones.

The best bit? The 911 Turbo was always more a roadcar, and that’s really where the new Turbo S shines. Yep, it’ll go around a racetrack faster than most - and I actually think it’s faster than a GT3 RS for normal people - but on an unknown road, the blend of confidence and capability can’t be beaten. This is the fastest car down a road when you don’t know what’s coming, bar none. And that means it’s quite the thing. It also sits in a slightly strange position where 200k feels like value.

A superlative machine - just don’t get too carried away with the configurator.

Price: £199,100
Engine: 3.6-litre twin-eturbo flat six (+electric motor)
Power: 701bhp, 590lb ft
Transmission: 8-spd PDK ‘box, all-wheel drive
Performance: 2.5 seconds 0-62mph, 200mph top speed
Weight: 1,725kg