THE PORSCHE 911 IS THE ONLY SPORTS CAR THAT CAN SEAMLESSLY TAKE YOU FROM HOME TO OFFICE, STREET TO CIRCUIT, AND EVERYWHERE ELSE IN BETWEEN.
To most petrolheads, a sports car is wonderful thing to have. If it looks great, has a powerful engine and sublime handling, most enthusiasts would jump at the chance of owning it.
Most sports cars out there, however, are really only suited to being driven on weekends, because they aren’t ideal for everyday driving. Low ride heights and wide bodies make driving in and out of multi-storey carparks a tricky endeavour.
Stiff dampers are great for handling, but are a nightmare for your back because regular roads are nowhere as smooth as well-maintained racetracks.
And as sweet as a powerful engine is, it doesn’t get you to your workplace any quicker than the driver of a regular runabout, especially when you’re both bogged down in rush hour traffic.
These scenarios, however, are only true when you’re driving a run-of-the-mill sports car.
Piloting a Porsche 911, on the other hand, is pure bliss, because it can function as both a track machine and daily driver. It delivers the best of both worlds.
A 911’s relatively compact dimensions make it a cinch to manoeuvre in carparks.
Ramps, unless they’re particularly steep, won’t damage a 911’s front end, even if the car is specified with the optional PASM sports suspension, which is 20mm lower.
In any case, one can opt for the Front Axle Lift system, which gives the 911 added ground clearance by raising the front end by 40mm at the touch of a button. Most parking spaces are also wide enough to accommodate a 911 and its wide rear end, with room to spare.
These practical aspects, however, aren’t really what make a 911 so attractive.
A 911 is special because of how it makes you feel. Knowing that the car’s rear engine, rear-wheel-drive layout has remained unchanged for over 50 years fills you with pride, for you’re driving one of the most exceptional sports cars available today.
The 911 may be German, but its character is far from clinical. Fire up that turbocharged flat-6 motor and the roar sends shivers up and down your spine.
You ease the car onto an open road, plant your foot on the throttle, and your eardrums tingle as the revs build. The flat-6’s roar is unique – it is simultaneously raspy, throaty and guttural. Lift off the accelerator and you’re rewarded with staccato-like pops of the exhaust overrun.
In the 911 Carrera S, having 420bhp and 500Nm to play with sounds like it’s too much – but it isn’t. The motor is so linear, tractable and torquey that low-speed crawls are not a problem. In a naturally aspirated sports car with peaky power delivery, you’d be miserable sitting in traffic.
What’ll really put a smile on your face regardless of the weather – is how the 911 handles.
With 20-inch wheels and the weight of the engine pressing on the rear tyres, the 911’s grip on the road is so tremendous that it’s almost impossible to spin the car – even in the fiercest thunderstorm. You’ll never feel as secure in a normal rear-wheel-drive sports car.
If you drove a 911 to work daily, you probably wouldn’t need to drink coffee. You’d reach the office with your eyes wide open and pulse racing, raring to begin your day.
Because you know that the sooner your day ends, the sooner you’ll be able to get behind the wheel and experience all these emotions all over again.
“A 911 CAN FUNCTION AS A TRACK MACHINE AND A DAILY DRIVER.”
