My 911 love has been inconsistent. I fell head-over-heels for the sonorous and soulful 2005 (997.1) Carrera S, but that lusty flame was extinguished four years later when I drove a 2011 (997.2) Carrera S and found it to be too imprecise and understeer-prone for my sports car cravings. The 2015 (991.1) Carrera S was a tighter handler on an autocross but still plowed under power and was utterly upstaged by its little brother, the 2015 Cayman GTS. Then this spring, I was wowed by the turbo wallop and balletic poise of the 2020 (992) Carrera S, but its formidable $120k purchase price is out of my league.
And now, I’m about to test a 2017 991.2 Carrera, where I hope to find the characteristics I loved from the 992—potent power and a nigh unflappable chassis—at a significant discount. I’ve seen 991.2 Carreras for as little as $75k, but that price is hypothetical today because my test car has an $85k sticker that befits its never-been-used 2,008-mile odometer readout.
The salesman quickly walks me through the car’s options: PASM adjustable suspension, PDK transmission, 14-way seats, and keyless go. I wonder if this Carrera is similar to the highly acclaimed Carrera T. The salesman tells me that this car is virtually identical to the T. Is it? I thought the T was fitted with a sports suspension, LSD, and Sports Chrono package, all options missing on this base Carrera.
I settle into the driver’s seat and find a familiar cockpit. Due to the price-conscious build sheet, I’m swimming in a sea of black, with plenty of plastic everywhere. But the fitment is tight, and the construction is sturdy.
Looking in the back seat, I see the deeply-scooped rear buckets. Are they tinier here than they were in the 992? Is the roof lower? Somehow everything looks tighter than I recall. I might need the Porsche brand child seat to get my kid in the back.
The dealership’s proscribed test route is short: get onto the freeway, go eastbound for two exits, turn around, and come back. But it’s just enough to get the pulse of the car. Okay, here I go!
Down the long on-ramp, I wind out the engine. The “baby” 3.0L turbo flat-six produces 370 hp, pulling smoothly and consistently across the rev range. It seems Porsche made a careful facsimile of the old naturally-aspirated 3.8L’s power curve, but they left out—or couldn’t replicate—the sharp throttle response of the naturally-aspirated mill. Sadly, the slightly squidgy throttle response and flat-and-steady power curve result in an engine that’s low on character and motorsports sharpness.
(The 992 Carrera S uses a variant of this 3.0L turbo, but it has a sharp throttle response, wicked pull, and a noticeable torque surge at 4k rpm. All in all, it has a real character of its own and is much more exciting for it.)
Cruising on the highway, I find the 911 I know. The ride comfort is good, and the outward visibility is excellent. The PDK is, as always, quick and precise. The steering has Porsche-appropriate precision, Goldilocks weighting, and a real sense of the traction ebbing and flowing at the front tires. Yes, the 991.2’s EPAS steering meets my high standards for feel and feedback.
Three miles/three minutes later, I’m at the halfway point of my drive. Time to turn around! Luckily, the proscribed exit is a four-leaf clover interchange. Two long rights would be sufficient to send me back to the dealership, but I’m in a 911, so I add a gratuitous circuit of the cloverleaf to the route.
I charge up to each corner, lay on the brakes, and then ease the 991.2 into the turns. As I add steering angle, the weight at both ends of the car moves in symphony, loading the outside tires. (If this sounds unremarkable, then you haven’t driven a 997 911; it does a two-step dance every time you turn in!) Once laterally loaded, the 991.2 feels balanced and adjustable and exhibits 90% of the 992 Carrera S’s superb poise. The 991.2 hints that its wide rear rubber can push its narrow front tires into understeer, but the rear and front grip are now nearly balanced. (The same was true for the 992, but this was not to be taken for granted in the 997.)
The 991.2 Carrera has another way to find rotation: stab the go-pedal! The turbo engine can overwhelm the rear tires, and the stability control blinks when I dip into the throttle at the end of the cloverleaf. Between the grippy front axle and the power-adjustable rear, this 991.2 has all the cornering control I want out of a modern 911.
On my return to the dealership, I perform a few more highway pulls and attack the final, looping exit ramp. Unfortunately, my experiments garnish no new discoveries: This 991.2 Carrera is a competent modern sports car, but it’s a little low on turn-and-burn spice.
Yes, I like the car’s flavor, but I’m not finding full-belly satisfaction in the 2017 911 Carrera. The problem is that compared to the full-fat 2020 911 Carrera S, the 991.2 drinks like skim milk: its power is thinned out, and its handling is watered-down.
Yet Porsche’s options list is so deep that I believe that with the sports suspension, LSD and Sports Chrono+—options which are standard on the Carrera T—I could find full-bodied perfection in a 991.2 Carrera. I’d like to give a Carrera T a taste because when it comes to sports cars, I’m a whole-milk guy.
Mike's Steering Column 