IT’S 25 years since Austrian Niki Lauda clinched the F1 world title using the first Porsche (TAG) turbo racing engine in the McLaren MP4/2.
That it all happened at the Estoril race track in Portugal holds special significance, as today the former F1 circuit is where Porsche showed off one of its most accomplished sports cars to motoring hacks of the world - the 911 Turbo.
The Turbo ’s current state might say something about the nature of four-wheeled evolution. Its birth came on the heels of the 70s oil crisis with life beginning with a turbocharged air-cooled 3.0-liter version of Porsche’s classic flat six.
An oversize “whale tail” rear spoiler, flared wheel arches and brake technology borrowed from the legendary Porsche 917 race car completed the Turbo signature.
Some call it the wrong car at the wrong time but that depends on where you’re standing.
To afficionados at the 1974 Paris Motor show, the adrenaline pipelines were overflowing at the thought of 260hp in a shape that tapped into the very core of what makes a car look fast.
And the Turbo surpassed expectations, selling 3,000 units in three years.
There’s a certain fatalistic attraction that is part of the sports car allure, something that the original Turbo undertook with aplomb, helped along by a notoriously fast and wild nature, especially in the wet.
But Porsche worked to tame the inherent quirks of a car with its engine in the rear and the extreme turbo lag that made the early cars challenging to drive fluently.
The Turbo now enters its seventh iteration as one of the world’s best supercars, more refined, and sophisticated, but ever more monstrously fast.
Familiar rumblings
Porschephiles will quickly spot the cues of purposeful aggression that distinguish the new Turbo from other 911s - from the front apron with larger cooling air intakes and now titanium-coloured louvers in the side air intakes and LED daytime driving lights replacing the conventional foglamps.
The headlamps now follow the bends in the road and there are new 19-inch forged wheels. Centre-lock wheels are an option. The rear sports new LED lights and larger tailpipes.
Inside the cabin, a new three-spoke steering wheel on the PDK model is finally available with nicely weighted F1 like paddle shifters that rotate with the steering wheel.
Heart of the matter
So the Turbo is one of the last 911 variants of the 997 serie to receive what Porsche modestly brands a face lift.
At the heart of the changes is the first all-new engine in the Turbo’s 34-year history - a 3.8-litre six-cylinder in place of the old 3.6, combined with direct fuel injection (with multi-hole injectors for better dispersion), tweaked twin-turbochargers, uprated intercooler and revised exhaust system.
The new 3.8-litre serves up 650Nm (up 30Nm) from 1950-5000rpm, which extends to a mountaneous 700Nm from 2100-4000rpm with an optional overboost function.
The larger engine has allowed Porsche to dial back boost pressure a little, lending added drivability. and it weighs in as the most powerful, yet fuel efficient unit.
An optional new Torque Vectoring system helps the car strike a more neutral balance when taking corners. It works in conjunction with a limited-slip rear differential, braking an inner rear wheel slightly so that the outer rear wheel carries more of the torque distribution.
The functional gauges and spoiler that define the 911 family. The new school of double clutch automated manual transmissions debuts in the Turbo. Porsche’s PDK (or Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe)- shifts faster and smoother than is humanly possible in a manual transmission.
The new adaptive engine mounts control the inertia of the rear-mounted engine by softening and stiffening depending on driving and road conditions.
Gets under your skin
It’s a user friendly supercar and you can hop into the Turbo and feel confident right away.
Inside, the cabin follows the traditional 911 architecture with a hard to fault driving position that offers good forward visibility. The electrically adjustable seats offer excellent support and there’s usable space under the front hood.
It’s a cosy environment with all the accoutrements of a grand tourer - something the Turbo handles with panache.
But it is the engine, above all that shows the course of time.
Back in Niki Lauda’s days, driving a turbocharged car round bends meant pouring in the coals a second or two before the power swelled in.
Today’s Turbo on the other hand, feels totally naturally aspirated, being totally lag free and with a smoothness and throttle flexibility that has to be seen to be believed. A mere 2,000 rpm on the rev counter is where the big push begins. And its a linear wall of torque well past 6,000 rpm.
But there’s no rising crescendo for aural effects, just a gruff induction growl.
Overtaking is a blast for the Turbo with the PDK gearbox seemingly able to process commands as fast as you can say the word.
Plant your foot down and what follows is a blur of metal rocketing past confused motorists.
You go into corners carrying prodiguous amounts of speed - the Turbo managing it with unflappable poise.
While the steering is direct, the Turbo falls short in feel and delicacy to its rear-wheel drive Carrera siblings.
But it remains easy and unfussy to drive despite being monstrously fast, gobbling up miles of asphalt in one go.
Driving at sane speeds on Lisbon’s expressways and coastal roads leaves you feeling that you’ve only scratched the surface of its true dynamic potency, as whatever you throw at the car is assimilated with such utter authority
The 4.2km Autódromo do Estoril proves more rewarding. Here, we can fully appreciate the added traction of the four-wheel-drive system and the ability of the differential and torque vectoring system to provide easily managed drifts.
Charge in a little too headstrong into a bend and it will safely understeer and scrub the outside front rubber. Lean in harder and there’s slight sideways movement. It’s all very progressive with the Turbo rewarding a well executed slow-in fast-out approach and judicious pedal movements with a stupendous catapult out of the corner.
It’s forgiving and yet immensely rewarding to those skillful enough to can tap into the nature of its rear engine weight bias.
All that performance is reigned in by brakes that, by Porsche’s rule of thumb, are at least six times as powerful as the maximum g-forces experienced under acceleration.
In the zone: The Turbo offers a nice forward driving position. Launch control
Plant yourself behind the driver’s seat at the start of Estoril’s home straight and with the Sport Plus button activated, left foot on brake, right foot all the way down the pedal and the launch control lights illuminate.
That’s the cue that the throttle has been remapped for more aggressive response and faster gear shifts.
With 5,000 rpm and with your left foot off, there’s no tyre screeching, just a brief yelp from the huge Bridgestone rubbers as instant traction from the four wheel drive system follows.
The neck snaps back as it accompanies the tsunami of acceleration that propels you down the asphalt. The PDK transmission is in rapid fire mode, cracking through the gears with no discernible pause. It’s one huge, intense lunge, not a series of connected dots.
Porsche claims a 0-100kph run of 3.4 seconds for the PDK equipped cars with the sports chrono package.
GPS timing done at the circuit found many of the press cars hitting 3.21 or 3.22. 160kph arrives in about 7 seconds and 200kph in about 11.8 seconds.
Did, I mention that everything about this car feels like its screwed on right?
Well, there’s a reassuring feeling that Porsche’s fastest accelerating 911 will stand up to the treatment all day long.
The Turbo stands out among rarified peers - some more exotic looking - as the supercar that you can count on everyday.
Not one for poseurs, it remains the quintessential road weapon with very little on the road to trouble the owner.
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