Porsche 911 Turbo 2006 Review

Losing your licence is never far from the mind of any Porsche driver, but none more so than when driving the latest bitumen-melting 911 Turbo coupe. So it's a good thing that we're getting our first taste on local soil of the latest version of Porsche's iconic supercar in the Top End -- on Northern Territory's 'unrestricted' speed roads where the 300km/h-plus speeds it's capable of are legal if not always safe to achieve.

Porsche has sold worldwide more than 50,000 of its turbo trailblazer since its introduction in 1974, lifting the sports car bar higher at every new model upgrade since. And it's no different with the latest 997 series, launched in Australia in August with a raft of technological advances -- world-first variable turbine geometry (VGT) and new all-wheel-drive system, to name two.

Overall the new 911 Turbo is bigger yet lighter and more powerful, better handling, and even more composed and confidence-inspiring at speeds most other sports cars would pack it in and go home.

Over two days and 1000km of 'real world' conditions, from long straight stretches of relatively smooth bitumen to winding coarse and off-camber B-roads, the 911 Turbo shone in its unerring ability to remain hugged tight to the bitumen while remaining superbly controlled at thrill-seeking speeds.

In fact, the biggest concern was not getting the car up to rocketship pace -- at 3.5secs it's potentially quicker to 100km/h than the discontinued Carrera GT, and is currently the fastest production car to 200km/h - but trying to avoid the odd speedbump (read roadkill), meandering caravan or 50m long road train whilst doing it.

Just as impressive as outright speed (we managed 320km/h at just under 6600rpm redline in sixth gear) is the in-gear flexibility of the twin-turbo 3.6-litre flat six engine. There's more power (353kW) and more torque (620Nm) earlier on in the rev range, from 1950rpm through to 5000rpm. Slot it in sixth and it will pull strongly all the way from 1500rpm to the 6600rpm redline, all the while delivering the sweet sound of the water-cooled twin turbos in full song.

It's a well-worn cliché, but the 911 Turbo is a car that your Granny can drive to the shops. But it's also a car that your Granny (eyesight permitting) could also drive fast on the limit. The front end chats continuously with the driver, communicating every nuance in the road surface through the millimetre-perfect steering almost to the point of over-communication. On  rougher roads from Darwin to Jabiru, this can prove unnerving but despite some 'jiggling' it tracks faithfully and rides confidently over the odd pothole or low-lying drain.

Sport suspension mode is best left for race track or super smooth roads, as the default Comfort setting maintains the disciplined suspension tune whilst being slightly more comfortable over undulations at higher speeds.

The return trip to Darwin via Pine Creek proved an even better opportunity to exploit its high-speed abilities.  Settling into its comfort zone of around 180-200km/h in fourth or fifth gear through long sweepers, the outer tyres almost burned a groove into the bitumen as it tracked confidently through each corner. According to Porsche 4000 litres of air a second is funnelled through the front vents at 300km/h, providing the ground-sucking downforce that contributes to high-speed stability.

The bigger dinner-plate sized brakes are well up to the task, making emergency stops at 200km/h a stress-free affair and confining the optional $19,000 ceramic brakes to the trackday diehards.

Even at normally life-threatening speeds it's hard to test the limits of adhesion, so it took a few skidpan and motorsport exercises at Hidden Valley motorsport circuit to guage the effectiveness of Porsche's PASM (Porsche Active Stability Management)) system and the new PTM (Porsche Traction Management)  fitted to the latest Turbo.

Combined with the new all-wheel drive system, which now allows up to 100 percent of power to be channelled to the front wheels, even wildly induced understeer and oversteer is subtlety corrected without the driver knowing.

A tight motorkhana course also demonstrated the efficacy of the five-speed Tiptronic transmission. Not only offering a potentially faster 100km/h time, the Tiptronic does a good job of selecting the right gear during rapid manoeuvres. While the six-speed manual is still the purist's choice, and arguably more satisfying to use, the Tiptronic is a worthy alternative.

Criticisms? Some noticeable tyre roar over coarse bitumen, no doubt caused by the bigger tyres with their wider footprint, and some cabin creaks at 200km/h plus. We also found the 'standard' seats almost as supportive and slightly more comfortable than the optional 'sports' seats, while the 911's centre console with its tiny buttons remains finicky.

At $327,000 ($335,000 for Tiptronic), the latest 911 Turbo is a step up in price on the previous 996 version. But for that you get an even better package to hunt down those pesky Ferraris and Lamborghinis. According to Porsche the latest 911 Turbo is one second faster than Ferrari F430 around the Nurburgring circuit, and with Porsche currently working on a DSG gearbox capable of withstanding 720Nm, there's promise of even better performance to come…

Porsche have pre-sold the first 80 cars delivered to Australia, with a waiting list of at least 12 months for those cashed-up and still interested. But if you can't wait that long, the (non-turbo) 'track-oriented' 911 GT3 will be released in November, to be followed by the even more purposeful GT3 S in early '07.