MotorWeek Compares Porsche’s 959 to Their Latest 911 Turbo S
MotorWeek is now 36 years into testing cars, so they’ve been around to see plenty of Porsche’s development history, including both the 959 and the 991.2 Turbo S. The cars are remarkably similar on paper, when you get right down to it. They both have twin-turbocharged flat-six engines, they both have all-wheel-drive, they’re both rear-engine 911-based platforms, and they’re both exceedingly fast. Taking the opportunity presented to them, MotorWeek borrowed a 959 to compare with Porsche’s newest King 911.
Both cars represent the pinnacle of roadcar speed technology in their respective years. The 959 had kevlar bodywork and sequential turbocharging, far before anyone else. And the current 991.2 generation 911 Turbo S employs rear-wheel steer and what is effectively an electrically-controlled anti-lag system, which makes everything in its class look weak by comparison.
The 959 was crazy fast in its day, and remains fast even among today’s modern sports cars. The 991.2 Turbo is bigger in every metric, more comfortable, and heavier, but with more power and all the new-tech whizzbangery, it out-sprints the 959 and has a higher top speed to boot. Check out the video below to see MotorWeek really putting the wood to the new Turbo, but driving rather sedately in the 959 at the owner’s behest. It’s a cool video with some excellent points made, and well worth watching.