2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Full Test by Inside Line
Jan 6, 2011 | 10:35 AM
#1
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From: Zoo York
2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Full Test by Inside Line 
"Something extraordinary happened when we turned from Malibu Canyon Road onto Piuma, shut off the 911's stability control system and engaged Sport Plus mode. Piuma Road is a notoriously challenging stretch we've used to test the limits of a large number of sports cars, and the 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS was, not surprisingly, blurring the Malibu scenery at an astonishing rate.
There are few driving experiences that can match a 911 when its driver settles in and becomes part of the machine. But this time it felt different. The 911 GTS was inhaling Piuma. Hairpin after hairpin. High-speed bender after high-speed bender. But it was somehow making it easy. The Porsche was supplying the expected breakneck pace, but without the fear of death, which usually comes along for such a ride in Stuttgart's rear-engine icon.
And without the Grim Reaper riding shotgun, we could go even faster. In fact, our money says a moderately skilled GTS driver would beat a similarly skilled GT3 driver on this road. Why? Because the GTS is so much easier to drive at or near its limit.
The $104,050 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS is the newest 408-horsepower version of the legendary Porsche coupe (there's also a cabriolet), and two things make it different from the many, many 911s that have come before it: its torque-rich engine and its magical transmission.
Based on the Carrera S Powerkit upgrade (a $16,900 option that elevates that car's price to $106,650), the list of modifications to the GTS 3.8-liter engine are equally extensive and highly effective. Much of the enhanced torque characteristics were the result of thorough intake and exhaust system engineering. Sure the horsepower rises, but it is the generous and unusually wide torque curve it provides that makes the GTS special.
Beginning at a mere 1,500 rpm, there is 236 pound-feet of torque up to the maximum of 310 lb-ft at 4,200 rpm and the car only weighs 3,416 pounds. What this virtually 3,000-rpm-wide plateau of oomph means is that gearchanges aren't required nearly as often and the driver can focus on driving rather than shifting.
Rolling on the throttle (as is the Porsche way) through corners with enough tachometer headroom (it still redlines at 7,500 rpm) for the exit on the other side is not something we've experienced in a non-turbo Porsche 911. This added muscle brings a new effortlessness to a 911, especially when combined with the optional PDK seven-speed automated double-clutch transmission."
For the full review click here -> Inside Line
Jan 11, 2011 | 07:11 AM
#6
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 12,211
That makes exactly ZERO sense. A GTS I spec'ed was about $120K. Turbos are more in the $145-150K range. I agree with Wyatt about the car being a better bet than a GT3 for most, but I haven't owned a Porsche GT car yet, so that's my kryptonite.
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