POWER PLAY

The last time I drove a 911 Turbo, it was a first-gen 991 in S trim. Powered by the 3.8-litre biturbo flat-six and making a punchy 560PS (that’s 552bhp in our preferred terms, though the reason I’m quoting metric horsepower will become relevant in a second), it was quick. Like, blisteringly, dementedly quick. Reordering your perception of what speed means quick. That was my takeaway impression, which is why I was completely awestruck when the 991 Gen II Turbo reached 580PS (572bhp) in 2016 — the last thing the 991 Turbo ever needed was more power. Nevertheless, when announced in March this year, the 992 Turbo S’s headline figures continued Porsche’s trend of building on the previous model’s impressive numbers.

This latest 911-with-a-capital-T has what’s purported to be a 3.8-litre engine, but in truth, it’s a dry-sumped 3.75-litre lump (a swept capacity of 3,745cc). Importantly, it’s not just the old 991 Turbo’s mill treated to a moderate dusting-down and sprucing-up, before being installed in the back of a fat-bodied 992. Rather, it’s a three-litre 9A2 Evo from the current 992 Carrera/S models, bored out (the stroke’s the same) for increased capacity and then given a much, bigger pair of variable turbine geometry (VTG) blowers, plus sundry other technical upgrades. This means that, when compared to the original 991 Turbo S I drove six years