997.1 CARRERA S

HISTORY AND TECH

The 997 was universally praised for its looks and Porsche was keen to tell correspondents that this was no mere reskin – all body panels except the roof were new, and Peter Robinson of Autocar was largely alone in finding the shape of the new 911 a shade too conservative. All testers though were impressed with revisions to the chassis which endowed more stable handling and a smoother ride. Robinson atoned for his earlier observation by adding that adhesion was so good that he could not make the 911 oversteer on dry roads, and body control was “brilliant”. There were no complaints about performance either, especially the S for which Porsche claimed a top speed of 182mph. In 911 history, the ‘S’ began as a higher-tuned model before disappearing for 20 years, then reborn simply