996 Turbo S
There’s always a defining point in a drive, a moment of clarity, and today it’s a tight hairpin climbing out of a valley. A few runs through it, in both directions for Ali Cusick’s camera, is revealing. The Turbo S feels light, deft, agile and, yes, monstrously quick. There’s the briefest of pauses as I push the accelerator, before the 3.6-litre twin-turbo flat six really digs in and delivers its power and torque to the wheels best suited to exploiting it. The potential is huge, which could be a concern on such a small road, but the 996 – even here with the shapely, wider hips of the Turbo S – feels compact, which only adds to its effectiveness.
Four hundred and fifty horsepower shouldn’t feel as brisk as it does today. To think that it’s a number which is applied to a Carrera S these days seems ludicrous. As does the fact that this car’s 992 Turbo S relation packs 640hp to deliver performance which is in the other-worldly league. On the drive south to meet editor Lee Sibley and the beautiful GT Silver 996 Turbo S manual Coupe, I was concerned that time would have diminished the 996 Turbo S’s performance. Faded the legend, even. That expectation was compounded by the fact that my transport to the rendezvous was a Taycan 4S.
Porsche’s middling plug-in saloon actually offers performance that betters the 996 Turbo S in the 0-62mph sprint. However, as clever as the battery car is, it’s nowhere near as compelling to drive. As soon as I meet with the 996 Turbo S
