Porsche supercars
Tue, 29 Jul 2008
By Tim Pollard
29 July 2008 18:00
For a company that specialises in more accessible sports cars, Porsche has grade A provenance in the supercar sector. The original '70s 911 Turbo was a prescient car, proving that Zuffenhausen had the expertise to mix it with the big boys from Modena. And so it proved, as the 911 gave way to 959 and from there to the latter-day Carrera GT. Like Ferrari and McLaren, Porsche brings its track experience to bear in its supercars – with devastating results
Make and model
Year
Price
Engine
0-60mph
Top speed
Porsche 911 Turbo
1974
£14,749
2994cc flat six, 260bhp, 253lb ft
6.0sec
155mph
For
Virtually nothing is as quick down a wet road as the current
car
Against
Everything you've heard about the handling of early cars is an
understatement
Verdict
Is it a true supercar? Drive one and try to deny it
What a transformation: the first 911 Turbos had terrifying handling, evil turbo-lag but only around 260bhp. Now power and grip are both vast and utterly consistent, but it's taken 33 years of development.
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Make and model
Year
Price
Engine
0-60mph
Top speed
1987
£145,000
2850cc flat six, 450bhp, 369lb ft
3.7sec
197mph
For
Electronics radically altered the supercar driving experience
Against
Could leave the driver feeling a little forgotten. Nick Faldo
had one
Verdict
For the first time, brains were as important as brawn
Computers controlled the damping, the four-wheel drive and the 2.8-litre, 450bhp turbo six, and produced a scarcely believable 3.7-second 0-60 time. But modest Porsche left the 200mph boasting to Ferrari
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Make and model
Year
Price
Engine
0-60mph
Top speed
1996
£350,000
3220cc flat six, 544bhp, 442lb ft
3.6sec
192mph
For
This is no open-top Carrera GT poser, but a proper supercar
with Le Mans heritage
Against
Unforgiving and not exactly user-friendly
Verdict
The ultimate Porsche, but not necessarily the best
Forget your 911s and Carrera GTs, because this was the ultimate race-develped Porsche. Built to satisfy GT1 regulations the street-legal versions featured sparse 993 interiors, steel brakes and tweaked suspension
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Make and model
Year
Price
Engine
0-60mph
Top speed
2002
£273,000
5700cc V10, 612bhp, 435lb ft
3.9sec
205mph
For
Bespoke, Le Mans-derived 612bhp V10 engine
Against
Slightly gawky, elasticated-Boxster styling
Verdict
Still good enough for loyalists to buy all 1270 at £317,000
Much-anticipated clean-sheet super-Porsche took four years to go from concept to production but failed to ignite our imaginations when it finally arrived; was overshadowed by a spate of more dramatic new supercars
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Make and model
Year
Price
Engine
0-60mph
Top speed
2007
£131,070
3600cc flat-six, 523bhp, 501lb ft
3.7 sec
204mph
For
The fastest, most brutal 911 ever
Against
Verdict
Less grip, less refinement and more power than the Turbo. Even more extreme than bonkers original but GT's solid ride and nuclear power delivery mean a GT3 RS is more exploitable on the road
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By Tim Pollard