The 5 All-Time Best Porsche 911s You Should Drive Before You Die
After four decades behind the wheel of some of the world’s greatest cars, I’ve driven countless Porsche 911s. Each iteration brings new tech, refinement, and performance, but only a few truly stand out. They etch themselves into your memory, leaving a lasting impression long after the engine fades and the tires cool.
When I first experienced a Porsche 911, it was a white 3.0-liter Carrera with no power steering and a five-speed manual. It felt raw, visceral, and utterly engaging—a stark contrast to the increasingly digital, sterile performance cars of the era. While a contemporary 944 Turbo was objectively faster, the 911 had a soul, a connection to the road that was intoxicating. It demanded respect, demanded engagement, and rewards those who put in the effort.
Over the years, I’ve seen Porsche navigate the treacherous path of modernization without losing its iconic identity. Even with advancements in technology and safety, the 911 has remained relevant, exhilarating, and deeply satisfying. For me, it remains one of the few new cars worth spending my own money on—and choosing one is a testament to the enduring magic of this legendary machine.
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The 5 All-Time Best Porsche 911s You Should Drive Before You Die
After four decades behind the wheel of some of the world’s greatest cars, I’ve driven countless Porsche 911s. Each iteration brings new tech, refinement, and performance, but only a few truly stand out. They etch themselves into your memory, leaving a lasting impression long after the engine fades and the tires cool.
When I first experienced a Porsche 911, it was a white 3.0-liter Carrera with no power steering and a five-speed manual. It felt raw, visceral, and utterly engaging—a stark contrast to the increasingly digital, sterile performance cars of the era. While a contemporary 944 Turbo was objectively faster, the 911 had a soul, a connection to the road that was intoxicating. It demanded respect, demanded engagement, and rewards those who put in the effort.
Over the years, I’ve seen Porsche navigate the treacherous path of modernization without losing its iconic identity. Even with advancements in technology and safety, the 911 has remained relevant, exhilarating, and deeply satisfying. For me, it remains one of the few new cars worth spending my own money on—and choosing one is a testament to the enduring magic of this legendary machine.
Here are the five Porsche 911 models that have left the deepest impression on me.
The Original 911 Turbo: A Widowmaker Worth Respecting
Veteran journalists from my early days of automotive testing spoke of the original Porsche 911 Turbo with a mixture of awe and trepidation. They described it as a car that demanded the utmost respect—a machine whose binary boost delivery made navigating the narrow tightrope between corner-entry understeer and corner-exit oversteer an act requiring quick hands and serious courage. They called it a widowmaker, and for many, it was a fitting description.
It took me 35 years to actually drive one of these mythical machines, and when I finally did, it was one of the first 30 production Turbos ever built, now part of Porsche’s incredible classic fleet. Aware of its daunting reputation, I took it easy at first. I gently played with the throttle, feeling the turbo spool up and watching the tach, trying to map out the power and torque curves in my mind.
What surprised me most was how tractable the engine actually was. The 3.0-liter flat-six happily hummed along at 2,000 rpm in top gear, allowing the Turbo to cruise at 45 mph without complaint. However, once the engine hit 3,500 rpm, the turbocharger spooled up, forcing 0.8 bar into the induction system, and there was a very noticeable surge in acceleration. It wasn’t the savage, brutal blow I’d been warned about, but it was exhilarating nonetheless.
The key to smooth and quick progress in the original 911 Turbo is keeping the engine spinning at 4,000 rpm or higher to keep the turbo energized. Yes, there is significant turbo lag by modern standards—very noticeable turbo lag—but it’s manageable. Even today, over 50 years after its debut, this car is impressively fast. First gear will take you to 50 mph, second gear to 90 mph, and third gear will redline near 130 mph. This means you can effectively destroy any winding road using only second and third gears. And while it may only have 256 horsepower, it weighs just 2,513 pounds, allowing it to attack corners with surprising agility.
In its time, the performance of the original 911 Turbo would have seemed otherworldly. Today, it remains a thrilling, challenging, and deeply rewarding driving experience—a true icon of the automotive world.
The 993-Series: The Perfect Blend of Soul and Technology
For many Porsche purists, the 993-series is the last of the line—the last of the truly analog 911s. It’s the car you drive with your knuckles grazing the dash, the air-cooled flat-six buzzing and clattering behind you, and a connection to the road that feels as pure as it gets. But when I first drove it in 1994, the 993 wasn’t just a retro experience; it was the 911 of the future.
The 993 was the first 911 to truly challenge Isaac Newton’s laws of physics. Oh, sure, it still had the classic 911 handling characteristics—that light, sometimes twitchy front end that demands a load of weight to hit the apex, and that rear end that dances through the rougher turns. But for the first time, there was a much stronger connection between the front and rear of the car. The 993 still did everything a 911 should do, but within a vastly improved margin for error.
The engineering genius behind this transformation was the new rear suspension. It replaced the old semi-trailing arms with a sophisticated multilink setup that allowed for very slight initial toe-out on corner entry and then progressive toe-in as lateral loads increased. Crucially, it significantly reduced the camber change that had been the Achilles’ heel of 911s since 1963.
This revolutionary suspension was combined with a new steering system that was 16 percent quicker, making the front end feel far more decisive and responsive. Added to this was a new six-speed manual transmission that allowed the 3.6-liter flat-six to extract every last ounce of its 268 horsepower. Lighter internal components, Bosch Motronic 2.0 engine management, and a new dual exhaust system all contributed to the engine’s urgency.
Compared to the 964 model it replaced, the 993 was a revelation. It wasn’t just the engineering upgrades, led by Ulrich Bez (who later became the head of Aston Martin); it was also the exterior redesign. Harm Lagaay, the design chief, corrected the visual flaws of the 964, which he felt was too tall at the front and too low at the rear. The interior was cleaner, too, with fewer buttons scattered randomly. The 993 was a 911 that was faster and more forgiving than ever before. Most importantly, it was also significantly more desirable. It’s the last air-cooled generation and remains the benchmark for many Porsche enthusiasts.
The 996-Series: The 911 That Saved Porsche
In the mid-1990s, Porsche made a decision that shocked the purists. They installed a water-cooled flat-six in the tail of the 996-series 911, a move that was equivalent to Bob Dylan swapping his acoustic guitar for an electric Fender at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. To many aficionados, it seemed like heresy. But the 996, the first clean-sheet redesign of Porsche’s indomitable sports car in 34 years, was a hero car in my eyes. This was the 911 that saved Porsche.
Engineered and developed under the direction of Porsche R&D chief Horst Marchart, the 996 was a brilliant piece of engineering. Its genius was partly because it shared 38 percent of its parts with an all-new, less expensive mid-engine roadster the world would come to know as the Boxster. Iconoclastic Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking knew the Boxster was essential to give Porsche’s dealers something else to sell once the aging 928 and 968 models went out of production. As design boss Lagaay famously put it, “We did two cars for the price of one-and-a-half.”
But while the media focused on its relationship with the Boxster and its water-cooled engine, the 996’s true story ran much deeper. In 1994, it took Porsche 130 hours to build a 993-series 911. The 996, however, took just 60 hours to build. This was the arrival of the modern 911: roomier, equipped with all the features expected of a late 20th-century sports car, but still recognizably Porsche’s icon.
Most importantly, it still drove like a 911. Only better. Yes, there was a new veneer of sophistication to the way it conducted its business, but the 996 retained the delicious tactility and urgent response that had made the 911 a sports car like no other. It successfully blended Porsche’s engineering prowess with the practicality needed for mass-market sales, ensuring the brand’s survival. It was the 911 that preserved the legacy.
The 991.2 Carrera: Precision, Balance, and That Manual Gearbox
Of all the 911s I’ve driven over the years, it was a base 991.2 Carrera that truly stole my heart. It stole everyone else’s too, judging by the feedback I received from colleagues who drove it around the same time. Most press fleets tend to be stocked with high-spec vehicles loaded with options, presumably because automotive PR departments think we’re impressed by such things. So Porsche Cars North America’s decision to include a base 911 Carrera among the roster of then-new 991.2 models available for our