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The Definitive List: Top 5 Porsche 911s of All Time For over four decades, I’ve had the privilege of driving countless Porsche 911 models. With each iteration, Porsche has managed to refine and perfect its iconic sports car, ensuring it remains relevant, exhilarating, and incredibly engaging. Even today, after 40 years of testing these engineering marvels, the 911 remains one of the few new cars I would choose to buy with my own hard-earned money. From the raw, uncompromising nature of the earliest models to the sheer track-focused brilliance of the latest generation, I have experienced a wide spectrum of what makes this car legendary. This journey through time has allowed me to witness the evolution of a legend, each model pushing the boundaries of what’s possible while staying true to the original ethos. After four decades behind the wheel, here are the five Porsche 911 models that have left the most indelible mark on me. These are the cars that pushed the envelope, reshaped the industry, and remain etched in my memory long after I returned the keys. The Original 911 Turbo: A Masterclass in Brutal Beauty Back when I first drove the original Porsche 911, veteran road testers spoke in hushed, awestruck tones about the 911 Turbo. It was a car that demanded the utmost respect when driven with intent, a machine whose binary boost dynamics transformed the traditional 911 tightrope walk into a high-stakes performance. Corner-entry understeer versus corner-exit oversteer became a challenge that required not just skill, but courage. The 911 Turbo was unforgiving; sloppiness was not tolerated. It was, they said, a widowmaker. It took me 35 years to finally get behind the wheel of an original 911 Turbo to discover the truth behind the legend. The car was one of the first 30 production Turbos ever built and is now a prized asset in Porsche’s classic fleet. Aware of its fearsome reputation, I started cautiously, easing into the throttle and monitoring the boost delivery as I watched the tachometer climb. I tried to build a mental map of the power and torque curves of this historic machine. What surprised me most was how tractable the engine was, humming along happily at 2,000 rpm in top gear, cruising along at 45 mph without complaint. However, once the engine hit 3,500 rpm, the characteristic acceleration surge kicked in as the turbocharger pushed 0.8 bar into the induction system. The sledgehammer blow between the shoulder blades I had anticipated wasn’t there in the visceral way I expected. I quickly learned the trick to smooth yet swift progress in the original 911 Turbo: keep the 3.0-liter flat-six spinning at 4,000 rpm or higher. This kept the turbocharger energized and minimized the lag. Yes, there is turbo lag, and by modern standards, it is very noticeable. But once the boost kicks in, it’s manageable. Despite being more than 50 years old, this 911 is still an impressively fast car on the road today. First gear reaches 50 mph, second gear 90 mph, and third gear stretches to almost 130 mph. This means it can devour winding roads using only second and third gears. While it boasts a modest 256 hp, it weighs only 2,513 pounds, allowing it to get into and out of corners with ease. Half a century ago, its performance would have seemed truly otherworldly. The 993-Generation: The Last of the Truly Analog Porsches For Porsche purists, the 993-generation 911 is the pinnacle, the last of the “real” 911s. This is the Porsche you drive with your knuckles grazing the dash, the snarling metallic clatter of an air-cooled flat-six buzzing just behind you. But back in 1994, when I first drove it, the 993 was the 911 of the future. It was the first model in the line that seemed to question the very laws of physics that had governed previous generations. While the front end still demanded careful loading to ensure perfect apex placement and the rear end still exhibited its characteristic rhumba on rough turns, there was a new harmony between them. The 993 still performed 911-like duties, but within a much tighter safety margin. At the heart of this revolution was a new rear suspension. Porsche replaced the semi-trailing arms of old with a state-of-the-art multilink setup. This new geometry allowed for minute initial toe-out during corner entry, which then progressed to toe-in as lateral loads increased. Crucially, it also reduced the camber change that had been the Achilles’ heel of 911s since their debut in 1963. This engineering breakthrough was coupled with a new six-speed manual transmission, making the most of the 3.6-liter flat-six. The engine zinged harder towards its 268-hp power peak at 6,100 rpm, thanks to lighter internals, an updated Bosch Motronic 2.0 engine management system, and a revised dual-exhaust system. Compared to the 964 model it replaced, the 993 was a revelation. The engineering upgrades, led by Ulrich Bez (who would later head Aston Martin), were significant. But it was the exterior redesign, executed under the direction of design chief Harm Lagaay, that truly corrected the visual problems of the 964. Lagaay believed the 964 was too tall at the front and too squat at the rear. The 993’s body work smoothed out these proportions, creating a cleaner, more aerodynamic profile. The interior was tidier, too, with fewer buttons scattered in seemingly random locations. The 993 was a 911 that was faster and more forgiving than ever before. And most importantly, it was more desirable. The 996-Generation: The Hero Car That Saved Porsche In its time, the decision to equip the 996-series 911 with a water-cooled flat-six engine was considered heresy by many aficionados. It was the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan abandoning his acoustic six-string for an electric Fender Strat at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. But the 996, the first clean-sheet redesign of Porsche’s indefatigable sports car in 34 years, was a hero car in my eyes. It was the 911 that saved Porsche. Engineered and developed under the leadership of Porsche R&D chief Horst Marchart, the 996 was a remarkably clever 911. Not least because it shared 38 percent of its components with an entirely new, less expensive mid-engine roadster the world would come to know as the Boxster. The visionary Porsche boss at the time, Wendelin Wiedeking, knew the Boxster was essential for dealerships to have something else to sell when the aging 928 and 968 models were discontinued. “We built two cars for the price of one-and-a-half,” design boss Lagaay quipped with a smile after the company unveiled the 996. However, while much of the media attention was focused on the Boxster relationship and the water-cooled engine, the true story of the 996 ran much deeper. In 1994, it took Porsche 130 hours to assemble a 993-series 911. By the time the 996 arrived, the production time had been reduced to just 60 hours. The modern 911 had arrived: roomier and equipped with the all the features expected of a late 20th-century sports car, yet still unmistakably Porsche’s icon. Most importantly, it still drove like a 911. Only better. Yes, there was a new layer of sophistication to the way it performed, but the 996 retained the sublime tactility and urgent response that had made the 911 a sports car like no other. Along with the original Boxster, it was the car that saved Porsche from extinction. The 991.2-Generation Carrera: The Pure Heart of the 911 Of all the 911s I have ever driven, it was a base 991.2 Carrera that truly stole my heart. It captured the hearts of everyone else, too, judging by the feedback I received from colleagues who tested it. Most press fleets tend to feature heavily optioned vehicles, presumably because automotive PR departments believe we are impressed by such things. So Porsche Cars North America’s decision to include a base 911 Carrera among the roster of new 991.2 models available for our 2017 MotorTrend Car of the Year testing was, perhaps, a brave one. In truth, though, it was an inspired move. The 991.2 introduced a new 3.4-liter turbocharged engine, offering 370 hp in the base Carrera or 420 hp in the Carrera S. Even in the 370-hp trim, the engine provided a broad band of torque and impressive efficiency. This Carrera also proved that even with the base wheel and tire combination, the chassis was staggeringly communicative and adjustable. Visually, the 991.2 was a subtle refresh of the larger, skillfully reproport