Porsche 911 review

Some things in life should be left as they are. The Leaning Tower of Pisa wouldn’t be the same without a tilt – and the shape of the Porsche 911 needs no tweaking either.

Under the skin, though, there have been loads of changes to the 911 over the years. Porsche’s rear-engined sports car now comes with a choice of four turbocharged flat-six petrol engines and – for the first time – one of them (the Carrera GTS) now gets extra power from a mild-hybrid system.

Further down the line, Porsche will offer two plug-in hybrids – including one with more than 600bhp and a top speed of almost 200mph.

Porsche 911 video review

So the big question is – is the Porsche 911 a better sports car than its key rivals, the Aston Martin Vantage and Mercedes AMG GT? Read on to find out...

The entry-level Porsche 911 – the 388bhp Carrera – comes with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and delivers crushing straight-line pace, getting from 0-62mph in just 3.9 seconds.

The Carrera T has the same 3.0-litre twin-turbo engine and power, but its six-speed manual gearbox increases its official 0-62mph time to 4.5 seconds. Both are so quick and happy to rev to their 7500rpm limiters that they make the 473bhp Carrera S (0-62mph in 3.3 seconds) feel a little unnecessary.

The Carrera GTS, meanwhile, gets a larger 3.6-litre turbocharged flat-six engine with a mild-hybrid system that boosts power to a mighty 534bhp. You can’t use the hybrid system to drive on electricity alone – it’s there solely to give you instant acceleration and a 0-62mph sprint of just 3.0 seconds.

Compared with the rest of the range, the GTS feels decidedly more like a naturally aspirated car, suffering from zero turbo lag when you plant the throttle. It's also available with four-wheel drive – as the Carrera 4 GTS.

To read about an even more hardcore 911 see our Porsche 911 GT3 review.

All 911s come with adaptive suspension (called PASM), which means you can change the stiffness of the suspension to suit the type of driving you're doing.

With the 911 Carrera and Carrera S, the regular setting only works well around town, where it takes the sting out of sharp-edged bumps and prevents you from being jostled around too much. Out on the open road you'll notice body control becoming surprisingly loose, with the car bucking and bouncing on any surface that's not perfectly smooth.

The firmer Sport setting prevents that, and it's the one we'd choose for most UK roads. The Carrera S is available with optional stiffer, lower PASM sport suspension, which solves the body control issues but does make the ride more agitated, even in its softer mode.

Thanks to the 911's beautifully weighted steering, which is communicative and incredibly accurate, you can push right to the limit of grip with total confidence – something that can’t be said of the Mercedes AMG GT.

Rear-wheel-drive 911s are slightly more rewarding to drive than the Carrera 4 GTS. That's because when you're cornering really hard in the four-wheel-drive version, the front wheels try to help claw you out of corners. It's certainly effective but makes it less exciting to drive.

What’s more, as long as you've switched the adaptive suspension to Sport mode (or have a Carrera S with the optional sport suspension), body control is superb. It’s fair to say that the Ferrari 296 GTB is even better but its price is on another level compared with the 911 and it’s a lot less practical.

The 911's switchable sports exhaust – which is optional for the 911 Carrera and standard across the rest of the range – makes a full-blooded and thrilling howl when you put your foot down. Alternatively, for those moments when you’re not in the mood, you can turn the volume down to ensure that the engine never gets too boomy or intrusive.

This is not an especially refined choice of car for covering lots of miles. You'll hear wind whistle from around the frameless side windows at motorway speeds and the wide tyres generate a lot of noise over coarse surfaces. Consider the BMW M8 if you're looking for a more agreeable long-distance cruiser.

The 911's eight-speed PDK auto gearbox shifts very quickly and surprisingly smoothly. The six-speed manual gearbox in the Carrera T is one of the best fitted to any sports car – it’s just a shame you can't have it on any other versions except the 911 GT3.

"Many Porsche 911 fans were worried about the GTS getting a hybrid system, but it has turned out to be a great thing. It feels more like a non-turbocharged 911, reacting instantly when you plant the throttle." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

You sit close to the floor in the Porsche 911, which gives you a suitably hunkered-down feel from behind the steering wheel, and the pedals are perfectly positioned.

Most people will be able to find a driving position that suits them using the entry-level 911's seats, which have four-way electric adjustment. We'd still recommend forking out for the 14-way electric sports seats – or even better the 18-way Adaptive Sports Seats Plus, both of which bring adjustable lumbar support and a memory function.

The latest-generation 911 has done away with traditional dials in front of the driver, replacing them with a 12.7in digital display. The graphics are really crisp and it can mimic the old dials or a full screen map, but it lacks the charm of real dials. So does the new start/stop button, which has replaced the pseudo-key.

Driving a sports car usually involves making serious visibility sacrifices, but the 911 is surprisingly easy to see out of.

Forward visibility is excellent, thanks to slim windscreen pillars. Those distinctive bulges around the tops of the headlights give you a clear idea of where the front wheels are, too, making the 911 easier to manoeuvre than a Mercedes AMG GT.

Even rear visibility isn't too bad, thanks to a deep rear window allowing you to place the back of the car accurately when reversing. Plus, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera come as standard, making things even easier.

Porsche has acquired a reputation for being stingy with the amount of kit it fits to its cars, but the 911 comes with all the infotainment essentials, including Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring as standard.

The 10.9in infotainment touchscreen has a really crisp display. While being solely touchscreen means it can be a little distracting to use while you're driving, the fact that it reacts to all of your prods quickly helps to make navigating easier. 

You also get an eight-speaker stereo and a DAB digital radio. If you’re a bit of an audiophile, it’s worth considering the Bose or Burmester sound system upgrades (the Burmester one is particularly impressive).

Most of the buttons and switches in the 911 are well damped and the dashboard and other fixtures feel reassuringly sturdy. Compared with the Aston Martin Vantage and Mercedes AMG GT the 911 has impressive interior quality.

Indeed, the materials used throughout look and feel high quality but, as standard, the 911's interior is pretty much a sea of black. As such, you’ll have to dive into the extensive personalisation options list to give it a bit more character.

"It’s a shame the dials and turnable ignition key have been replaced in the latest Porsche 911. True, it’s probably only something that purists will care about, but it does remove some of the 911’s character." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

The Porsche 911 driver's seat slides back a long way, and there’s a decent amount of head room in the front – even for tall adults.

The centre console, which fences off the driver from their passenger, is quite wide but is also padded, so it's not uncomfortable to rest your left knee against.

A passenger isn't quite as well catered for when it comes to storage space. The glovebox is deep but quite narrow, making it hard to fit more than a few documents inside, while the door bins are on the small side. You get two cup-holders, along with a shallow storage area under the centre armrest.

The 911’s sloping roof and tight rear knee room mean its back seats are really only suitable for children or very small adults – and even then only for short distances. You're better off using the space to throw coats, bags and other odds and ends into.

To that end, the rear seats are actually an optional, cost-free extra on all versions. Whether you need them will depend on your use, but at least you get the choice – the main rivals are strictly two-seaters.

The 911's rear seats split and fold down flat, allowing you to carry surprisingly long loads without much fuss – although getting them in might be a bit of a faff.

It's worth noting that unless you specify the optional full electric adjustment on the Carrera and Carrera S, you have to return the front seats to their original position manually after you've moved them forward to allow access to the rear.

The 911 has a 135-litre boot under the bonnet. It's big enough to stow a carry-on suitcase, a soft weekend holdall or a few shopping bags.

It's certainly better than nothing but you do get more boot space in front-engined sports cars, such as the Mercedes AMG GT.

"I’m not sure I’d bother adding the 911's optional rear seats due to their small size, but it’s good that Porsche gives you the option to add them for no cost." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

All versions of the Porsche 911 undercut the Aston Martin Vantage and Mercedes AMG GT by a fairly hefty margin. The thing is, the 911 still looks pretty pricey next to its excellent stablemate, the Porsche Cayman.

Luckily, slow depreciation means that you’ll get plenty of your money back when you decide to sell. Indeed, the 911 is predicted to lose its value more slowly than the Vantage, the AMG GT and even the Cayman.

Don't expect great fuel economy with any 911. We saw indicated figures of around 34mpg in the GTS after a long motorway run, but the number tumbled as soon as we used the engine’s performance.

While you’d be fine going for the entry-level 911 Carrera, we’d step up to the Carrera T. It doesn’t cost all that much more but comes with some extra kit and gives you access to the six-speed manual gearbox. 

As you go higher up the model range, you get more standard equipment, but even if you choose the 911 Carrera GTS, you'll almost certainly want to tick a few option boxes. Speaking of which, that model is worth considering if you want the best balance of performance and kit.

Porsche finished 21st out of the 31 car makers in the overall manufacturer league table of our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. That's one place above Mercedes but not particularly impressive. 

The 911 as a model placed towards the bottom of a 15 strong field of coupés, convertibles and sports cars. It’s worth noting that the 911’s key rivals weren’t included in the list, but the Porsche Cayman topped the reliability table. 

You get a three-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, which includes three years of European breakdown cover.

While the 911 hasn’t been tested for safety by the experts at Euro NCAP, it comes with a good amount of standard safety equipment. That list includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), plenty of airbags, a sophisticated stability control system, traffic sign recognition, lane-keeping assistance and Isofix mounts for a child seat on the front passenger seat.

If you delve into the options list you'll find more safety kit available, including lane-change assistance, blind-spot monitoring, and a system that can see pedestrians and animals at night beyond headlight range.

An engine immobiliser and an alarm are fitted as standard. If you want more protection you can pay for Porsche’s vehicle tracking system, which makes it possible to trace stolen vehicles across most of Europe.

"While the Porsche 911 is a truly excellent sports car, its price means that it can be quite hard to justify buying one over the equally great and cheaper Cayman, especially if you don’t want the optional rear seats." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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