[DeTomaso] NPC: A slow forum day and a dose of Dan Neil

[Charles Engles]

Dear Forum,

 

 

                    Dan Neil reviews the Porsche 911 Turbo S.

 

                  Excerpts from today's WSJ.

 

 

                "Every time I drive a Porsche 911 Turbo ---in S trim, with
the big turbos, best served cherry-red-I think, "This has got to be it,
right?"  The best overall sports car on the market?  Smarter than Kant,
sharper than the Brunhilde's horns, tighter than the buns of the Stuttgart
football club, and oh so schnell, the 911 Turbo S tops a short list of
German things that are wildly entertaining.

 

                Pedigree?  Check.  Porsche is the reigning Le Mans champion,
with 18 wins overall.  Provenance?  All Turbos are built at the mother ship
in Zuffenhausen, with conceptual roots as far back as the 1930s and Dr.
Ferdinand Porsche himself.

 

                Performance?  Puh-leeze.  As always when a new one comes
out, the 2017 Turbo S lays down some dazzling markers, like 0-60 mph in 2.8
seconds.  This kind of acceleration actually hurts, the sort of ungentle
transition from still to moving that draws a flag in the NFL.  The Turbo S
will churn out quarter-mile passes in the low 10s until the drag strip turns
the lights off.  Top speed is given as 205 mph, runway not included.  

 

               So naturally, if Dame Fortune or Lady Lotto should extend a
pass to one great sports car, the decision tree could only branch,
rationally and inevitably, to the proverbial ass-engine Nazi slot car.

 

                 So I've always thought.  Maybe I'm wrong.  There are many,
vastly cheaper and more expressive sports-car choices.  If all you seek is a
track-day toy, try a used Dodge Viper ACR, with its cowl-rattling V-10 and
six-speed manual gearbox fabricated by the village smithie.  

 

                   For about 15% more quid than the Turbo S, you could have
yourself the new brill Brit, the Aston Martin DB11, and could parade around
in a kilt, wearing a wolf's head as a sporran, which is equally subtle.

 

 

               Compared with these lewd displays, the Turbo S is practically
invisible.  This is good or bad depending  on the emotional needs of the
would-be owner.  It's pretty clear Lambo owner weren't hugged enough as
children.

 

           Let's kick the tires of this yellow one: a rear mid-mounted
twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six engine (580 hp and 553 ft-lbs of torque at
1.950 rpm), all set on hair trigger; the familiar seven-speed PDK gearbox; a
water-cooled all-wheel drive transfer case; rear torque vectoring; adaptive
suspension; active body-roll compensation; ceramic composite brakes that
would stop a meth-addled elephant; and four wheel steering.  The Sport Plus
mode includes a new track-only routine that allows drivers to pitch the car
around good and sideways (large deltas in yaw rate)  before it tugs the
appropriate brake to set things right.  Of course, the driver can't feel it,
so he thinks he is a genius behind the wheel.  

 

          Ditto the car's four-wheel steering.  A little late on your
braking and heading into the short grass?  Take another bite of tiller and
four-wheel steering is there for you, bro.

 

            You can't even row your own gears.  The seven-speed PDK is
equipped with paddle-shifter, of course, but the transmission -control
algorithms are now so precise, so predictive, that shifting by hand would be
quite a bit slower.

 

            "I just leave it in D" said Mr. Hurley Haywood.  "It's smarter
than you are."

 

 

                         Warmest regards,  Chuck Engles

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
   Dear Forum,



                       Dan Neil reviews the Porsche 911 Turbo S.


                     Excerpts from today's WSJ.



                   "Every time I drive a Porsche 911 Turbo ---in S trim,
   with the big turbos, best served cherry-red--I think, "This has got to
   be it, right?"  The best overall sports car on the market?  Smarter
   than Kant, sharper than the Brunhilde's horns, tighter than the buns of
   the Stuttgart football club, and oh so schnell, the 911 Turbo S tops a
   short list of German things that are wildly entertaining.


                   Pedigree?  Check.  Porsche is the reigning Le Mans
   champion, with 18 wins overall.  Provenance?  All Turbos are built at
   the mother ship in Zuffenhausen, with conceptual roots as far back as
   the 1930s and Dr. Ferdinand Porsche himself.


                   Performance?  Puh-leeze.  As always when a new one
   comes out, the 2017 Turbo S lays down some dazzling markers, like 0-60
   mph in 2.8 seconds.  This kind of acceleration actually hurts, the sort
   of ungentle transition from still to moving that draws a flag in the
   NFL.  The Turbo S will churn out quarter-mile passes in the low 10s
   until the drag strip turns the lights off.  Top speed is given as 205
   mph, runway not included.


                  So naturally, if Dame Fortune or Lady Lotto should
   extend a pass to one great sports car, the decision tree could only
   branch, rationally and inevitably, to the proverbial ass-engine Nazi
   slot car.


                    So I've always thought.  Maybe I'm wrong.  There are
   many, vastly cheaper and more expressive sports-car choices.  If all
   you seek is a track-day toy, try a used Dodge Viper ACR, with its
   cowl-rattling V-10 and six-speed manual gearbox fabricated by the
   village smithie.


                      For about 15% more quid than the Turbo S, you could
   have yourself the new brill Brit, the Aston Martin DB11, and could
   parade around in a kilt, wearing a wolf's head as a sporran, which is
   equally subtle.



                  Compared with these lewd displays, the Turbo S is
   practically invisible.  This is good or bad depending  on the emotional
   needs of the would-be owner.  It's pretty clear Lambo owner weren't
   hugged enough as children.


              Let's kick the tires of this yellow one: a rear mid-mounted
   twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six engine (580 hp and 553 ft-lbs of torque
   at 1.950 rpm), all set on hair trigger; the familiar seven-speed PDK
   gearbox; a water-cooled all-wheel drive transfer case; rear torque
   vectoring; adaptive suspension; active body-roll compensation; ceramic
   composite brakes that would stop a meth-addled elephant; and four wheel
   steering.  The Sport Plus mode includes a new track-only routine that
   allows drivers to pitch the car around good and sideways (large deltas
   in yaw rate)  before it tugs the appropriate brake to set things
   right.  Of course, the driver can't feel it, so he thinks he is a
   genius behind the wheel.


             Ditto the car's four-wheel steering.  A little late on your
   braking and heading into the short grass?  Take another bite of tiller
   and four-wheel steering is there for you, bro.


               You can't even row your own gears.  The seven-speed PDK is
   equipped with paddle-shifter, of course, but the transmission -control
   algorithms are now so precise, so predictive, that shifting by hand
   would be quite a bit slower.


               "I just leave it in D" said Mr. Hurley Haywood.  "It's
   smarter than you are."



                            Warmest regards,  Chuck Engles