[auto-moto] Porsche 911 GTS 2021 UK review

[#Hassan.]

What is it? Less than a month after driving the new Porsche 911 GTS in Italy, we’ve had the chance to sample one of the first right-hand-drive versions to reach the UK: an all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 GTS Coupé, experienced on the challenging moorland roads around Weardale in County Durham. The new GTS is closer to a model family than a trim level, with the choice of Coupé, Cabriolet and Targa bodyshells and a multitude of potential dynamic options. But the biggest quandary for British buyers is likely to be over the number of driven wheels. Choosing the Carrera 4 GTS over the rear-driven GTS requires an extra £5580 and brings around 50kg of additional mass but it also carries the promise of better traction in slippery conditions. Such as those I found on my test drive.

Other items from the dynamic smorgasbord of options fitted to our test car included rear-axle steering, PCCB carbon brakes and the speed-sensitive Power Steering Plus, but it didn’t have the roll-fighting PDCC dynamic chassis system.

What's it like? Porsche says the GTS’s chassis components and settings are close to those of the Turbo S and it felt noticeably firmer than the regular Carrera and Carrera S over challenging roads. Stability and traction were both impressive, even when rain tried to stop play. However, GTS drivers may spend a lot of their time travelling over choppy Tarmac searching for the optimal setting for the PASM adaptive dampers. On the bumpy (but supremely well-sighted) B6278 from Eggleston to Stanhope – one of the sternest tests of chassis manners in England – Normal mode struggled to digest high-frequency corrugation, the front of the car growing light as speeds rose. Selecting Sport imposed iron discipline, but at the cost of a forceful lower-back pummelling through the seat base. Beyond mild discomfort, though, the Carrera 4 GTS proved hugely impressive at delivering its turbocharged urge to pretty much any road surface. The GTS’s 3.0-litre flat six is well short of the Turbo on poke – its 473bhp is just 29bhp up on the Carrera S – but the ability to deploy this is much more important than the number itself, especially given the GTS’s low-down torque and the scintillating reactions of the test car’s eight-speed PDK gearbox.

It sounds good when revved out, a louder exhaust tune giving a more purposeful voice than in the standard Carrera, but it needn’t be thrashed to deliver serious performance. The GTS feels agile and svelte on a tight-fitting road, easy to place and loyal to a chosen line, with steering that stays accurate as speeds and loadings rise. As with every 911, small inputs yield immediate reactions, fractional changes in throttle position widening or tightening cornering attitude. Mechanical grip is huge, but the chance to experience some tight, wet, bumpy corners proved that when the rear Pirelli P Zeros do let go, they do so abruptly. Loss of traction was also the only time the car felt obviously all-wheel driven, with torque aggressively diverted forwards as the quick- acting transmission tried to pull the car straight. And while Porsche’s carbon-ceramic brakes always feel over-spec for road use, they behaved impeccably under gentle loadings.

Should I buy one? The GTS is definitely a Carrera-plus rather than a junior GT3, a point I confirmed by driving over the same roads in the GT3, whose responses and soundtrack remain on a higher, ethereal plane. Yet a well-chosen GTS feels like a particularly sweet spot within the 911 clan, especially given its ability to make use of an impressively high percentage of its dynamic talents in the real world.

link https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/porsche/911/first-drives/porsche-911-gts-2021-uk-review