We drive for years, yet the best moments are over in seconds or minutes.
Hours, if we are lucky.
I’ve just had an hour I’ll never forget, on a road I just can’t believe in a car that I’ve just fallen madly, hopelessly in love with.
Now before I turn around and go back the way I’ve come I’ll just sit for a few seconds and think.
But it’s harder to come down from the high figuratively than it is literally. In my mind I’m still snapping the new 991-generation Porsche 911 Carrera 4S coupe left then right, hunting the nose from corner to corner, revelling in its steering purity, instant throttle response and sure, sure grip.
Oh, and the brakes; those beautiful, big, six-piston monobloc calipers and 340mm perforated discs. Then there’s the perfect seating position? The steering wheel? The pedal relationship? The noise? Dear God, the tearing, cursing, howling noise, cutting straight through my back into my heart and soul.
Surely it couldn’t get any better than this, in conditions that probably couldn’t get any worse. The rain is sheeting down, a glassy black surface carves distinctly through snow-covered pines, veering in and out of sight over a foggy 1600m Austrian mountain pass.
Gradually, I’d upped the ante, letting the revs run up further before paddling the PDK through another millisecond change.
In the end, wipers swishing madly, I’d pressed the Sport Plus button to activate Sport Chrono and let the Carrera 4S have its way.
Incredibly, the car felt even better, stronger. The mechanical intimacy is a shock to the system. It happens every time I drive a 911, and I’m thrilled it’s still happening with the 991.
In a nutshell, the salient points of Porsche’s latest C4 are these: same line-up of Carrera and S coupe and cabrios as the rear-drivers, same 3.4- and 3.8-litre boxer engines, same choice of seven-speed manual and PDK gearboxes, same electro-mechanical steering, same new wider, longer, lighter architecture.
Unfortunately the Carrera 4 costs a significant amount of extra dosh compared to the Carrera 2, on top of the horrendous amount you’re already expected to stump up for a 911 in Australia. But right now I’m not in Australia, I’m in Austria. I’m parked by the side of the road and I’m about to turn around and go back up over the mountain the way I just came.
One more precious hour...
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