The gains here, at first glance anyway, are relatively marginal; a bit of extra track width, a little more downforce, revised steering calibration; you might think that these small improvements could collectively be cancelled out by the 12% increase in power. There is after all, enough of it to make this, in real-world terms, the fastest car in the world. Yes, a few exotic lightweight uber-supercars shade it on paper but in reality, at speed over twisting roads, the reality is that nothing you can buy is faster - take it from us. We'd like to see anything else beat it on a track too.
The engine, a horizontally-opposed 3.7-litre version of the standard Carrera's 3.0-litre flat six with larger VTG twin turbos, develops a boomier, more intense soundtrack (especially with the optional sports exhaust fitted) and simply hurls this car towards the horizon. On to the figures, which assume that you'll specify the optional 'Sport Chrono' package (as virtually all buyers do). Flick the drive mode from 'Sport' into 'Sport Plus' and in the 580PS form used in the standard Turbo, 62mph from rest occupies 2.8s en route to 199mph - if you're quick with the paddleshifters for the new 8-speed PDK twin clutch auto gearbox. It's hard to imagine how that could be insufficient, but should it be, in this 650PS Turbo S, the stats are massaged out to 2.7s and 205mph. Think only a fractional difference if you choose the Cabriolet body style rather than the Coupe.
All very nice, but as we've already suggested, lack of power was never a problem for this car in the first place. Tactile driver involvement was always the issue. Purists will always tell you that less is more in that respect. But perhaps a few purists need to drive this car if that's what they really think. Let's look at how this car has evolved. There's Porsche's latest all-wheel drive system which constantly varies torque between front and rear axles. Plus active suspension dynamic chassis control and rear-axle steering, which subtly turns the rear wheels as you corner. And you get a completely new 'PAA' 'Porsche Active Aerodynamic' package, with active aero flaps and an active rear wing, which is lighter and larger than before.
