Car UK May 2019

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he best sports car here is the McLaren 570S. The best car

here is the Porsche 911 – there it is, out in the open. Phew.

The 992-generation Carrera S is a phenomenal machine

from a team of engineers with it all on their side: budget,

group-wide technical resource, a GT programme from

which to borrow ideas (and indeed wholesale solutions), an

unbridled enthusiasm for the job at hand and, crucially, the time to drive,

drive and drive again each successive prototype that led them here.

At the heart of the 911’s appeal is its rubbishing of the notion that com-

promise, refinement and versatility are all somehow dirty words. The

Porsche is almost the sports car the McLaren is, but – tyre roar aside – it’s

also supremely comfortable and cosseting, while offering a gorgeous,

tech-laden interior you’ll have to be deadly serious about driving to shun

in favour of the McLaren’s sombre cockpit. Yes the McLaren’s steering

is better, and its entire engineering architecture conducive to a visceral

thrill and giddying agility the Porsche cannot live with, but in every other

way the 911 is just as compellingly sorted: otherworldly body control,

T

Porsche 911

Wickedly capable, rewarding,

versatile and desirable: a

masterful reinvention.

HHHHH

mcLaren 570s

Loud, demanding and low-

tech, you forgive the 570

everything for the highs it hits.

HHHHH

audi r8

Superb powertrain in a chassis

that forgot it’s a sports car.

Refined, desirable, frustrating.

HHHHH

1st

2nd

3rd

mighty grip and a chassis from which unwanted movement and any

sense of confidence-sapping doubt have been mercilessly eradicated. Do

you need the optional rear-wheel steering? No. Do you need the 10mm

suspension drop? No. Do you need the new Carrera S in your life, what-

ever the cost? Yes.

Unless you’re selfishly dedicated to the hedonism of driving – then

you might want to call McLaren. You’ll have to rule out more than one

passenger, long journeys without coffee breaks, being able to hand over

to a suite of driver-assistance systems or anything resembling decent

fuel economy (you’ll also have to find a lot more money, though the more

affordable 540C hits 99 per cent of the S’s highs), but it’ll all be worth it.

The contradictory, enigmatic Audi R8 only serves to highlight the deft

balance the Porsche strikes: where the 911 is a sports car with GT ability,

the Audi feels like it paid for its impressive user-friendliness with its soul.

Occasionally a car comes along, be it an Audi or a Lamborghini, that’s

as joyously responsive as the 5.2-litre V10 it carries – but this R8, in this

guise at least, is not that car.

Giant test: Porsche 911