48 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | OCTOBER 2019
It feels absurdly fast, like a thrill ride at a theme park,
only better because it’s one you can steer and brake
PRICE
£750,000
(approx)
PowERt R a I n
38 00cc 24v twin-turbo
flat-six, seven-speed
dual-clutch, rear-wheel
drive
PERfoR manCE
691bhp @ 7000rpm,
553lb ft @ 2500rpm,
2.7sec 0-62mph,
211mph (est)
wEIght
1380kg
o n salE
Sold out
Data
E ffICIEn CY
23.9mpg, 269g/km
CO2 (based on 911
GT2 RS figures)
extent that’s what 911 Turbos do if you’re not
positive. Brake deeper into the corners and get
on the power early to keep things neutral and
the 935 comes alive.
Its pulverising cornering speed is as impres-
sive as its rocketsled acceleration, but even more
so is its approachability. As you gain confidence
and reduce the intervention of the traction
control and stability control, it becomes clear
that this is a fundamentally friendly car. All
too soon the session’s over; the thought of a full
day chipping away at its limits and my own is
almost too good to imagine.
A postscript: we drove the 935 back-to-back
with the 911 GT2 RS Clubsport – essentially the
same car without the evening-gown bodywork
but with little difference in weight and down-
force (and priced at £357k, which in this context
seems like a snip). Maybe because I drove it
second, once dialled in, the 911 felt slightly more
positive and nimble than the 935.
JAMES TAYLOR
And the 935 goes like billy-o. Power from the
twin-turbo 3.8 is rated as identical to the road-
going GT2 RS at 691bhp, and if that number
looks big on paper it feels all the more so from
the driver’s seat.
Press play: back at that first, throttle-meets-
stop moment. The 935 feels absurdly fast, like a
thrill ride at a theme park, only better because
it’s one you can steer, and brake. There’s no
servo assistance for the latter, so the pedal
needs a leg-press shove but there’s no doubting
the brakes’ effectiveness, and there’s ABS as a
safety net.
Down through the gears on the carbon
shift paddles (the PDK gearbox is fractionally
slower than a pure racing transmission, but
also smoother and less violent) and point the
nose into one of the Lausitzring circuit’s long,
bumpy parabolic curves.
There’s understeer on the racing slicks; at
first, an encouraging thing – you’re reassured
the car’s stable, it’s staying put – but it intensi-
fies as the corner winds on, to the point where
you exit not with a heroic dab of oppo but
actually with a touch of positive lock.
That’s partly because today the car’s been set
up conservatively, partly because underneath
the skin it’s essentially a 911 Turbo, and to an
First drives
First verdict
My lottery-win garage space goes to the GT2
Clubsport but the 935 is very special. To drive it is
to fall under its spell: it’s bewitchingly brilliant
HHHHH
▲
P l U s
Stratospheric track
performance;
accessible handling;
sense of humour
mIn U s
▼
Stratospheric price;
kitschness; sold out
Intoxicating
mishmash of
935 whale
tail, 919 LMP1
endplates and
908 exhausts
