Those lucky guys at Autobild got invited to Finland to try out the new Porsche 911 Turbo (997). Some of their comments: “a wolf in wolf’s clothing”, “the increase in traveling comfort is particularly pleasing”, “the new Turbo is without a doubt the most complete 911 ever, and the sports car best suited to everyday use, all year round”.

I imagine that the pleasure of testing the 911 Turbo was tempered by the frustration of driving it on the Finnish snows, where not even the new 4 wheel drive system could ground the 480 hp and 680 Nm of the 3.6 liters flat-6 engine. Compared to the 996’s engine, it has 60 hp and 60 Nm more and should have a smoother power curve, thanks to the variable geometry turbocharger.

While the Carrera 4 uses a Visco-clutch to trasfer torque to the front axle, the Turbo uses a multi-disk electro-hydraulic cluch that can transfer up to 100% of torque to one of the axles.

Performance: the 997 Turbo sprints from 0-100 km/h in 3,9 seconds, top speed is 310 km/h (respectively 0.3 seconds and 5 km/h better than the 996 Turbo). For what it’s worth, average consumption is lower, with 12,8 litri/100 km, but I guess it’s a value without meaning for this kind of car.

As usual, the 911 is rear-heavy, thanks to the engine hung behind the rear wheels: the weight distribution is 40% to the front and 60% to the rear.

We suggest a visit to the ample image gallery of the test.

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