Real longevity is rare in the automotive industry. Only a handful of models have made it to the half-century mark, but the milestone the Porsche 911 celebrates this year is one the Corvette passed a decade ago. Both have survived rampant model proliferation that has crowded their markets, plus rumors of massive, personality-altering redesigns, as well as the suffocating and ever-changing regulation inherent in one of the most scrutinized consumer-goods industries in the world.
But here are the 2014 models, two old masters that have provided much more than mere transportation in their long, storied histories. And both are recently renewed, creating the perfect occasion for critical analysis.
When lined up against a Corvette, the 911’s major drawbacks have always been power and price. With direct injection and a 7600-rpm redline, the Carrera S’s 3.8-liter flat-six produces 400 horsepower, a substantial 60 shy of the Corvette. And oh, that price! Atop a base of $99,850, the example tested here carries $48,395 in extras—including six items that cost more than $3000 apiece, plus an additional six that are more than $1000 each. This car’s options bill alone is nearly enough to buy you a base Corvette.
Which would cost just $51,995. But this one is armored to pick fights with Porsches. It has the $2800 Z51 handling package (upgraded brakes, shocks, springs, anti-roll bars, wheels, and tires; plus dry-sump oiling and an electronic limited-slip differential with coolers for both it and the transaxle); the $1195 performance exhaust (an extra five horsepower and five pound-feet with angrier vocals); and the top-shelf 3LT interior package for $8005, in which pretty much everything is power adjustable, heated, and leather wrapped. There are a few other extras, too. Even at an as-tested $68,375, the Corvette retains its value proposition. But our prior exposure to the C7 suggests this may finally be a Corvette that doesn’t rely on price alone to conquer the 911 carrera S, Lying roughly equidistant from nowhere you’d want to be and nowhere you’re particularly likely to find yourself, Lockwood Valley Road in Southern California looks like what would happen if someone paved a road over the ocean during a typhoon. With rapid-fire corners and more ups and downs than a Nicholas Sparks script, it’s an entertaining stretch. But its rough, bone-rattling surface is what really lets a driver know what’s up. Important insights such as: “Hey, maybe I need a kidney belt to own this car.” Or, more pertinent here: “That 911carrera S doesn’t lose its cool while being pummeled.” Even when bumps, pits, and what must be asphalt-entombed desert tortoises try to fling the wheels off the pavement, with the engine alternatively zinging and bogging like a jet ski in rough chop, there are no uncertain moments in the 2014 Porsche 911.
It remains a sensationally involving car, even with steering that is marginally less precise than the Corvette’s. Perfectly linear, the Porsche responds predictably to every input, changing direction immediately, rotating as requested by throttle lift, drifting at the behest of the brakes, and settling immediately when you get back on the gas. There’s just a hint of the old Porsche 911’s arse-swapping spook as the immediacy of the directional changes reminds you of the engine’s placement. After all, the car carries nearly two pounds in the caboose for every one in the nose, but it’s a defanged threat nowadays. The 2014 carrera S is an eminently controllable, responsive vehicle that encourages its pilot to use every bit of its performance.
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