I slid into the slate gray Porsche and instantly, my cares melted away. The style, the pure bliss of the interior just begged me to step on the gas and floor it. I had a great time, accelerating, weaving in and out of traffic, pulling the tight curves and more.
My mission was to shoot the car at the fabled Casey Key. On the sliver of land entitled that, with wistful dream beach homes hugging the shore, I made my way down at a relatively slow pace. At times, the road was covered with the crystal white sand from a recent storm- yet the Porsche still hugged the pavement perfectly- the grey metallic paint glistened in the afternoon sun.
Like any updated car whose changes stop short of a full redesign, the 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera bears the typi-cal scars of midcycle fiddling. There are new headlights, new taillights, and a new touch-screen dashboard display. And that matters not one iota to us. In fact, those are but infinitesimal flickers in a grand night sky compared to the new 911’s biggest step forward, which requires you step back and peek under the engine covers of the Carrera and Carrera S. There, affixed to familiar flat-six engines, you’ll find twin turbochargers. Close the lids, and nary a script “Turbo” badge is visible.
We have entered a brave new world in which the base 911 Carrera and its zippier Carrera S sibling have given up natu-ral breathing for forced induction. It’s been expected for some time that Porsche would drop the Carrera duo’s naturally aspirated flat-sixes for turbocharged versions. Still, now that it has happened, we can’t help but lament the loss of Porsche’s signature and wonderful-sounding non-turbo flat-six. And that’s all the space we’ll devote to our mourning period. The new engine, shared in essentially the same form by both the Carrera and Carrera S, is a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged ball of mechanical fury.
The day lingered on as any day would surrounded by the Gulf and beauty. Did the Porsche feel total-ly at home in the environment? Absolutely- it was perfectly placed in front of a classic home on Casey Key- a classic car with style that lasts for generations. – Susan Short
