2017 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS PDK Automatic

Another week, another 911. If Porsche Cars North America had the budget to offer us each variant of its 911 model with each drivetrain for a weeklong loan, we would be in 911s at least 39 weeks a year, now that the 911 Carrera T is a thing. While PCNA tries its best, and usually loans us cars for two-week stints, stocking its press fleet with every last automatic and manual version of the Duggar-sized 911 family isn’t exactly feasible. That probably would represent more than $5 million in rolling stock before even a single option is added.

Hey, we can dream. But after spending a few days with this white 911 GTS coupe, it’s this one variant that’s fulfilling our dreams. All of the feedback is delivered in 6K clarity (yup, made that up; it’s two better than 4K). Whether you’re analyzing minute changes in braking due to equally small inputs at the pedal or fine-tuning your line on a freeway ramp, everything this 911 tells you is truth. Hammer down on the brakes at 70 mph and you’ll be stopped in 142 feet. Wanna thrill kids in the back seat? They’ll beg for their old child seats with four-point belts as they’re pinned to the side of the cabin with 1.05 g of lateral acceleration. About the only thing we could ask for is a little less lag in the throttle response. But even then, Porsche’s newest turbos are about as good as it gets in today’s turbocharged world. Give Porsche another generation and we bet it will have a crafty solution.

Fitted with the excellent seven-speed dual-clutch automatic (PDK), a $3720 option, this GTS will outaccelerate all other 911s save the GT and Turbo models. If shooting to 60 mph in three seconds flat or embarrassing muscle cars with more than 50 percent more horsepower, such as the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, with an 11.3-second quarter-mile pass at 125 mph isn’t your game, that’s fine. While those stats are simply amazing, they are the last and second-to-last things that make the 911 a nearly perfect conveyance of man.

No Downside

Maybe we’re getting soft, or worn down from championing the Save the Manuals cause against a steady erosion of self-shifting choices, but we can’t scoff at PDK buyers as though they’re missing much anymore. Sure, there is an undeniable magic about rowing your own gears, particularly with Porsche’s seven-speed box, but there is also something really satisfying about an automatic transmission that can return the supple smoothness of a luxury sedan’s slushbox and then spring to life with a mission to change gears so quickly, so efficiently, and without a trace of mechanical sympathy. It can only be called focused, and we’re talking focused like Daniel Day-Lewis on a movie set. We’re not certain we would spend the cash on the automatic, but choosing the PDK is by no means a penalty.

You know what else isn’t a penalty? A short list of optional equipment. We have long said that options do not make the car. While there’s a long list to choose from when ordering a 911, you don’t need most of them and this white coupe is proof. Aside from the automatic transaxle, our test car was fitted with four other options. Automatically dimming mirrors ($420) and heated front seats ($690) are amenities that seem indispensable once you’ve lived with them. The rear-axle steering system, while somewhat pricey at $2090, seems to add to the driving enjoyment and doesn’t induce a two-step fanny wiggle in city traffic that some rear-steer cars exhibit. Finally, Porsche fitted its newest front-axle lift system to this car. Since the GTS coupe gets a 0.4-inch-lower ride height, the $2590 insurance buffer is worth it.

The front-axle lift system is a new offering for non-GT 911s for 2017. The former system was pneumatic in earlier 991 models and could lift the front end about 1.2 inches. The new electrohydraulic actuators at the top of the front struts—adopted because of packaging restraints on all-wheel-drive 991.2 models—can now lift the nose of the car 1.6 inches. This improves the approach angle by about three degrees. Above 37 mph, the car automatically lowers.

A Six-Figure Bargain

At $123,770, a 450-hp GTS coupe with PDK is as close to a bargain as any 911 gets. That represents a $15,600 upcharge over a PDK-equipped 420-hp Carrera S, but the GTS comes with 20-inch center-lock wheels, the wide-body styling of all-wheel-drive Carreras, a sport exhaust system, brake-based torque vectoring, the GT Sport steering wheel, the Sport Chrono package, Sport Seats Plus, a smattering of Alcantara inside, and more. Optioning a Carrera S to the GTS level of equipment nearly surpasses the GTS’s base price. And there is no other way to get a wide-body, rear-drive 911 without ponying up $144,650 for the GT3.

With an as-tested price of $129,560, it is hard to call this car a deal, but we promise it is a good value. It’s such a nice thing to live with day in and day out that we almost forget there are umpteen other 911 variants available. Never mind those other 39 weeks—we would take this one for 39 years, confident we’ll love it just as much in our twilight years as we do now.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe

PRICE AS TESTED: $129,560 (base price: $123,770)

ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 182 cu in, 2981 cc
Power: 450 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 405 lb-ft @ 2150 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 96.5 in
Length: 178.3 in
Width: 72.9 in Height: 50.6 in
Passenger volume: 70 cu ft
Cargo volume: 5 cu ft
Curb weight: 3335 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 3.0 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 7.2 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 12.2 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 17.4 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 3.8 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 2.4 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 2.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 11.3 sec @ 125 mph
Top speed (drag limited, mfr's claim): 193 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 142 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 1.05 g

C/D FUEL ECONOMY:
Observed: 20 mpg

EPA FUEL ECONOMY:
Combined/city/highway: 23/20/26 mpg