My FH5 Log - The 911: Then and Now

It's 9-11 day in Porsche land and what better way to...you know what that is...than driving the most iconic Porsche ever made, the 911.

60 years of the Porsche 911, from the first one launched in 1963 to the current 992-spec model, the recipe that dates back to the first Porsche ever made, the 356, remains the same. Rear-engined rear-wheel-drive, unique styling, spartan driving manners, trademark stability, and overall Porsche-ism; these what made the Porsche 911 a European superpower in its own right. Influentially enjoyable as they say.

How much did the Porsche 911 evolve from the first one to the current 992 model, you may ask?

Traversing through the roads of Copper Canyon, the original model 911 Carrera RS and the 992-spec 911 Carrera S are locked and loaded for a sprint run just to find out how far the Porsche 911 evolved and progressed. 

Before we begin, let's get to know about these cars. The Urmodell Porsche 911 Carrera RS is by no means the hardcore version of the first 911. A GT3 RS before the GT3 RS existed many years later. Powering the most hardcore 911 at the beginning of time is a 2.7L engine producing 210PS of power output and 255Nm of torque. Mated to a 5-speed gearbox, it does 0-100kph in 6.3 seconds and has a top speed of 240kph.

The 992-spec Porsche 911 Carrera S is powered by an upgraded version of its flat-six turbo engine that produces 30PS more than the previous model, resulting in 450PS of power output, and when mated to a newly improved 8-speed PDK, the rear-wheel drive 911 Carrera S is capable of a 0-100kph time of 3.7 seconds with the 4S an inch of a second faster but the added Sport Chrono package makes them 0.2 seconds faster.

Now that we know about these two, it's time to witness the progress the Porsche 911 has gone through then and now. Let's roll the tape.

And now the results...

911 Carrera RS (Urmodell) - 3m02.983s

911 Carrera S (992) - 2m26.280s

Less than 37 seconds, I presume, for the Porsche 911 to evolve from the Urmodell to the 992. Guess the theory of evolution got itself a time skip after all but hey, this is progress - the Porsche way.

The Porsche 911 truly is one of the all-time greats and as the times change, this German masterpiece is here to stay, whatever it takes. A German superpower, the 911 proved its worth on the road and on the track for six decades and we can expect great things to come from this rear-engined powerhouse.

As the world celebrates Porsche's 75th anniversary, rest assured that the 911 will always be the best Porsche in history but the question is, which 911 is the best in Porsche history? It's debatable but anyway...

Here's to 60 more years of the 911 and to 75 more years of Porsche!