2026 Porsche 911 Turbo S Review

You're watching Throttle House, I'm Thomas, and I'm James, and this is the updated 911 Turbo S. And with this new one, it looks like Porsche has finally attempted to beat the game. All right, what do we get? A clean 2.4, 2.43, 2.43. Okay, but we know it's quick. We've said for years that the 911 Turbo S has always been that car that simply wins everything. It's a car that absolutely pisses all over the competition. Sorry. But in the process of achieving victory, in the past, it often felt like it lost something. This car has always been incredible, but like with an asterisk. A German asterisk. A German asterisk. It's got raw speed, but it sounds a bit like a vacuum cleaner. It's got insane traction when you put your foot down, but there's no drama. And it's got, well, like a speedo that's basically a blur, right? But there's no ceremony to it when you put your foot down. It's just a teleportation device. It's like a nurse that's really good at giving you a needle. It's over before you know what happened. And with this new 992.2 Turbo S, Porsche has doubled down on all of that. The two turbochargers are now assisted by electric motors, so they spin up instantly. So the final flaw in the concept of turbocharging is gone forever. All of that equates to this being the most powerful 911 Porsche has ever made. By one. But, oh right, sorry. It's got one horsepower more than the GT2 RS. Yes. But I don't think anyone would sniff at 701 horsepower, and it really is. No, it's, oh my lord, it's so friggin quick. Well, Porsche wants to challenge your vacuum cleaner accusation, because this has the active sports exhaust. Yep. Which is titanium, saves 15 pounds. Yep. Adds an aesthetic, which we'll talk about in a minute, but apparently sounds better. So, you know what? I think it actually does sound a little bit better than the Turbo S that I drove recently. It doesn't sound that different though. No, it doesn't sound that different, but it's a little bit growlier, right? It's less air, more engine, which is a good thing, but it still just sounds like a turbocharged flat six. And because it has the electric turbochargers, and the electric motor in the PDK, and the high voltage battery, everything about the way this accelerates has just got smoother. Yeah, you notice when you shift, you don't actually feel the shift at all. It fills the gap between the shift, which they've somehow removed a little bit more ceremony from the process of accelerating. We've always said they've deleted corners as I'm shifting on these corners. It deletes the straightaways now. But there's no, look, there's no upset to the balance of the car at all. None whatsoever. But like, just go flat out, foot down, and shift. There's, do you feel anything when you shift? No. No, nothing. The downshifts are a bit slow. The downshifts are weirdly slow for a PDK. Right, look, click, shift, click, shift, click. That's like a full, like, half-second pause. A PDK usually has zero pause. So I don't know what that's about, and we're in Sport Plus right now, right? But I have to go way faster than normal to scare you in the Canyon to this. Yeah. It's confidence. It gets the job done. You know what it is? Have you ever seen the video online of Harry Potter just grabbing a 9mm and shooting Voldemort, and it just plays the theme tune out? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what the Turbo S is when it comes to acceleration. Yeah, it doesn't have time for your story. If you think that would have been a better version of Harry Potter, then this is the car for you. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, it's bordering on teleportation. That extra voltage that runs through those turbochargers has removed any semblance of this being a car. But it's also done another thing. It's changed how the Turbo S goes around corners. So this has Canadian special Porsche Dynamic Traction Control now. No, it doesn't. It says A, right? Yeah, it does say A, yeah. It's EH, it's the Electro-Hydraulic PDCC. So it's had active anti-roll bars in the past, but now this uses the high-voltage battery. It uses its electric stuff to its advantage, which means it should be more controlled. It's just the most German button I've ever seen in my life. It doesn't say the A there, though. That's a missed opportunity. No, but it says PDCC. It's just like, come up with something fun. That's a coveted button. That says you've gone for the option, which is now standard on a Turbo S. So basically, it uses the electric stuff to assist the suspension. Yes. Essentially. Almost any other car as a passenger, I should be afraid right now. But it turns the Canyon to easy mode. Yeah, as you say, it deletes corners. No car has deleted corners more than this. Okay, the 911 Turbo S, or the 911 Turbo, 911s have inflated in size and therefore weight over years. They're still some of the lightest sports cars out there. Yeah, but this one's knocking on the door of 4,000 pounds. Yeah. It's 180 pounds heavier than the previous one. For me, this is, I think, just pushed it over the edge. Just a little bit with the extra electric stuff going on. It's enough more that I'm feeling it doing a little bit of heaving in a corner. It's almost like it doesn't shut up, right? And a German would say, yeah, but it's on German roads. He won't feel it. But I'm not on a German road right now. I'm in a California where people buy these. And I find that this car to be, I thought, it's just a little bit. It's getting some of those BMW instincts. It's not, but it's so good still. Oh, no, no, no, it's so good. Annoyingly, the times on the Nurburgring, which the Germans love to boast about. Yeah. This is 14 seconds quicker. Around the ring. Doesn't it use a stickier tire than the old one? It uses, and the tires are wider, the brakes are bigger. This has the biggest rear brakes on top of any two-door Porsche. Oh, that's very specific. Very specific, yeah. Listen, it feels absolutely brilliant in a corner. It's definitely a 911. Definitely a Porsche. But my standards are so high for this car because there's a big problem. How much is it? No. Yeah, James, how much is this car? How much is it? This is $270,000 US starting. This one's got a modest $13,000 option. So it's like $285,000 with delivery. That is a lot. It's a lot. So much money. And it's a big jump from the last gen. And here's the issue. The GTS exists. Yes, it does. Have you driven a GTS? I have. Want to know what it feels like? This car. It feels like this car. I cannot tell the difference. If you back-to-back them, I'm sure you'd feel the power difference. But the GTS is so good and so fast now. Yeah, well, it's also in the twos, but not the 60. Right? I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that this is near, what is it, like $100,000 more expensive than a GTS. Yes, but this doesn't look like it does. You see a Turbo S and you know it's at least a Turbo. What are you doing? Okay. The vent. It's the vent. Hey, make way. The vent. This is the vent that represents traffic light superiority. For years. We've been driving around and he points out the vent to me like, I don't know the vent exists. I know that the Turbo gets a vent. Yes, it's what discerns it from a regular 911. It's a monster. And there's more vents now. More vents. This is the 992.2, so we get these air vents that the GTS gets that opens and closes. Yeah, I like those. It's a bit gilly. I think it's, I know, but it lets you know that it's the facelift one. True, as does the air vents in the rear here. Where's he getting his energy from? Straight out of GT looking cars. They cut in and they accentuate the wide booty of this car. That's new? Yes, for the Turbo S, yes. I like it. I knew that. It looks very motorsporty. The exhaust on the other hand. Do you have to do that or is that an option? You can option big circular ones. Do that. Yeah, but those, because these look a bit weak. I like the wing. Listen, I really like the proportions of this car, but it's funny because we had a classic 911 near us this week. Yes. And you realize how big these cars have got. Yes, but that one had a big booty as well. It did have a big booty as well. That was modified because in modern day, we like big booties. You're probably noticing the other extreme differences of the 992.2 right now. I wasn't, but continue. The turbonite contrasting colors of the, well, that's actually paint color, but the badge is in turbonite. So this is gray on gray. Yes. On gray. Yes. For some reason, even though you can customize these to the moon, and I did for $427,000 Canadian, I played with it. The press cars keep being really dull. Why? Listen, I like the- Turbonite. It's a turbonite. No, it's great. I like the idea of an under the radar 911. Yes. But there's a limit to how under the radar you need it to be, right? It's just like, what if we made it invisible? What if we just didn't ever actually go out in it? What if we didn't even buy one? Then it's really under the radar. It looks mean. I really like the look of these cars. I really like the styling of the 992. I think that this particular car is, other than the gray, it's a looker. I really do like them, honestly. But the GT cars do change quite a bit more. That's the issue, is that the GT cars look way more exciting. They drive more exciting. They sound more exciting. And here's the problem, is that lately the Porsche 911 lineup, and I've complained about this more than just now, has become ever increasingly homogenized. Since all of the non-GT cars are turbocharged, this is no longer the turbo one. It's just more of the same. Yes. It's just every dial turned up a little bit more for way more money. And that GTS is genuinely shockingly fast. Yes. And even the base, which is like almost 150 grand less. Yeah. I got 3.6 seconds to 60 in that. So quick. Only a second off. And I know that's a big ratio, but it feels really fast. All I'm saying is that now more than ever, it's becoming increasingly difficult to justify the Turbo S other than you feel like you need it to compensate for something. No. No, but it's got the vent. Accusations happening there. I'm just saying, but the vent. And wait, you're also not accounting for the massive changes inside the turbo. Are there massive changes inside? Oh, yes, you wait. Okay. Aha! Okay. Says Turbo S. That's different. That, as far as I'm concerned, is the interior version of the vent. And we've also got the leather package with turbonite accents. More gray. Yes. Well, hold on. The 992.2 stuff is here, which is the digital gauge cluster, the push-button start, and a few other bits and bobs that I don't exactly remember. Anyway, it's a high-quality interior. High-quality, great driving position. The digital cluster people are upset about, but now you can see every single gauge within that steering wheel. Yeah. I still think you could do a physical tack in the middle. You could do. And then just do the smaller digital screen. It didn't have to make the whole thing digital, but anyway. And pass down the cost to the consumer. Yeah. Because Porsche's not afraid to do that. Yes, they are. Ventilated seats. Yeah. These are like $700 for this car. Adaptive cruise, two grand. Why would a $270,000 US car not have adaptive cruise? That's so nickel and dime-y, isn't it? It doesn't make any sense. Yeah, it's very silly. I mean, it comes with a sport chrono, I guess, because it's not in an option. Yes. And there it is. And the leather package is a steal at $1,850. Anyway, I like the Turbo S. I think it's a good car. Yes. It's just not one that I would ever consider buying, because here's how I see it. If you want a high-performance Porsche, buy a GT car. If you want a really fast daily, which is what everybody says this car is, get a really fast daily. Get an RS6 or an M5 or whatever the hell it is, right? You're losing the... It's the superlative. It's the fastest daily. It's the best. I'm not concerned with having to own the superlative of a thing. Well, you're not a Turbo S buyer. I'm really not. But let's get the record straight. Gun to the head right now, you have to buy a 911 from the lineup. Tea. That was quite quick. Yeah. Yeah, you really braced that gun to the head thing. Yeah. I think I'd still go GT3. Yeah, but the money is a thing, and I just would rather save the money and get a tea. Okay. So once again, then, the Turbo S has done the annoying thing of just being the superlative, the king. Porsche has beaten the game, the game that they invented, they wrote the rules for. No one else was playing. So the new 911 Turbo S continues to fulfill the mission of unquestionable road superiority this side of a supercar, and even deep into some supercars. Its ability to gain speed, scrub speed, and manage corners feels like cheating. It still doesn't sound like much, and the now seamless, almost non-existent upshifts are a marvel to some and a bore to others. But the new Turbo S is still objectively the best 2 plus 2 seat performance daily sports car all-round bestest mostest thing. But put it this way, if you're someone that's learned to love someone else in your life because of their flaws rather than in spite of them, then we'd like to point you in the direction of an Aston, or a Corvette, or a McLaren, or even a Ferrari. But for those of you who organize your socks by polyester content, there is no substitute, and the massive price tag proves that Porsche know that too. Thanks for watching.