911 Porsche 911 Classic - First Drives (CarEnthusiast, etc.…)

[ree]

First Drive: Porsche 911 Sport Classic

| First Drive | Reading, England | Porsche 911 Sport Classic |

Porsche makes a lot of 911 derivatives, but this Sport Classic is a special one-of-250 edition that mixes classic 911 design signatures like the ducktail spoiler and Fuchs-style alloy wheels, with the unique customisation offered to Porsche's customers though its personalisation scheme. There are a lot of details to take in, but the biggest is its price. At £140,000 the Sport Classic is a 911 for serious collectors - and it's proved so, with every one of them already sold.

In the Metal

The Sport Classic draws you in with its old-school Porsche detailing, the black-centred, silver-rimmed Fuchs-style alloy wheels and ducktail spoiler being the most obvious visual signifiers. There are a lot more though, the aero-kit unique to the Sport Classic for a start, as are the black headlamp surrounds and the understated stripe that runs from the bonnet's leading edge over the roof to that duck-tailed rear. There's a subtle double-bubble roof too, the stripes initially giving you the impression that it's a visual effect rather than a special panel. Other discreet details include the addition of a 911 badge on the rear - the first since Porsche's last anniversary series models. That wider rear end is shared with the four-wheel drive 911s, despite being Carrera 2S specification.

The interior is similarly retro-inspired. There are RS door cards (the handles flat rather than upright - apparently) trimmed in a very cool white and brown material. Just about every surface elsewhere has been covered in leather - even the slats on the air vents and door pulls. The effect isn't as World of Leather as you might expect, the light Alcantara headlining helping ensure that the interior doesn't overwhelm with its retro chocolatey-leatheryness.

What you get for your Money

We're torn, as although the Sport Classic is clearly a special car with lots of unique touches we can't help but think that £140,000 is very expensive for what's essentially a reworked Carrera S. There's a power hike, PCCB (Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes), a sports exhaust and revised suspension settings on the Sport Chassis to join all the interior and exterior extras, but we're not sure if the 911 Sport Classic is really worth the price of a 911 GT3 and Cayman S combined. We clearly don't live in the realms of the Porsche collector though, as Porsche has had no trouble selling all 250 examples.

You can only have it in Sport Classic Grey too - a colour that Porsche claims the designers fell for when seeing it on a very early 356. Given the classic 911 RS cues in the styling it's a shame Porsche hasn't chosen a more exciting '73 RS colour like Viper Green, Signal Yellow or Tangerine. And perhaps some 'SC' or Porsche script on its flanks rather than the double stripe over the roof?

Driving it

The 3.8-litre engine gets a hike in power of 23bhp to give the Sport Classic 408bhp in total. There's little discernable increase in pace thanks to that small output jump, but Porsche quotes a 4.6-second 0-62mph time. That's a 0.1-second improvement over the standard 2S. Where it does deliver tangibly is in its flexibility, the Sport Classic seeming to pull harder from lower revs compared to its regular S relative. The modest 1.0lb.ft increase and 200rpm drop in peak torque speed don't represent the difference on the road, the Sport Classic's 3.8-litre flat-six feeling more responsive in the lower and mid-range over the rev-hungry standard car.

Despite big exhausts poking out under the rear and the promise of a more sporting sound the intensity and richness of the engine's note isn't perhaps as classic sounding as we'd hoped. It's a bit more noticeable than the regular set up inside, but the noise limit killjoys in Singapore have apparently resulted in Porsche winding back the sport exhaust's tunefulness a bit. We'd like it turned back up again.

It's refreshing to see that Porsche has stuck with a manual transmission, that filling the classic brief perfectly with its slick-shifting nature and involvement. It's the steering and the suspension though that really surprise. The damping is so much better resolved than the standard 2S, with the Sport Classic retaining control where a regular 911 would start to patter and skip. It feels softer, more compliant and more composed as a result, the steering backing this up with real accuracy and beautiful weighting. If Classic means a bit more control and fluidity then we're all for it, the Sport Classic suspension set up among the best we've experienced on any recent 911.

We're not sure if it was just the tyres, or the lashings of leather covering the dash and thick carpets and floor mats, but the Sport Classic seems to suffer a bit less from the 911's usual road noise issues, too.

Worth Noting

Forget it if you want one, as Porsche has already sold the lot. If you're in the USA you can't have it, either. You'll be able to get much of the interior accoutrements though Porsche's personalisation scheme, but if you want a duck-tail spoilered 997 then the Sport Classic is the only car to feature it. The same is true of the double-bubble roof, though Porsche admits that the Fuchs-style alloy wheels will eventually be made available elsewhere in the range.

Summary

We love some of the detailing, the suppleness of the suspension and the engine revisions, but however nice a package as the Sport Classic is it's heinously expensive. That's looking at it from the perspective of a mere financial mortal though; for wealthy Porsche fans wanting something unusual and limited in number to park alongside all the other special cars in their garage the Sport Classic is clearly a must-have. We'd be happy with an S with the Sport Classic's suspension settings, engine revisions and those black Fuchs wheels. In Viper Green.


Car reviews | Porsche 911 Sport Classic | First Drive: Porsche 911 Sport Classic | by Car Enthusiast

 

[martinbo]

Are the Fuchs-style wheels only available in black?

 

[martinbo]

Autocar First Drive:

Porsche 911 Sport Classic - Road Test First Drive - Autocar.co.uk

What is it?
A special-edition 911 limited to 250 examples.

it's called "Sport" because it runs an uprated version of the 3.8-litre direct-injection Carrera S engine (with an additional 22bhp), and a standard sport chassis. It gets "Classic" because it incorporates styling cues taken from Porsche’s back catalogue – most relevant of all, the fixed position ducktail spoiler, not seen since the 2.7 RS.

Also making a comeback are Fuchs-style alloys and black surrounds for the headlights, a detail from the 1974 Turbo RSR.

Other distinguishing features are: the use of the wider body from the Carrera 4 without all-wheel drive, a double-bubble roof, and a mandatory Classic Grey colour.

What’s it like?
Surprisingly comfortable. If you’re expecting a stripped-out semi-GT car, then that is not what the Sport Classic is about. Instead the interior draws heavily on Porsche’s Exclusive department, so much of the cabin is finished in the Expresso Nature (dark brown) leather, including the air vents and door handles.

There’s also a 1970s-style checkerboard finish to door skins, and a different style of carpet, gearlever and handbrake than you’ll find in a regular Carrera.

The way it goes down to road is also surprisingly relaxed. We’ve tried sport chassis-equipped Carrera S models before, and found that while they offer more precision and control than the regular car, they can feel a little jittery over broken surfaces. Something the Sport Classic doesn’t.

While the Sport Classic does have the advantage of standard-fit ceramic brakes, which reduce unsprung mass, we’ve tried a similarly equipped Carrera S previously and the new car is better still.

It has a slightly old-fashioned softness to the way it rides bumps and crests, and yet there is all the accuracy and body control you could need. It even steers more sweetly than we remember recent Carreras doing.

This could be down to the fact that our German Sport Classic came fitted with Bridgestones rather than Michelin tyres Porsche UK normally fits. And although the 1425Kg kerb weight is identical to that of a regular Carrera S – aluminium doors counterbalance the additional weight of the flared rear arches – the Sport Classic feels somehow lighter and more nimble.

To feel the benefit of the extra power you need to rev the engine to within 1500rpm of the redline, but doing so rewards with not only more outright speed but more vigour.

And a standard non-switchable sports exhaust helps with the sense of occasion, even if it could be a fraction fruiter still. The Sport Classic is manual only, which suits its back to basics character.

What’s most impressive, though, is that the Sport Classic feels so nicely balanced, not in solely in terms of handling, but in the balance of power, grip, traction, and in the measure of the control weights, which are tacile without being overly heavy. Overall it feels rounded and rewarding.

But what’s curious about the Sport Classic is the unlikely combination of extrovert design details and plush interior, paired with a chassis that feels pure and unfussy.

It feels like the product dreamt up by the marketing department, but one the engineering team wouldn’t release until they were happy to put their name to.

To say it is a modern day 2.7 RS would be to overstate the importance of a spoiler, but that doesn’t stop the Sport Classic being a very fine 911. So much so that, GT3 aside, it is the most rewarding 997 currently on sale.

Should I buy one?
You can’t, as all 250 examples are sold.

But even if you could, you’d have to stomach a seriously steep price tag. £140,049 is a frankly ridiculous price, given the extent to which the Sport Classic differs from the regular Carrera S.

Porsche claims that the aerodynamic changes required the car to be homologated as a separate model, and this, combined with the limited production, explains the price. But even still, it looks very expensive when a GT3 costs £60,000 less.

And if you think you can simply build your own Sport Classic, think again. Some of the components are available as options on the regular production car; the enhanced engine is available as a power kit, the Fuchs can be ordered as an option, and Porsche Exclusive will do whatever you want to the interior.

However, the ducktail spoiler and roof are not, and will not, be available. And the biggest disappointment is that the Sport Classic’s single best component, its peachy chassis settings, cannot be specified on a regular Carrera. Even if you go for the Sport Chassis, you will not get a 911 as sweet as this.

 

[Mr Robert]

Such an epic car, price aside. I love the fuchs...

It must be a real priveledge to have the status of Porsche.

 

[klier]

I'd much rather have the regular Mark II Turbo rims than those.
Crazy that the car is sold out already. It's severely underpowered for the price you pay.

 

[Giannis]

What offers the 911 Classic is not performance, but feelings!

 

[ree]

InsideLine - Drive: Porsche 911 Sport Classic





It was easy to overlook the 2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show.

The Porsche Panamera had the spotlight, so you could have walked right past what appeared to be simply a dove-gray version of the Porsche 911 Carrera S. And since it carried a price tag of $255,600 and the imprint of Porsche Exclusive, the factory shop that specializes in customizing for the rich and famous, the Porsche 911 Sport Classic appeared to be little more than one of those embarrassing Porsche special editions meant solely to lighten the wallets of an over-enthusiastic clientele.

But if you paused for just a moment, you could see something else at work. Like the black surrounds for the headlights, so like the 1974 Porsche 911 Turbo RSR. Like the 19-inch wheels, styled like the classic Fuchs wheels of the 1960s. Like the ducktail spoiler, so like the 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7.

If you knew what a Porsche 911 was really about and had more than a passing familiarity with Ruf, R Gruppe and the secret language of Porsche enthusiasts, then you could see in the 2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic something that can't be found in the Porsche Panamera or the Porsche 911 GT3, much less such things as the Carrera GT or Boxster RS 60 Spyder or the Cayenne S Transsyberia. Maybe the 2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic is the real thing.

It almost made you reach for your wallet. They're only making 250 of them, you know.

The World's Nicest Porsche 911
Once you lay into the throttle pedal and the six vacuum-controlled butterfly flaps in the new variable resonance intake system open the throat of the 3.8-liter flat-6, the Porsche 911 has you seduced again. It's a sports car, yet it's practical transportation, too. Alert and alive, yet possessed of such mechanical harmony that you can drive it across the continent rather than just across town.

And with the 2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic, Porsche has apparently set out to make the world's nicest Porsche 911. There's no need for turbochargers, a Doppelkupplungsgetriebe double-clutch gearbox and a movable wing. Instead you'll find just the kind of stuff you'd want in your Porsche 911, especially if you were planning to drive it for a decade or so until the current hysteria about carbon emissions subsides.

There's a pretty good starting point, as the 2010 Porsche 911 Carrera S is the place where the Sport Classic begins. And you have to say that there ought to be lots of evidence of improvement from Porsche's Exclusive and Tequipment Division to justify the gap between the price of a Carrera S and the Sport Classic.

Classic Power
Porsche stays true to the 911's classic ethos by offering only the conventional six-speed manual transmission for this car. That's a good thing, because for all the clever quickness of the dual-clutch automated PDK manual, the slick throws of the manual transmission (here with a short-throw kit as standard equipment) reward you every time you hold the shift lever.

The transmission is mated to the Carrera S's 3,800cc flat-6, and its direct fuel injection truly is a magical bit of technology, as it dramatically improves both fuel economy (better fuel atomization) and power (a cooler intake charge makes possible a taller compression ratio). Meanwhile the Sport Classic's engine has the new variable intake system, modified cylinder heads and new engine management, and the result is 402 horsepower at 7,300 rpm, an increase of 23 hp. The Sport Classic's unique exhaust system works with the variable intake system to improve torque, and while the peak output improves only by a single pound-foot to 310 lb-ft, it arrives 200 rpm sooner than before and there's a broad spread of it between 4,200 and 5,600 rpm.

That's not a huge leap in power admittedly, but it's enough to drop the acceleration time to 100 km/h (62 mph) from a standstill to 4.6 seconds — an improvement of 0.1 second — while maintaining the same emissions and fuel consumption levels.

The effect on the road feels more than the numbers suggest. The flat-6 pulls with far greater intensity from low- and midrange rpm, and the extra muscle it delivers adds a measure of linearity to the way the power builds in comparison to the rev-hungry performance offered by the Carrera S. In a way, the Sport Classic's engine has gained the low-rev friendliness of the standard 3.6-liter engine of the Carrera without losing the potency of the Carrera S's 3.8.

The exhaust accompanies the performance with a richer note, though the intensity isn't perhaps quite as intoxicating as we'd hoped given the size of the pipes slung out under the bumper.

Speed, but With Dignity
While the Carrera S's chassis is the starting point, the rear quarters of the Carrera 4S have been adapted to the bodywork, increasing the rear track by 1.3 inches and overall width by 1.7 inches. Most of the other stylistic themes come from Porsche's heritage, like the black trim around the headlights, the Fuchs-style wheels and the ducktail spoiler. Even the double-bubble roof comes originally from the 911 Panamericana showcar by way of the Carrera GT.…

2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic First Drive