WHEN the '901' was unveiled in
The 901 was swiftly renamed after Peugeot claimed ownership of threedigit numbers with a zero in the middle, but the silhouette, mechanical layout and unique character of the 911 have endured. Today,
The breadth of the current Neunelfer lineup is demonstrated by the four cars gathered here: the back-to-basics Carrera T, rough-and-tumble
I'm handed the keys to the
Ironically, the attributes that make the £173,000
After battling through the morning rush hour, I finally join the A43 autoroute heading south west, the raucous and muscular 480hp flat-six - shared with the midrange 911 GTS and mated to a PDK paddle-shift gearbox - making light work of the motorway miles.
The
I swap into the Turbo S for the next leg of our journey, starting with a steady 130kph blast on dual carriageways, then climbing back into the mountains towards the famous Route Napoleon. This £180,600 flagship of the 'regular' 911 range turns fewer heads than the limited-edition
The 911 Turbo first blasted onto autobahns and bedroom walls in 1975, its force-fed 3.0-litre engine serving up 260hp, 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds and a top speed of 155mph. The corresponding figures for today's Turbo S are 650hp, 2.7 seconds and 205mph, yet while the original 930 gained a reputation as a wayward 'widowmaker', the fourwheel-drive 992 is the consummate allweather supercar.
Fittingly, it starts to rain, but with Wet mode selected to tame its responses and huge 10-piston carbonceramic brakes underfoot, the
Whether I lean into its abilities as a long-striding GT or unleash its performance on increasingly steep and spectacular Alpine roads, the Turbo S has all bases covered.
If the Turbo S elevates the 911 to hitherto unimagined heights, the reardriven Carrera T feels like a return to its roots. Lighter, rear-wheel drive and deliberately driver-focused, it combines the base 385hp 3.0-litre Carrera engine with a manual gearbox. For £105,700, you also get 10mm lowered sports suspension, a mechanical differential and a rortier exhaust.
I found the Carrera T rather stiff and unforgiving in the
Key to the T's appeal is that sevenspeed manual 'box. With its notchy shift action and weighty clutch pedal, it keeps your limbs and brain engaged in the process of driving - and encourages you to wring out more revs. As the road coils tighter and the washed-out winter sun sinks behind the jagged peaks, I enjoy a moment of serendipity: right car, right time and right place.
The right place for the £192,600 GT3 RS is arguably a racetrack, not the Col de Turini with snow swirling through the darkness. Best known as a stage in the Monte Carlo Rally, the road consists of 34 hairpin bends that climb to a height of 1,607 metres. After many hours behind the wheel, it seems like a fitting finale.
The bloodline of the GT3 RS dates back to the epochal Carrera
You'd expect the RS to feel intimidating in these conditions. Yet its incredible configurability - including multiple settings for damper compression and rebound - means you can tailor the car to the road. And when that road is the Col de Turini, this ultimate Rennsport draws out its claws, delivering a brilliant blend of barely contained savagery and nuanced, confidence-inspiring control. It's utterly mesmeric.
I arrive at
The four cars I've driven today all provided very different experiences, yet they share a DNA that runs through every
(c) 2024 City A.M., source