PORSCHE 968 TURBO AND RS
The PORSCHE 968 TURBO AND RS
There are just two obstacles to overcome before you join the lucky few to experience its knockout performance punch. One is the extravagant shape of the deep-sided, narrow-backed bucket seats, which makes getting in and out a job for Morph or that squidgy bloke in Terminator 2. The other obstacle? Well, in Germany it costs the equivalent of £72,000...
That's about two and a half times as much as the extremely exciting Porsche 968 CS, which we road-tested back in March and whose pared-down trim the Turbo S shares - including those lightweight Recaros with their bare backs colour-keyed to the bodywork. We raved about the CS. Can the Turbo S possibly be more than twice as good?
Of course it can't. But, as we've already hinted, it's a specialist car, a car that will be built in very small numbers for dyed-in-the-wool enthusiasts who may wish to take it weekend racing in competitions like the Porsche Cup. in fact it's a street legal version of another, even more powerful 968 called the Turbo RS, which is strictly for the track, but it offers perhaps the most direct link yet between street and circuit, It tempted us to Weissach for a day's driving with very little difficulty.
It would look pretty sensational even without the vivid yellow paint job. The spoilers to front and back shout loudly enough, but there's also a bigger air intake in the nose to help cool the turbo, plus two small NACA ducts in the bonnet. The car sits about an inch lower than a standard 968, on highly-polished 18-inch alloys, 8in wide at the front, a giant 10in at the rear.
Lift the bonnet and there's initial disappointment. What happened to the 968's wonderful four-valve cylinder head? Porsche's Jurgen Pippig told us that the Turbo S development programme happened so fast there wasn't time to prepare the 968 head for turbocharging. So the two-valve unit from the 944 Turbo S was pressed into service, not that it's found wanting!
Inside, new pistons lower the compression ratio from 11:1 to 7.5:1 to protect it from pinking. The turbocharger itself is basically the old 944 unit, but the new installation has a larger intercooler, while the exhaust system is upgraded and now includes a catalyst. A maximum boost of 1.0 bar, together with a specially programmed Motronic engine management system, helps produce that 305bhp at 5600rpm, but the main aim of Porsche's racing department was massive torque.
And with 3691b ft from just 3 litres they certainly achieved it. In fact that's the same figure the 928GTS squeezes out of its 5.4-litre V8, and the 968 hits its peak 1250rpm before big brother.
What this means on the road is that you can shift quickly through the six-speed manual 'box and even in long-striding sixth you'll not be lacking power. There's real thrust as low as 1500rpm, but the real fun starts at 3000 revs. This car weighs almost 200lb less than a standard 968, and it'll sprint from 0-60mph in comfortably under 5 seconds. Maximum speed is said to be over 170mph.
What's more important for a sports car, of course, is handling, and in this respect the Turbo S is even more impressive than the 968 Club Sport. As you know, the car has been lowered, by 25mm to be precise, and the springs are also stiffer. Those alloys have ultra-low profile Dunlop SP Sport 8000 covers - 235/40 ZR18s at the front and 265/35s at the rear.
Response to steering inputs is electrifying and the wide rubber allows very high cornering speeds before the onset of easily controllable understeer. Oversteer, on the other hand, can be provoked by nailing the right pedal to the floor in first or second gear - then even that massive grip is overcome by the engine's power.
Helping you stay in control is a simply superb driving position. The speedometer with the boost pressure gauge is taken from the 944 Turbo -everything else comes straight from the CS, and very good it is too. Those seats not only grip like a veritable vice - they're also surprisingly comfortable.
The Turbo S is a joy to drive very fast over curving country roads, and here it doesn't just accelerate like a racer, it slows down like one tool. These brakes, perforated and ventilated discs with four-piston calipers lifted direct from the 911 Turbo-feel like they could cope with a 24 hour race on the Nurburgring. They simply do not fade, and the standard ABS allows you to brake very late into corners without ever getting into danger.
The spoilers may not be the most beautiful you've seen, but they appear to work well on the Turbo S. Tuned in the wind tunnel, the big rear wing is not only mounted higher than on the CS, it's also adjustable, by up to 14 degrees, depending on whether the car is being run on road or track. At road speeds it certainly gives the car excellent stability.
With the 968 Turbo S, Porsche confirms its position in the very top flight of sports car makers. It isn't cheap, but it is exclusive and it is seriously quick, just as you'd expect of a car hand-made in Porsche's racing department. For the few people rich enough and keen enough not to worry whether they're getting good value for their money, it is the ultimate 968 and that means one of the world's great drives.
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