Awesome Porsches That Aren't The 911
The 911 is really just the tip of the Porsche iceberg. While the 911 is the model that springs to mind when most people hear the name Porsche, the German sports car company is far from a one-trick pony. It鈥檚 not even solely a sports car company now with additions of SUVs, sedans, and even a wagon variant. We鈥檙e going to disqualify the 959 from this list though as it was built in the 1980s to push the development of what the 911 could become, and the basis for the first all-wheel-drive 911 Carrera. That may seem a bit harsh as it was its own thing when it became the fastest road legal car on the planet, but we have plenty more to go on the list without it. We鈥檝e also stuck here to cars that made it onto the road. The 914 came about as a joint development between Volkswagen and Porsche and is still not particularly appreciated outside of a narrow niche. It came out in 1969 and had neither the lower price point of a Volkswagen or the higher performance level expected of a Porsche.
Even after Porsche gave it a power upgrade in the form of the 911T鈥檚 2.0-liter flat-six, the problem was a 911T was much more money. It still remains under-appreciated despite the fact that, on the used market now, they aren鈥檛 expensive compared to a 911 and the bottom line is that the 914 is a fun to drive lightweight, mid-engine, rear-drive sports car. When Porsche introduced the 924 as the beginning of a line of front-engined, rear-wheel-drive cars in 1976, it didn鈥檛 grab the enthusiasts by the beard. But, sales were good despite its mediocre performance. It was Porsche's first V8 powered car, and in GTS form it was a match for the BMW 8 Series as a torque churning cross country GT car. It was faster then the contemporary 911, but it wasn鈥檛 better unless you were happy to sacrifice handling for comfort and more practicality. A cynical person might suggest that the Boxster is what would have happened if Porsche had put the engine in the correct place in the first place. The Cayman is as unadulterated as a driver鈥檚 car as the Boxster currently is and, indeed, shares everything but the Boxster鈥檚 lack of a solid roof.
It鈥檚 best specced as a poor man's Porsche as options quickly mount up the price. But, as a basic drivers car, there鈥檚 not much to rival it. The Cayman begs journalists for complimentary cliches, such as it having telepathic steering and ballistic acceleration, while also being criticized for the sound of its 4-cylinder engine and bland interior. We鈥檝e spoken before about how building an SUV saved Porsche from financial extinction, and how many hardcore enthusiasts didn鈥檛 like the idea of a Porsche family vehicle. Well, those that don't like the Cayenne really won't like its little brother, despite the fact Porsche waved some magic Stuttgart dust over the Macan and made it drive like a sports car. It may have a cramped rear seat, but for a Porsche enthusiast with knee problems, it's not so bad to walk past the 911 for when you're just going to get some milk. The purists also had a lot to say about the 4-door Panamera, and they can moan all they want. Or not. We don鈥檛 care. What we care about is 4.0-liter V8 making 550 horsepower in a top-spec luxury 4-door chassis that truly performs.
Sure, a smaller and more agile 911 is a better performance car, but if you want four doors and all the bells and whistles a luxury car brings, then you do have a Porsche option. Once Porsche was out of the woods financially at the end of the last century, the company set about reminding us it could build sensational drivers cars. Using cutting edge technology and basing the design off the back of an LMP1 racing program, Porsche built what鈥檚 probably the last of the truly analog supercars. The Carrera GT could also touch 208 mph with a tailwind and journalists found out it could genuinely brake from 100 mph in a neck-straining 277 feet. The Carrera GT was also clocked pulling 1.4 g on the Nurburgring in the Schwalbenschwanz section. Its performance was down to the race-derived technology, including a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis and subframe and inboard suspension design. Like the 959, the 918 Spyder is a rare bird and also a roadmap for where Porsche is taking its technology. Hybrid is the future, but that鈥檚 not to use electric motors for fuel economy. It鈥檚 to use them to boost performance. Porsche took a naturally aspirated V8 and combined it with three electric motors to generate a combined 887 horsepower and a stomach-churning 944 lb-ft of torque. The most stunning aspect is in how easy it is to drive.