To put in perspective the astonishing performance of the new Porsche 911 Turbo S (991), Autocar’s Steve Sutcliffe decided to take the car to the race track and compare it to something that has proven credentials as a pure performance machine. That’d be a Formula 4 Car.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize the race car is faster around the track, but the Porsche 911 Turbo S vs Formula 4 test goes to show that (a) lightness and precise aerodynamics has a huge impact on performance, and (b) for a road car the 911 Turbo S has amazing track capabilities.
The £140,000 Porsche 911 Turbo S is powered by a turbocharged 3.8-litre six-cylinder with direct petrol injection that produces 560 hp and 710 Nm of torque. Power is transferred exclusively via a seven-speed Doppelkupplung (PDK) which combined with the all-wheel-drive system enables the Turbo S to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds. The Formula 4 car has a 2.0 liter Ford engine with just 185 horsepower, but it weighs like 500 kg. That makes it a better performance machine than the mighty Porsche.
