Since 1948 there have been six
Porsche did make one concession to what's "in" for 2001. For the first time since the mid-1970s, you can get an orange 911 (they call it "Zanzibar Red"). Everything else about the 2001 911 Carrera 4 hews to the notion that a sports car should be just that and nothing but.
So the 300-horsepower C4 is likely the purest street-legal sports car under $100,000. That this 911 has all-wheel drive and one of the best vehicle stability systems in the world (Porsche Stability Management or PSM) doesn't sully the experience, either. Earlier 911s were nearly as fast but at their limit, rear-engined cars have always had a tendency toward oversteer--put crudely, losing rear-wheel grip and spinning off the road backwards.
The fact that buyers can now get all the thrills of a Porsche with fewer death-grip near misses should make this classic design more appealing, although the car's suspension is still completely unforgiving on rough pavement. A couple of hours of hurdling frost heaves, expansion joints and potholes in this car can leave you wishing for a plush Crown Vic and some Advil.
Then again, once you experience several sweeping curves at speeds that would launch that Ford into space, you just might get on a chiropractor's frequent cracker plan and buy yourself a Carrera 4.
Porsche hasn't changed much in the 911's cockpit over the years. A flat plane of six analog gauges is spread across the dash in front of the driver. As usual, the tachometer is the largest gauge, placed at the center in Le Mans fashion--racecar drivers aren't concerned with miles per hour but shifting at redline is critical. An amber digital readout has been added to the speedometer with a multifunction computer, digital trip meter and clock.
In the center console is a multidisc, in-dash CD changer with a neatly arrayed, audiophile-level sound system. The climate controls also reside here and are just as tidily designed.
Seating is, by default, tight, but not cramped, and there are even rear jump seats--though only double amputees could sit back there. At the wheel, it's purely driver mode: arms extended, legs reaching the pedals perfectly, stick shift just below your right elbow. It's as if Porsche engineers measured every body type and created some spatial algorithm that could please anyone.
Which is important, because driving this car requires a precise connection between all the controls. Sitting at the wheel of the C4, you quickly learn what this car can do. It's ferociously fast--100 mph arrives before redline in third gear and 0-60 takes only 5.2 seconds.
But the real joy of driving the C4 (in this country, anyway) comes at saner speeds, when you take tight turns quickly without regard for those old 911 backsliding tendencies. Huge Z-rated 40-Series tires grab the road and a viscous clutch-mechanism can automatically send as much as 40% of engine torque to the front wheels. PSM kicks in to stabilize the car in off-camber corners, when you accelerate too hard out of a corner, or when you enter one a little too rapidly. In general, PSM isn't aggressive until you are. The only way you know it's there at all is the flashing light on the dashboard telling you it's jumped in to save your hide once again.
Because the C4 is so exact a sporting instrument, it's nearly a shame to have to drive it on crowded American roads. And because it's so stiffly sprung you find yourself driving faster when the opportunity arises--wanting to get something back for enduring the brutality of unkempt pavement. Which may lead you to get to know your local constable more than you would have otherwise.
You can, of course, reach an equilibrium with the Carrera. You can drive it slowly and comfortably and even hear the audio system while stuck in rush-hour traffic. But if you spend your life crawling to work at 5 mph you're going to own a status symbol rather than a sports car. To have a 911 means driving it, not just showing it off to friends.
Still, if you've ever been tempted, the latest iteration has taken a lot of the fear out of the equation without compromising the Porsche standard. It will still jar your spine, go like hell, never bore you, and get you out of bed for your commute way before the sun comes up.