2021 Porsche 911 Turbo: 5 Things We Like (and 3 Not So Much)
The word “utility” in “sport utility vehicle” — still the reigning body style of choice among American car buyers — suggests a desire for pragmatism that uber-luxury two-door supercar shoppers simply don’t have to concern themselves with. When you’re in the market for a necksnappingly quick coupe that’s equally at home rounding turn 3 at the track as it is lazily taking the curves on a seaside highway on a Sunday with a Champagne-lunch picnic basket for two in the backseat, you needn’t compromise the way the suburbanites in Suburbans do. To that end, the all-new-for-2021 Porsche 911 Turbo is a no-compromise car for your consideration.
Related: 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo Review: How to Successfully Maintain a Legacy
- ${price_badge()}
- ${battery_badge()}${ev_report_link()}
- ${hot_car_badge()}
- ${award_badge()}
- ${cpo_badge()}
${price_badge_description}
The EV Battery Rating is based on this vehicle's current expected range relative to the vehicles expected range when new. ${battery_badge_text}
Certified cars are manufacturer warrantied and typically go through a rigorous multi-point inspection.
This car is likely to sell soon based on the price, features, and condition.
${award_blurb}
${award_two_blurb}
Shop the 2021 Porsche 911 near you
The new 911 Turbo, one of a veritable parade of 911 variants Porsche trickled out after the model’s redesign for 2020, decidedly favors the grand-touring side of its personality over its speed-demon side. While it still may well be the most perfect balance you’re liable to strike, that’s not to say it’s perfect.
For our full take, be sure to check out Cars.com reviewer Aaron Bragman’s comprehensive critique via the related link above. But for a rapid-fire rundown of the things that rock — and the things that don’t — read on.
Here are five things we like and three things we don’t about the 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo:
Things We Like
1. Too Fast to Matter
The 2021 911 Turbo hauls to 60 mph 0.2 second faster than its predecessor’s 2.9 seconds, meaning you will notice … pretty much exactly the same breath-snatching exhilaration as you did when you stood on the accelerator of your 2020 model (we’re just assuming you trade up each model year).
2. Got This Handled
Like the teacher’s pet in your junior high math class, the 911 Turbo shows its work — that is, when it comes to ride and handling. The “practically flawless” steering (Bragman’s words) provides validating boost and feedback, and the suspension management system lets imperfections in the pavement through enough to communicate what you’re going over without badgering you about it.
3. Fun for Everyone
Whether you’re a weekend warrior at the track or a novice who just wants to accelerate around the curves, the 911 Turbo provides a skill-level-appropriate, thrill-filled driving experience that electronically accounts for your shortcomings.
4. Spare Change
If the 911’s exterior styling were a political philosophy, we wouldn’t exactly call it conservative, but it sure ain’t progressive; deliberately incremental is more like it. While the new Turbo is wider than its outgoing incarnation, it proudly wears its iconic, glacially evolving pedigree on its sleeve. And the Porsche faithful wouldn’t have it any other way.
5. Posh 911
The 911 may not change much from a structural standpoint, but inside and out, you can pretty much change whatever you like to jibe with your personal taste, from leather upholstery to paint colors to trim pieces — so long as you’re willing to pony up for it. Its interior appointments are as comfortable and luxurious as you’d want them to be when dropping that kinda coin, and classic flourishes (such as Porsche’s five-gauge cluster arrangement) remain while updating the features for the digital age.
More From Cars.com:
- 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo: Not Quite the Turbo S, Still Quite the Sports Car
- 2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4 Review: All the 911 Goodness, Just Breezier
- Stalk Car? Porsche 911 Buyers Can Track Their Dream Car’s Every Move
- Which New Cars Have Manual Transmissions?
- More Porsche News
Things We Don’t
1. B.S. Backseat
If you’re not gonna have a backseat, just don’t have a backseat. The available (and advisable) Lightweight Package eighty-sixes the comically useless rear “seats” that you’d only ever use for additional cargo storage unless you really hated your vehicle’s third occupant.
2. Should Come With a Warning
That eminently enticing steering-wheel switch that shortcuts you straight to the 911 Turbo’s top performance setting shouldn’t be the unassuming black plastic button it is, but instead something that more clearly indicates the potentially dangerous power surge that follows its being pressed. I mean, c’mon, even your laptop asks you if you’re sure you want to do this before you so much as try to close a document without saving it.
3. If-You-Have-to-Ask Factor in Full Effect
The 2021 Turbo coupe starts at $172,150 (including a destination charge), the cabriolet at $184,950. A front-end lift system for going over speed bumps and such, the Porsche Active Suspension Management system, ventilated 18-way power sport seats and a scant few other options quickly added a cool eight grand to the price of Bragman’s test car. And remember all that bespoke stuff? If you want precisely the colors and interior options that define you as a beautiful and unique snowflake, you’re gonna hafta make it rain.
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
