Cars.com's Joe Bruzek takes a look at the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S at Roebling Road Raceway.
Transcript
(upbeat music) <v Announcer>Cars.com auto review. (upbeat music) Hi, this is Joe Bruzek from cars.com. We are here with the all-new, Porsche 911. Now in typical Porsche fashion, this looks like the old one, but just about every dimension has changed.
This is our first look at it, so let us check it out. So, what is changed? 911 is longer, lower, and wider. Most importantly, the wheelbase is increased by four inches, and that is substantial. The longer wheelbase helps with high speeds stability, and also comfort. Now comfort is also helped by the adjustable suspension, which has different modes. We are here with the Carrera S, which now makes, 400 horsepower, up from 385. Even with that extra power, Porsche wanted the 911 to be more fuel efficient. So there are few features to help that. One is an auto start/stop. Now that shuts the engine off when you come to a stop, and when you let off the brake, the engine start. (car engine rumbling) Really not executed that well. And you do have the option to turn it off, which most people probably will, because it is loud, the whole car shakes when the car starts, and it is pretty abrupt. Also added, is a more efficient, electronically assisted, power steering system. A lot of these systems do not feel very natural. The steering wheel feels loose, disconnected to the road, and when you are in a corner, and you have let off, the steering wheel sometimes does not always come back to center. With my first impressions driving the 911, there is none of that, it feels very good. The steering has a very precise feel, and it still communicates a lot of, the road that you are going over through the steering wheel. Even though Porsche got the steering right, there is one glaring omission, in the new interior. And that is parking brake. There is no handbrake, like a traditional, sports car. It is all electronic now, in just push of a button. I missed the finely stitched, leather handbrake. It is just classic sports car, that is gone. Less classic, is the sunroof. Now a lot of car's sunroof, retracts into the roof, but on the 911, it pops up and slides out. It looks a little awkward, just sitting above the roof line. And combined with the spoiler, it looks like a transformer that got stuck halfway. For those who were worried that Porsche was going to screw up the 911 by making it more efficient, no worries, just disable the auto start/stop, and enjoy. <v Announcer>For more car related news, go to cars.com, or our blog, KickingTires.net.
