Call 911
Bob rupani visited the Dubai Autodrome to drive the new Porsche 911 Turbo. since then, he has only been calling one number

If there is an emergency in the US, the number you call is 911. And for long I wondered if the Porsche 911 had anything to do with the US emergency services. Was the impact of the Porsche 911 really that deep? But now after having driven the 911, I’m convinced that the emergency services chose this number to send out the message that they could respond as quickly and perform as efficiently as the Porsche 911 Turbo.
For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of the 911 and when I was just five (back in 1970, the year that the Porsche 911 scored its second overall victory at the Monte Carlo Rally), I was gifted a scale model of it which immediately became my most prized possession. The first time I saw one in the metal and at close quarters was when the second London-Sydney Rally passed through India in 1977, with Sobieslav Zasada, the Polish ace, at the wheel of a 911 leading the rally. Delhi-Bombay was dispatched in just 11 hours!
I was there at the parc ferme at Nariman Point and the sight of him roaring down Marine Drive will remain etched in my memory forever. Some years later our very own Dr Vijay Mallya drove a 911 on the Sholavaram race track, and then one saw it in the Hindi film Shaan. With each sighting the passion only grew and then in the early ’80s when I left the shores of our country for the first time, an indulgent salesman at a Porsche showroom allowed me to sit in the car that I revered and which, by then, had become an icon.
After all these years of fantasizing and dreaming of driving a 911 down the Mulsanne straight in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I finally got the chance to drive the new 911 Turbo, albeit in Dubai, at the Autodrome, with its combination of challenging high-speed corners and a reasonably long straight.
The moment I slipped behind the wheel I knew a dream was finally coming true and that it would be a very special day. The superbly shaped seats gripped and held me in a warm embrace confirming that this was not any ordinary car, but a pedigreed sports car designed to please and entertain the driver. The three-spoke leather-wrapped steering wheel that is adjustable for both height and reach was soon positioned in the most comfortable manner and I found myself seated securely in an environment that was clearly designed and engineered to make the driver’s business easier. I had a great view of the outside, and even the view to the rear was good. The driving position was perfect, with all the instruments easily readable and the switchgear falling easily to hand, with everything seeming so familiar, almost like I had spent a lifetime in this cockpit.
After what seemed like another lifetime, but which in reality must have been just a few minutes, the Porsche technicians gave the order to ‘start the engine.’ Sweeter words I have rarely heard, but these were quickly drowned out by an even nicer sound, that of the flat-six horizontally-opposed engine eagerly springing to life. I gently massaged the power pedal and the engine responded with amazing urgency clearly indicating that it was straining to be unleashed. As I slotted the Tiptronic autobox into drive and we rolled out of the garage, the note from the rear increased and realisation dawned on me that though I was driving the last and best sorted of the world’s rear-engined supercars, the fact of the matter remained that the heavy part was at the wrong end, and that the tendency would be of the back to try and overtake the front. Like putting the horse (and a whole lot of them) behind the cart.
But then you know – and so do I, for the matter – that the latest 911 Turbo, the sixth in generational terms, fully in-corporates all of Porsche’s know-how and the most advanced in hi-tech wizardry to civilize that wildly over-steering rear to a level where the car is a peach to drive.
The new 911 Turbo features the world’s first application of variable turbine geometry (VTG) turbo in a petrol engine. Variable turbos are commonly used the world over in diesel engines, but have not been used before in petrols because of the much higher (upto 1000 degrees centigrade) temperatures. Porsche engineers say they have solved this problem by improving the entire cooling system and also using water-cooling for the first time on a turbocharger. But the biggest leap ahead has been in the use of secret materials for the turbine that can now withstand such high temperatures, and as a result the VTG turbo eliminates lots of the inevitable turbo lag by being able to provide optimum boost from a low 1950rpm, all the way up to 5000. Which translates to a thick and meaty powerband with instant thrust just a tap away.

The wizardry does not end there. A Sports Chrono Package including overboost is available as an option and allows the driver to boost turbocharger pressure for 10 seconds by pressing the sports button on the dash. The result is a further 60Nm increase in torque taking the total to a staggering 680Nm! To allow the driver to utilize all this maniacal power and yet remain within the limits of safety, the advanced four-wheel drive system has been further improved and now features an electromagnetically-controlled multiple-plate clutch for optimum distribution of power front-to-rear.
Like all models in the 911 series, the new Turbo offers the option of Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB), and to distinguish them visually, the calipers are painted yellow, unlike the cast-iron ones, which come in red. And of course there is the option of a six-speed manual transmission or a five-speed Tiptronic S automatic with shorter shift and reaction time and the new Fast-Off and Fast-Back functions. The Fast-Off prevents upshifts whenever the driver lifts off the accelerator suddenly and the Fast-Back rapidly downshifts automatically when the movement between accelerator and brake pedals happens within 1.5 seconds, and this provides additional engine braking. Phew! My mouth is beginning to hurt with all this hi-tech systems talk. It’s time to move on to the real story.
Back on a racetrack after a long time, I instinctively start to weave to warm up the tyres, but stop immediately because I realize I’m not here to race. This is just a drive to discover the new Turbo and we are led to a street slalom course and let loose one by one. As I hit the pedal there is a rush of power that throws me back in the seat and the first cone comes up even before I have finished saying ‘wow’. With the uneasy feeling that it’s too late to turn and I have messed up the entry, I twist the wheel and the steering responds so quickly and with such precision that I stop taking my foot off the gas and get back on the power. The 911’s reaction time is so quick that I carry much more speed through the serpentine slalom than I had ever imagined and it continues to respond like a dream, darting about and changing direction as quickly as a fox trying to get away from a hound. I hit a short straight and bury the pedal and again the engine ejaculates and unleashes an awesome burst of power and before I know it, the 911’s into a 90 left carrying way too much speed and I am sure I have cooked it this time. But some long-forgotten courage stirs in my loins and my foot stays firmly on the pedal as I turn in. The nose lightens a little, the front drifts wide and I understeer onto the asphalt run-off area.
The laws of physics have defeated the advanced technology and the dummy behind the wheel has discovered that instead of oversteering and hanging the tail out, the Porsche 911 actually understeers when you enter a very tight bend carrying more speed than you should. So how much speed should you carry? That is a question I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to answer. Either I was too slow and everything happened so easily that it became obvious I was nowhere close to utilizing the enormous capabilities or I was too fast and going beyond the limits. And it was a question and answer session like no other. Lots of fun, lots of thrills, some spills, and when it all went right, the sensation of driving the new Turbo was, well, sensational.
Then there was this brake test that I just could not get right. The instructor asked us to build up speed (close to 150kph) on the straight and turn into a banked lefthander and stomp on the brakes midway through the turn! My sensibilities and all that I had learnt over the years about high speed driving would just not allow me to do this. It was against everything I had learnt, but the instructor was clear. This is not about good driving he said, instead it’s about when you do stupid things behind the wheel and get into a silly situation. That’s when the technology built into the new Porsche 911 Turbo takes over and the intelligent braking, traction and active suspension systems step in, bailing out the dummy behind the wheel, and bringing the 911 to a halt safely even in the most extreme of driving situations.
With this reassuring bit of insight we were finally allowed out on to the racetrack. But the instructor stayed in the lead and set the pace, which initially was painfully slow. I was now in a six-speed manual and kept slowing down, built a gap and then attacked the corners. The acceleration, handling dynamics, braking and steering all seemed to improve as the speeds rose making it clear that this was a high performance car designed to deliver at high speeds. The gearbox also proved to be a delight. Properly weighted short throws, and precise slots that rewarded decisive and quick shifts. Soon I was reveling in the glory of braking late, hitting the apexes, and powering out of turns. The 911 Turbo accelerates from 0 to 100 in a mindblowingly quick 3.9 seconds and 0 to 200 is reached in just 12.2 seconds! Top speed is limited to 310kph and I managed to get up to 300 on the straight.
Interestingly, the Tiptronic auto is quicker and gets you to 100 in 3.7 seconds! Definitely designed for dummies. But the enthusiast need not fear. The Porsche 911 Turbo amply rewards a good driver. It talks and communicates beautifully. Through your palms, fingertips, feet and even the backside. It lets you know what the road is like, what the tyres are doing and it just makes high speed driving so simple by turning when you want, going where you point it and stopping when asked. After driving it in one of the hottest parts of the world, on one of the hottest days (46 degrees centigrade), I am convinced that the new Porsche 911 Turbo is an extremely capable machine that is as comfortable on the streets of Dubai, as it is on the race track. Did I take the 911 to its limits? No, certainly not. But I’d like to think I got close. And I am dying for another opportunity…