'BAHN BURNERS

BMW M PRESIDENT MARKUS FLASCH BRAVELY DECLARED THE M8 COMPETITION, WITH ITS 460KW TWIN-TURBO V8, A “PORSCHE TURBO KILLER”. TIME THEN FOR THE RECKONING

- GEORG KACHER

WHAT IS THE FUNDAMENTAL difference between a sports car and a grand tourer? The design, the number of seats, engine location, power and performance are all worthwhile guesses, but incorrect. It is the driving position that differentiates between the former and the latter. In a proper sports car, the body-hugging seat must be mounted as close to the road as possible, so that if there were a hole in the floorpan the driver could reach down and touch the tarmac. Hip height is the number one decider when it comes to the intensity of interaction and explains why only a handful of grand tourers handle like sports cars.

The 911 has belonged to the sports car tribe since its arrival on the scene almost 60 years ago. Nevertheless, the Turbo, thanks to all wheel drive and a catalogue of comfort and convenience items, has over time seen the sports car and gran turismo orbits intersect, evolving into an incredibly effortless high-speed autobahn eater. Porsche’s new sports car boss, Frank Walliser, the wiry engineer who fathered the 918 Spyder and the Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid, is determined to make future 911s even more focused and driver-oriented, and this includes the 992 Turbo S. “I feel we have steered the 992 Turbo fractionally more in a back-to-the-roots direction,” Walliser told MOTOR. “To do so, even little things helped: stiffer joints, harder rubber bushings, tighter attachment points, modified spring and damper calibrations.” Walliser and his team may have over-achieved, reversing the trend to an extent that a Turbo GTS could be warranted.