2023 Porsche 911 Turbo

Of the models in the upper echelons of the Porsche 911 range, the Turbo isn't the most exhilarating to drive - that honor must go to one of the GT3s or even the manual, rear-wheel-drive Sport Classic. However, the all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo is quicker than all of them, and its breadth of talents on normal roads places it atop the 911 hierarchy. Its ability to put down up to 640 horsepower smoothly (in the case of the Turbo S) is scarcely believable, and it will hit 60 mph in as little as 2.6 seconds. Its cornering grip and steering feel are stupendous, yet it's comfortable and refined enough to simply eat up the miles on the highway. The convertible model delivers most of the same thrills, but some will lament that no 911 Turbo has a manual. The starting price of almost $200,000 places the 911 Turbo in the same realm as incredible cars like the Audi R8 while also making the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (which is just as quick as the Turbo S) look like staggeringly good value. And yet, the Porsche 911 Turbo is so good on so many levels that it may just be worth that price.

While there are no major changes for the normal 911 Turbo, Porsche did introduce a new 911 Sport Classic with the Turbo's engine, a manual, and rear-wheel drive, but we review that derivative separately.

The starting price of the 2023 Porsche 911 Turbo is $182,900 in the USA, rising to a steep $216,100 for the more powerful Turbo S. The 911 Turbo Cabriolet carries an MSRP of $195,700 and the Turbo S Cabriolet goes for $228,900. These prices exclude the destination charge of $1,450.

Although the Turbo S is one of the ultimate 911s, its extra power only shaves a tenth of a second off the 0-60 sprint - and for over $33,000 more. We'd rather go for the Turbo and use some of the extra cash for a few essential upgrades. This 911 Turbo is one sports car where going for the Cabriolet doesn't mean you're compromising tangibly in terms of performance, so the choice is simply down to whether you want a convertible or not.

The modern interior of the Porsche 911 Turbo is brilliantly built and perfectly set up for brisk driving. Clear instruments on the dashboard include the center tachometer, which has been a Porsche staple for decades, and you can specify seats that turn this breathtakingly quick sports car into a decent grand tourer. The layout feels snug but not cramped unless forced to occupy one of the small rear seats. Visibility is good, and you can equip the 911 to a high standard if you're willing to splurge on options. The coupe comes with heated front seats, leather upholstery, dual-zone climate control, and a 10.9-inch touchscreen as standard.

Sitting inside the 2023 911 Turbo is good news for front-seat occupants. Even taller drivers will be able to get comfortable behind the wheel, and outward visibility isn't nearly as dire as in some mid-engined exotics. You do have to haul yourself out of the car due to its low ride height, but any enthusiast would argue that this is a small price to pay for the feeling of connectedness once you're inside. Interior space in the back is another story, being severely short on legroom or headroom, so only smaller kids will be able to use the second row in any degree of comfort.

The new Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe has a front trunk volume measuring 4.5 cubic feet (enough for two smaller duffel bags) and up to 9.3 cubes in the back when the rear seats are folded. That adds up to 13.7 cubes, around the size of some sedan trunks, so the 911 is fairly practical for what it is. The same cargo space specs apply to the new Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet.

Storage for small items includes door pockets that are an acceptable size and a conventional glovebox. The center armrest conceals a shallow storage place that is only really good for a phone or wallet, and there is a single cupholder.

Materials inside the Porsche 911 Turbo aren't as plush as those in a Bentley, but everything is built to an exceedingly high standard. Leather upholstery is standard in colors like black, Slate Grey, and Bordeaux Red, but there are multiple ways to upgrade the materials and colors. Club leather has a more luxurious look in interior colors like Truffle Brown, and you can select Sport-Tex seat centers for a racier vibe. There are even 3D-printed body form full bucket seats with an elastic grille structure. Heritage Design packages add significantly to the price but feature the Porsche Crest on the front headrests and extended leather on the door panels. The Lightweight Package with full bucket seats limits the leather color to black. It doesn't end there, with deviated stitching packages, interior trim inlays in materials like carbon fiber or brushed aluminum, and an array of colors for the seatbelts.

The leather-wrapped steering wheel can be swapped for one in Race-Tex or Race-Tex and carbon fiber, and the PDK gear selector can be finished in aluminum. The Turbo S has more luxurious adaptive sports seats as standard with a unique seam pattern on the seat centers, butit otherwise comes with all the options that apply to the normal Turbo.

The Porsche 911 in any configuration has never led the way for feature content at the price, and many vehicles costing half as much come with more equipment. It's not a stripped-down sports car, though, with standard features including heated front seats with 14-way power adjustability and memory settings for the driver. It also has a powered steering column, dual-zone automatic climate control, comfort access, and HomeLink to easily open your garage door remotely. The fabric roof of the Cabriolet can be automatically lowered. Turbo S derivatives have 18-way power adaptive sports seats in front with elevated side bolsters, four-way lumbar support, and the ability to adjust the seat squab depth.

There are many options on even this high-priced 911. Buyers can add upgraded seats, ambient lighting, an ionizer to improve air quality, a heated steering wheel, and a front axle lift system.

The Porsche Communication Management (PCM) system for the infotainment setup runs on a 10.9-inch touchscreen display. Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are finally included. The system also has navigation, voice controls, Bluetooth, and USB-C ports. The standard 12-speaker Bose sound system can be upgraded to a more powerful 13-speaker Burmester high-end system.

The Porsche 911 Turbo doesn't have to worry about tackling gravel (there's the Dakar for that), setting record-breaking lap times (cue the GT3 RS), or providing silly but wildly entertaining rear-wheel-drive fun (Sport Classic). As a result, Porsche was able to focus on making this the quickest 911 of all in a straight line, and boy, does this sports car deliver on that brief.

The standard Porsche 911 Turbo's 3.7-liter turbocharged six-cylinder engine produces 572 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque, the latter delivered between 2,250 and 4,500 rpm. With AWD and the quick-shifting eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, the Porsche 911 Turbo's 0-60 mph time is 2.7 seconds, and the top speed is 199 mph. The cabriolet is just a tenth of a second behind to 60 and has the same top speed. In the Turbo S, the same engine is tuned to deliver 640 hp and 590 lb-ft, cutting the 0-60 time down to 2.6 seconds (coupe) and 2.7 seconds (convertible). Both Turbo S derivatives can reach 205 mph on summer tires.

These EV-like performance figures are accompanied by the cultured yet pleasing wail of the boxer-six engine. The Turbo pushes you back into your seat hard, grips, and just goes at the speed of light. At the first corner, the AWD keeps everything in check. The chassis is the equal of the car's superlative straight-line power; grip is prodigious and body roll almost unnoticeable. The steering is one of the benchmarks for sheer feel, distinguishing itself from most other sports cars that feel inaccurate or muted by comparison. The brakes are hugely effective, and the calibration of the pedal is on par with the perfect steering and involving PDK. The Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes on the Turbo S are great for hard track use, but they aren't the only upgrades for the 911.

The PASM Sport Suspension is lower by 10 mm and comes with sportier tuning for the springs, dampers, and anti-roll bars. With the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control, active roll stabilization further improves the car's agility. Finally, a Sport Exhaust System is available. Even without these extras, though, the 911 Turbo is a staggering achievement.

Whether in Turbo or Turbo S guise, the 911 returns the same gas mileage numbers of 15/20/17 mpg city/highway/combined. Opting for the cabriolet doesn't have any effect on consumption.

All models have a 17.6-gallon fuel tank capacity that equates to a range of just under 300 miles on a full tank of gas.

There has not been a local safety review of the Porsche 911 Turbo or any other 911 derivative, but we have little reason to doubt that it will be a safe car.

All 911 Turbos have safety features like front and side airbags, tire pressure monitoring, cruise control, front/rear parking sensors, a review camera, and cruise control. Most advanced driver-assistance features cost extra, something that's hard to stomach considering the Turbo's sky-high price. Adaptive cruise control costs $2,000, around what you'd pay for a comprehensive driver-assistance package from Mercedes. A surround-view system is $1,430, night vision assist is $2,540, lane change assist is $1,060, and lane keep assist with traffic sign recognition is $1,220. Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes cost at least $9,650 on the Turbo but are standard on the Turbo S, while LED matrix-design headlights start at $2,000 on the Turbo.

The Porsche 911 Turbo has an excellent reliability reputation, especially for a high-performance sports car. That much can be seen in its Quality & Reliability rating from JD Power, which is 85 out of 100. There has only been one recall for the 2023 911 Turbo for the possibility that an airbag may not deploy properly. The same issue affected the 2022 models. For the Turbo S, there were three recalls for the 2021 model year for improperly tightened suspension components, an incorrect passenger seat that could affect airbag deployment, and a seatbelt locking retractor malfunction.

The warranty for the 2023 Porsche 911 Turbo runs for four years or 50,000 miles, but complimentary scheduled maintenance is only covered for the initial year or 10,000 miles.

The Porsche 911 Turbo, like all 911s, has what must be the most distinctive silhouette in car design - even a rudimentary sketch of the 911 would be easily identifiable. The Turbo and Turbo S are only subtly different from cheaper 911s with their 20-/21-inch 911 Turbo alloy wheels, square-shaped quad exhaust outlets, and unique 911 Turbo script at the back. The Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (PDLS+) is standard with a cornering function, while the Turbo S variants have LED-Matrix Design headlights. At the back is the thin taillight strip with the integrated PORSCHE script. There are several roof options, like an electric slide/tilt sunroof or a carbon fiber roof. Of course, the cabriolet has an electrically folding soft-top. There is an available front-axle lift system to compensate for the 911's minimal ground clearance.

Several packages are available to customize the car's appearance, and there are multiple wheel designs, brake caliper colors, and paints to choose from. Besides standard colors like black and Racing Yellow, customers can splurge on Paint to Sample alternatives.

The 911 Turbo is virtually unmatched by other sports cars on normal roads. Not only is it hilariously quick in a straight line, but the abundance of power has not corrupted the fluency of the chassis or the communicative steering. It dances through corners and remains unflappable in a way that Porsche engineers could never have envisioned when the unpredictable 930 Turbo - the "Widowmaker" - arrived on the scene decades ago. Purists will bemoan the absence of a drivetrain with RWD or a manual, but there are other 911s that offer both. On the downside, the 911 Turbo carries an exorbitant price tag, and the expensive options that are standard on far cheaper cars are a slap in the face. But the average 911 Turbo customer won't be bothered by this as they drive off in one of the most complete, shatteringly capable sports cars on earth.