Gadgetory

even if it wasn't a ball searing yellow this car would probably get your attention it's the most competent Porsche 911 that doesn't scream look at me well except for that color let's drive the 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS and check the tech 911s occupy a special place but depending on how you come to them that place is either the ultimate drivers tool or the ultimate tool for tools but the GTS places you in the former category pretty squarely because it means you are savvy enough to pick it out from a litter of almost two dozen siblings that includes calves Targa's asses fours turbos special GTS and the speedster classic lines inside a GTS this is Porsche stuff from both the past with the five circles of gauges and the current which is this new centre stack you'll get this seven-inch I think it is LCD on all GTS Carreras but you won't have navigation unless you add that Alucard sources are fairly straightforward this car is not cutting-edge in that way you've got AM and FM but you don't have HD radio on this car base is going to be a single slot for CD and DVD but there is a six disc that's optional you see in here in the console I've got my hookup for when we got aux USB and a special connector that gives you iPod and another USB pigtail I believe that's optional though don't get too excited about that SIM card slot that's not for internet access for about Google services or anything that's just at ease in the European market I believe that powers built-in telephony in the US market it just says screw you oh I see you're looking at this aren't you this is kind of cool little tiltable vintage chronograph that's part of the Sport Chrono Package now you can use that to time your runs but it's also part of a package that can hot up the drivetrain and make this car even faster than it is in the straight condition now because our car has a nav I can show you what the map quality looks like it's gotten better this one's got a good angle of view it's still lower than a lot of car systems but that's just how a 911 cabin is laid out notice it is a touchscreen system it reacts pretty quickly I seem to recall these were pretty pokey a generation or two ago and you could also use this knob right here to turn and click to select these seats make me nervous now a GTS comes standard with this mix of leather on the bolsters and Alcantara Mouse fur down the middle these always bother me every time I get in I feel like I'm making it another step toward being bald on the corners or the edges you know and this drives me nuts it's also a standard GTS thing they paint this center console body color it just feels cheap or like some kind of a dune buggy to me you can option that into leather carbon metallized finish but you know what that means now's a good time to change gears and make a run to rob king's escargot racing in San Rafael California where Pat Sexton can put the GTS in perspective he's a Porsche certified master mechanic but more importantly he's been tuning Porsches since he was 17 and at the shop fast rare and racing Porsches pretty much litter the ground just the kind of jaundiced eye I want to look over the GTS I patent I'm a little bewildered I was looking at the Porsche sight when we came over to visit you guys and I count 23 911s in the stable these days you got to help me figure out where this one fits in the lineup this would come in just above the 911s but below the gt3 it's more of a street car in my opinion whereas the gt3 is going to be more useful on a track a lot of folks want to know how do I spot one 911 from another the 911s body the wheels with the center locks those are real center locks right correct that's a little fake cap no no no little features like the blacked-out bottom lip area whole bottom edge yeah now in the rear as with every 911 we have now one of the most covered up engines yeah there's two see stuff in here yeah it's kind of hard to distinguish what we're looking at here is bull to me yeah there's not much ruined there's not much room to do anything I don't envy your job I mean yeah it's it's not easy that all those knuckles looking they're not bad this is a 3.8 liter 408 horsepower yeah and they're all 3.8 liter for the most part of this book yeah but they gave this one 23 more horsepower to give it a little bit more oomph over at s over an S and an S has significant over a standard correct 911 so you've got a couple bumps built in here yes and that's why I'd put it up right right below the gt3 this car has got a button for has the exhaust logo on it the sport exhaust what is that doing its bypassing part of the system to make it more notable that it's Laur just no it's just no good oh yes that's what it's all about is that know that engine sound that makes it distinguished from any other escaping hell you can you can always tell when a 911s driving by it does take some time to get used to a 911 because all the weights in the back you've got the engine and transmission in front of it all located in the back of the vehicle so that's the old knock on these cars is there not a car for the amateur who is full of themself you can get in trouble on it is that still the case with all the stability controls and stuff you find them tricky to drive now no not at all this car will make anybody a fast driver but you can still get yourself in trouble well enough talking about it lets go for a ride okay sounds good this is where I normally take you for a drive but Pat hammers Porsches every day to make sure his handiwork isn't going to come unscrewed make all that him it's a car that can really be made to when you know what you're doing it's just so yeah I'd like I said it'll make a good driver out of anybody but what it does and how good way to get to 100 now we didn't do that this car wasn't now let me in theory anyway yeah oh yeah exactly this car didn't really break a sweat Oh around at all not at all that was I stretched its legs a little bit than that not quite as much as it can go it's a phenomenal car okay pricing any 911 in less than an hour is futile no company offers more options and bespoke touches all of them expensive a GTS bases at a hundred and four grand deliver almost everything tech is all a cart but this is one of those few cars that really wants to be ordered without any of it or that yellow pay