In the battle of charm and engineering, who wins?
Teeter to one side, and you make a machine. Teeter to the other, and you make an art piece. But like all things in life, when you balance the yin and yang just right, you create an icon.
With the 911, especially the 911 Turbo S, I feel Porsche has gone a little too far towards the engineering side. Over the years, the silhouette remained almost the same, but everything underneath changed.
See, Porsche has this habit of engineering every aspect of the car to the absolute T. Every time you think there's nothing left to engineer... they somehow find something. Engineered and perfected. Not beautified or made more artistic.
They ended up building the machine that conquers it all. Throw straights, twisties, corners at it... it swallows them all. Quietly, with no one watching. However, ask it for its quirks, and it might just go numb... like its exhaust.
It leaves every engineer in awe with the numbers, figures, and statistics on paper. It makes itself a beautiful case study on evolution for the boardroom. Unfortunately though, that doesn't help it land on the poster wall, become a phone screensaver, or even a laptop wallpaper for a teenager.
It went from inspiring adverts like "Kills Bugs Fast" to making us wonder, "So... what's actually different in this year's Turbo S?" Okay... maybe that's a little harsh.
However, all is not lost. If anything, Porsche themselves seem to be teetering back towards that balance point with their RS cars.
Take the GT3 RS for example. Even though it is heavily engineered, the engineering itself has character. A dinner-table-sized rear wing, a naturally aspirated engine that wants to be heard, and race-car harnesses (if you spec the Clubsport package). The engineering isn't hidden anymore. It is a part of the theatre.
Despite saying all this... The 911 Turbo S still holds a spot in my dream three-car garage. Sure, I love the brash personality of Lamborghinis, and admire the visual drama of Ferraris. But somehow, this honest, understated, can-do-everything machine is the one that still makes the list.
Is that because it complements my engineering mind... or because my art-appreciative heart sees something that I don't?
I guess we'll never know.