![\"turbo_above\"](\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/2d56ffea67e6f63b43e8c8210e9338b2143cc16e\/c=516-0-3612-2322&r=x404&c=534x401\/local\/-\/media\/2016\/08\/24\/DetroitNews\/B99432366Z.1_20160824231440_000_G9V13PR45.1-0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>When Jeep does a media test program they take us to places like Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area south of San Francisco, a sort of boot camp for cars. We tortured a Renegade there last year off sandy cliffs, over rocks and through a cement mixer of water and mud. The subcompact crossover is that tough, even if Joe Suburbia never takes it off asphalt.<\/p>\n
When Porsche wants to introduce a new 911 Turbo, they take us to remote locations like Thunderhill Raceway Park north of Sacramento. In August. In 103-degree heat. It\u2019s the \u201cWillows\u201d ramp off Interstate 5, the exit right before \u201cThe Fires of Hades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over four hours, we flogged Stuttgart\u2019s latest through four 20-minute sessions over one of the longest (4.6 miles), most punishing closed race courses in North America. This is production car abuse (by comparison, I do three, 20-minute sessions over seven hours in my purpose-built Porsche 906 race car on a typical race day).<\/p>\n
Why? So Joe Suburbia knows that his $200,000 Porsche is as fast and reliable as they say it is. Even if the only course it ever comes near is a golf course.<\/p>\n
As if 18 LeMans endurance victories weren\u2019t enough proof, Porsche engineers the fastest, most durable sports cars on the planet. And everything they have ever learned is wrapped in a rocketship labeled internally as version 991.2.<\/p>\n
The world will know it as the 2017 911 Turbo and Turbo S.<\/p>\n
Since its debut in 1973, the Turbo has had the mostest: the most horsepower, most technology, most drivability of any 911. On Thunderhill it didn\u2019t disappoint. Like the 911 Carrera on which it is based, Turbo feels smaller than its 3,527 pounds. Credit German engineering that brews this masterpiece with a tried-and-true recipe: fast-back shape, rear-mounted boxer 6-cylinder, and a rear track wider than a 747.<\/p>\n
Then add the latest spices, like a standard all-wheel drive system that rotates the car\u2019s mass through corners with rear-wheel steering. The payoff comes at exit, when you floor \u2014 yes, floor \u2014 the 3.8-liter engine and all four paws channel its 540-horsepower (580 in the Turbo S) for launch to the next corner. At Thunderhill, I hit 140 mph on the short front straight.<\/p>\n
VEHICLE TYPE<\/strong><\/td>\n| REAR-ENGINE, ALL-WHEEL DRIVE,<\/p>\n | FOUR-PASSENGER SPORTS CAR<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Power plant<\/strong><\/td>\n | 3.8-liter, twin-turbo flat 6-cylinder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Transmission<\/strong><\/td>\n | Seven-speed, dual-clutch PDK automatic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Weight<\/strong><\/td>\n | 3,527 pounds (Turbo S as tested)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Price<\/strong><\/td>\n | $160,250 ($192,310 Turbo S as tested)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Power<\/strong><\/td>\n | 540 horsepower, 486 pound-feet torque<\/p>\n | (Turbo); 580 horsepower, 516 pound-feet<\/p>\n torque (Turbo S)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Performance<\/strong><\/td>\n | 0-60 mph, 2.6 seconds (Car and Driver);<\/p>\n | top speed: 205 mph<\/p>\n \n
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