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640-HP Porsche 911 Turbo S Ties for the Second-Quickest Car We've Tested

Photo credit: Michael Simari - Car and Driver
Photo credit: Michael Simari - Car and Driver

From Car and Driver

  • The 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S achieved a 2.2-second zero-to-60-mph time in Car and Driver testing.

  • It also raced through the quarter-mile in 10.1 seconds at 137 mph.

  • The 992-generation Turbo S is powered by a twin-turbo 3.7-liter flat-six that produces 640 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque.

UPDATE 11/24/20: After recalculating the test numbers from our test of the 2018 Lamborghini Huracán Peformante to include the industry standard 1-foot rollout, the 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S ties the Lamborghini to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds.

Porsche's performance claims are frequently modest. When they unveiled the 2021 911 Turbo S, the German automaker boasted a 2.6-second sprint to 60 mph and said it would blast through the quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds. In the old Turbo S, we achieved a 2.6-second run to 60 mph, 0.2 second ahead of Porsche's initial claim, but this time, in the new car, we shed off four-tenths of a second, reaching 60 mph in the 992-generation 911 Turbo S in a blisteringly quick 2.2 seconds.

Photo credit: Michael Simari - Car and Driver
Photo credit: Michael Simari - Car and Driver

To achieve such a quick launch to 60 mph, we put the Turbo S in its Sport mode—not Sport Plus because it engages all of the active aerodynamics—and Sport traction in Porsche Stability Management (PSM). Launch control in Sport mode holds the rpm at around 4000, but we smashed the Sport Response button in the center of the steering-wheel-mounted drive-mode dial to jump up to just over 5000 rpm. Then, we released the brake and ripped to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds, trailing the hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar by only a tenth of a second.

Jumping off the line is near effortless for the 911 Turbo S—we reached 30 mph in 0.9 second—because of its enhanced all-wheel-drive system, which can send up to 368 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels. The 3.7-liter flat-six also makes 60 more horsepower and 37 lb-ft more torque than its predecessor thanks to larger variable turbine geometry turbos. The result is 640 horsepower and and 590 lb-ft of torque, which also helped the S blast through the quarter-mile in 10.1 seconds at 137 mph.

The 918 Spyder is the quickest car we've ever tested, and it comes with a near-million-dollar price. Right behind it is the $204,850 911 Turbo S, so that's kind of a bargain if you think about it. It ties the Lamborghini Huracán Performante (2.2 seconds), and then behind them are the Porsche Taycan Turbo S and Tesla Model S Performance with Cheetah mode, which both ripped to 60 mph in 2.4 seconds.

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