Any time a new performance car comes out there's one benchmark that everyone looks to in order to measure its worth. It's such a common measuring stick that there's a journalist shorthand for the ambition any manufacturer has when they release their own GT cars, the 'Porsche Killer.' The venerable Porsche 911 is the mechanical rabbit that every other car maker aspiring to make a world class GT car chases, and every year Porsche pushes that mechanical rabbit further into the distance.

Rather than dramatic changes and style upgrades, Porsche approaches change in a distinctly German way, with efficiency and purpose. The engine remains where it was in 1955 when the Porsche flagship bore the 356 badge. It wasn't until 1997 that Porsche employed a radiator to cool the engine, a move that upset people who admired Porsche's consistency.

Performance And Stability

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With a car that so dogmatically retains its traditions it would be easy to mistake it as a throwback, a modern vintage car in the vein of the Morgan that only updates its 1930s look for safety and convenience. Instead, the Porsche innovates where it matters. Instead of California studio design exercises and marketing trends, change comes to the 911 in performance and stability.

All of these principles are alive in the latest iteration of the top of the line Porsche. While it may seem like the Stuttgart legend has given into market forces with bloated and suburban friendly offerings like the Cayenne, Macan, and Panamera, but the new 992 is here to dissuade you of that notion.

Turbos now come standard on the Porsche 911 992 after the legendary 930 introduced forced breathing in 1977. This means that even the base model hustles to 60mph from a standstill in less than four seconds with an eight speed PDK automatic transmission with the now standard flappy paddle shifters on the steering wheel. The turbos even spin in opposite direction on either side of the engine that gives the airflow when it reaches the engine more efficiency. With upgraded brakes featuring an electric boost it's also able to claw the beast back to a standstill in 40 feet less than its predecessor.

The Porsche 911 Defies Bench Racing Principles

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The car even features microphones and sensors to detect when the car is driving in wet conditions and adjusts power and steering input accordingly.

Along with now standard turbos the 992 also comes in widebody form all the way down the line, a feature that use to be reserved for the all wheel drive and top line Turbo models.

It's the little tweaks, the slide rule dedication to improving the car when the rubber hits the road, that allows the Porsche 911 to defy bench racing principles. Comparing numbers like its standard 444hp or top speed in the 180mph range or even skidpad and quarter mile times misses the point. Even the now vogue Nurburgring times don't tell the whole story.

So when a company releases their new "Porsche Killer" it will laud a quicker 0-60, or maybe a higher brake horsepower. Headlines will champion a one or two things that their new sports car will do better than a 911 as a way to establish their bona fides.

The reality, however, is that none of them ever do everything better than the 911. For all the Porsche Killers that have come out, the 911 remains unkilled. Every year another one comes out with its incremental changes that spawns new headlines about how the best is now the best ever, 996 missteps aside.

The Porsche 911 Is More Than The Sum Of Its Numbers

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In endurance racing, commentator Paul Truswell once commented that it didn't matter who was leading because in the closing hours some 'boring white Porsche' that no one has been paying attention to will emerge out of nowhere in the lead.

The Porsche endures. The Porsche 911 is more than the sum of its numbers. When dawn comes and the fighting has taken its toll, the little white Porsche emerges ahead. That is what makes the Porsche endure in a field of Porsche Killers. That's ultimately what makes the Porsche unkillable. That's what makes Porsche worth all the money.