Top Gear testing Porsche 911 996

Description

After 34 years in production the famous air-cooled 911 was replaced by an all-new water-cooled model. Known as the Type 996, this car was a major leap for Porsche, although many of the traits that defined the 911 during past decades still remained. With the new model there was finally a newly designed bodyshell (all previous 911s being based on the original 1963 shell). As with the 993 before it the 996 was also a significant model, but mainly for the way it was conceived and designed, and the effect it had on Porsche during the 1990s. Pundits criticized the 996's styling a great deal, largely because it shared its headlamps— indeed much of its front end, mechanically— with the less expensive Boxster. The 996 had been on the drawing board first and was a more advanced car in some respects, but the cost-cutting seemed inappropriate for an expensive car. Otherwise, the Pinky Lai-penned shape followed the original Butzi Porsche design very closely; the Carrera model had a 0.30 Coefficient of drag. The interior was further criticized for its plainness and its lack of relationship to prior 911 interiors, although this came largely from owners of older 911s. The Type 996 spawned over a dozen variations, including all wheel drive Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S (which had a 'Turbo look') models, the club racing-oriented GT3, and the forced-induction 996 Turbo and GT2. The Turbo, four-wheel-drive and twin-turbo, often made appearances in magazines' lists of the best cars on sale. 996 <b>...</b>

Keywords

Porsche, Top gear, topsixth, 911, 996

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