Porsche 911 GTS review: the best-value 911

The last time I checked, a new 911 Carrera came with 153 selectable options. Naturally, you cannot order every one of them at once: certain choices exclude others, unless you fancy multiple wheel sets or an interior combining wood and carbon fibre, with yellow seatbelts on one side and red ones on the other. Yet if every combination were possible, Porsche could theoretically create a staggering 9.6 trillion subtly distinct 911s. That is close to 1,610 individual 911s for every person on the planet.

Absurd though that may sound, Porsche clearly decided it still needed another version. Enter the 911 GTS. Positioned by the Zuffenhausen giant within its 20-model 911 range - or 21 if the sold-out Sport Classic is counted - above the Carrera 4S and below the Targa 4, the GTS Coupe and Cabriolet are defensible additions to an already bewildering catalogue. In fact, they may be the most sensibly priced 911s available.

Rumoured to be the final version of the present 997 before the new - and, inevitably, very similar-looking - 998 arrives later this year, although more special editions are surely still coming, the GTS arguably delivers the strongest performance-per-pound proposition in the current 911 line-up. It is hardly inexpensive, but compare its standard equipment with the cost of bringing a regular Carrera S up to the same specification and the logic becomes obvious.

Porsche 911 GTS: specification versus a Carrera S

Start with the engine. A standard £74k Carrera S produces 385bhp and 310lb ft. The sole Porsche-sanctioned route to the GTS's 408bhp is the £8k-plus Powerkit, immediately lifting the Carrera S to £82k.

Then there are the wheels. The Carrera S leaves the factory on 48cm Carrera S II alloys. Equipping it with the centre-locking RS Spyder wheels fitted to the GTS would add another £2,300, along with some pleading to the salesperson because they are not officially offered on the standard options list. Want them in black? Budget a further £1,000. The subtotal for this GTS-inspired Carrera S is now £85.5k.

There is more to add. The GTS's Sport Design front treatment costs roughly another £2,000. For the wider Carrera 4-style rear bodywork that comes as standard on the GTS, allow another couple of thousand on top. Call the bodywork bill £4,500 in total, bringing the running figure to a neat £90k.

To finish the imitation GTS, you would need to order the Alcantara cabin and Sport Design steering wheel from Porsche's decidedly costly accessories list. That is another £3,000 of hard-earned money, at least. After this painstaking exercise, your formerly modest Carrera S sits just over £1,000 shy of £95k - £8,000 more than a 911 GT3.

So what does the GTS cost? £76,758.

That remains a long way from cheap, of course, but in the virtual corridors of Porsche's online configurator it represents something of a bargain. You can practically hear Porsche calfskin-leather Sport Classic II wallets (£80) opening and black Amex cards landing on the counter.

The case is strengthened by details that cannot be replicated on a Carrera S, however long you spend attempting to configure one as a GTS. Visually, the black front spoiler and side skirts make the GTS appear lower and leaner. Black paint between the rear exhaust outlets, and on the outlets themselves, also draws attention to the additional 44mm of width provided by the Carrera 4-derived rear end. Together, those details give it a slightly more purposeful, lower and faster-looking stance.

911 GTS performance and drivetrain

And it genuinely is faster. Alongside the Powerkit's extra 23bhp, which includes a freer-flowing sports exhaust as standard, the GTS engine gains a revised variable intake system. This gives the middle of the rev range a substantial torque boost, making everyday road driving even more effortless than normal - useful in its own right. Above 6,000rpm, however, the engine is allowed to breathe fully, bringing an entirely new, banshee-like edge to the experience. Just when you assume the performance is fading, the noise begins in earnest and it becomes clear that the GTS is only getting started.

Top speed is 306km/h, while 0-100km/h takes 4.6 seconds with the manual gearbox, 4.4 seconds with the PDK semi-automatic and 4.2 seconds for a PDK car fitted with the optional Sport Chrono Package in Sport Plus mode. Yes, even a GTS - already laden with special equipment - leaves a vast amount of choice for its buyer.

Beyond selecting a gearbox, owners must decide whether to retain the standard rear-seat delete or have the rear seats installed free of charge. They can also choose the larger 75-litre fuel tank, which holds more than 19 litres extra, again at no additional cost. It surely makes sense to take both, unless you genuinely claim to detect the handling difference their absence makes. In that case, you are probably the sort of person with no friends, meaning the tiny rear seats would be wasted anyway.

Proper heroes will probably also order the ceramic brake discs and the sports suspension package, which includes a limited-slip differential. It lowers the Grand Touring Sport 911 by another 20mm, improves stopping performance and provides the highest possible level of traction.

Once you have deliberated over all of that, it is difficult to imagine being anything other than delighted with the outcome. The GTS may well offer the finest balance of cost, pace and comfort anywhere in the 911 Carrera family. It is neither as flamboyant and uncompromising as a GT3 nor as ordinary as the regular 911 models. It is an almost ideal mix of visual drama and real performance.

As it is rear-wheel drive only, it delivers the exceptional steering feel, sharpness and accuracy available only when the front wheels have no task beyond turning the car. It also has the traction and propulsion associated with a rear-engined machine riding on 28cm-wide rear tyres. The front and rear tracks have each been widened slightly to increase the available limits, although the overall sensations are not radically different from those of another Carrera.

Porsche 911 GTS on the road

That changes when you glance at the speedometer. At that point, the GTS's composure becomes apparent. On familiar bends, it was 10 to 15 per cent quicker than a standard Carrera, yet it maintained an unruffled, secure demeanour. Under hard acceleration it still crouches like a toad, and it still demands a firm grip of the steering wheel plus a delicate throttle foot to keep it pointed where intended. But everything feels more finely resolved, smoother and better polished than before.

That is particularly evident through the new Alcantara-trimmed three-spoke Sport Design steering wheel. What appears to signal the end for the steering-wheel-mounted PDK shift buttons used by lesser 911, Cayman and Boxster models, the GTS wheel uses paddles instead. There is no argument: they are superior in every respect. The buttons were a worthwhile effort and useful for one-handed driving, since the same hand could shift both up and down. But in a 306km/h sports car, paddles are the answer.

Moving to the Cabriolet, only two questions matter when assessing whether it is a convincing open-roof counterpart to the Coupe. Does it flex noticeably over broken roads? And can it be driven roof-down above 80km/h without making you feel as if you are sitting in a hurricane? The answer to the first is no. It weighs 60kg more, but you would barely realise it. The answer to the second is yes, although raising the stereo by a couple of notches makes conversation possible at the legal speed limit.

What that conversation might cover is anyone's guess. But while driving the GTS, one thought kept returning: given how close it is to a Sport Classic 911, what would it cost to turn one into the other? Replace the wheels with the Fuchs-inspired Sport Classic items - only around £5k, sir - source a ducktail engine cover and black headlamp surrounds, and you would be nearly there for comfortably more than £60k less than the Sport Classic's asking price.

GTS Coupe and Cabriolet appeal

Ultimately, though, that would be a fake, and not a particularly convincing one. Far better simply to commit to the unadulterated GTS experience and enjoy one of the best 911s on sale. It may lack the rarity of that Seventies-inspired model, but it offers just as much enjoyment behind the wheel - perhaps even more. Rather than concealing it beneath a dust sheet while waiting for the market to improve, you can drive the GTS hard every day and appreciate its many refined, carefully honed abilities immediately.

It is not a perfect car, and it never will be. As a 911, however, few 997s - if any - are better balanced, while plenty cost more and deliver less. At least, that was true the last time I looked.