Wide-Body AWD 911 Comes in Carrera and Carrera S Models
There are many benefits to driving a car with four powered wheels, with traction in wet or snowy conditions being the most obvious.
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| The new 2006 Carrera 4 Coupe is on its way, marking more than 20 years of all-wheel drive Porsches. (Photo: Porsche Canada) |
Porsche initially offered all-wheel drive on its mid-'80s 959 supercar, and then followed up with a four-wheel motivated 964 C4 in 1989. C4 and C4S models were offered in 993 and 996 body styles, plus came standard with the Cayenne SUV, of course, and now that the new 2006 Carrera 4 Coupe is debuting, more than 20 years of all-wheel drive Porsches make quite a legacy.
The new model will deliver a great deal more performance when it becomes available later this year, from larger, more finely tuned engines, more resistant brakes, and more dynamic handling characteristics, than any previous all-wheel drive Carrera.
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| Porsche initially offered all-wheel drive on its mid-'80s 959 supercar. (Photo: Porsche Canada) |
Available for the first time with two engines, the standard unit being Porsche's recently upgraded 325-horsepower 3.6-litre six-cylinder boxer that powers the regular rear-wheel drive 2005 911 Carrera, zipping the sprightly coupe to 100 km/h in only 5.0 seconds and on to a top speed of 280 km/h (174 mph). I've driven this car, and the enhanced engine is not just incrimentally quicker, but smoother too. The same goes for the glorious six-speed manual gearbox, a big improvement over the outgoing transmission. I've also tested it with the Tiptronic transmission, and this side of a sequential manual the five-speed automatic performs among the best in its class.