Porsche 911 2026 review: Carrera Coupe

Calling the Porsche 911 Carrera a ‘base model’ comes with a lot of caveats. In the case of the 'Lugano Blue' 992.2 Porsche 911 pictured and tested, there are exactly 51,370 caveats.

Because while the base price for a 911 Carrera Coupe is $279,400, the as-tested price of ‘FLR 84C’ (the rego of my whip for the week) was $330,770.

Surprisingly, the aforementioned paint colour isn’t part of the reason for the extra $51,370 attached to the standard RRP. Lugano Blue comes in at $0.00, but to have the 911 Carrera badge painted in the same colour is $500.

The 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels are RS Spyder rims and they’re gorgeous. They’re also $5900. Sorry, that’s $8400, because they’re painted in 'Anthracite Grey'.

To get the exterior styling pack to match the wheels’ colour is $9570 and the black tailpipes are $5470. The tail-light arrangement is an 'Exclusive Design' unit for $1810. 

Does the cost of any of this matter if you’re considering a Porsche 911? Chances are not, but what does matter is the ridiculously smug feeling you get when you slip into the 18-way electrically adjustable sports seats ($2120).

After the first careful commute home along absolutely drenched and cold (fortunately, the leather GT sports steering wheel is heated - $1870) inner-north Melbourne roads and a couple of days becoming accustomed to seeing one third of a million dollars rolling off a sharehouse driveway each day, a clear day presented itself, as seen through the 911’s sunroof ($4720).

The first thing that becomes clear is the current 911 isn’t as intimidating as some would have you believe. There are more powerful, faster, and even arguably more driver-focused cars than the 911, but few with as much cultural cache among enthusiasts. 

Even in Carrera guise, its 2981cc twin-turbo flat-six engine produces 290kW and 450Nm and sends that to the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch auto transmission. The dual-clutch is listed as optional but for $0 - the alternative is a Carrera T if you want three pedals, but that starts at $306,800 before on-roads and caveats.

Once outside the limitations of metropolitan Melbourne, the 911 is remarkably comfortable for something built on six decades of being the best sports car possible. The wizards in Stuttgart have made 1520kg feel much lighter than it is. Harsh bumps in the road don’t shudder the 911, and its iconic coupe shape proves to be a decent wind-noise deterrent.

Turn off the cruise control with active lane-keeping ($1190) and point the Neunelfer at the highway exit near your favourite twisty roads and goosebumps start to appear. Once in the appropriate drive mode and with rear wing extended (if that’s your thing), you can put more pressure down with your right foot and feel your head nudge the Porsche crest embossed into the headrest ($500) as the 'Crayon'-coloured seatbelts ($930) hold you into your nicely bolted seat - adjusted to suit you, of course.

The flat-six starts drinking a little more quickly behind your back, which is fine. Porsche isn’t pretending the Carrera is extremely efficient with its 10.6L/100km consumption claim. You won’t find the Carrera’s acceleration astonishing if you’ve driven powerful cars before, 4.1 seconds to hit the tonne is ordinary in the EV era, but you’ll quickly notice how responsive and communicative the 911 is.

Turn into a corner and even if the surface is sub-par (in Australia it almost certainly will be) you’ll be given a nice reminder from underneath to adjust your steering input. And as accurate and beautifully weighted as the steering is, you likely won’t find yourself needing to adjust dramatically.

What you will want is to keep the 911 in manual mode during the time you’re giving it the proverbial berries, which means it’s entirely up to you and the aluminium wheel-mounted gear selector paddles ($1270) how close you get to the 3.0’s 7500rpm redline.

If you need to wash some speed off and a downshift isn’t quite cutting it, the 911’s steel disc brakes are more than up to the task, but getting that speed back is easy. Porsche quotes a claimed 80-120km/h time of 2.5 seconds. 

There aren’t a lot of harsh criticisms you can direct at the 911 if you’re being honest with yourself.

Perhaps it isn’t for everyone, every day. It certainly draws attention - sometimes unwanted. It’s an expensive thing to be commuting in, there aren't a lot of places to put things inside and its approach angles require some care in city areas where speed bumps are rife.