Stick: The Carrera 4 and 4S deliver gobs of grip

[BMWDave]

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Big Stick: The Carrera 4 and 4S quietly deliver gobs of grip
NATALIE NEFF
Published Date: 7/11/05
2006 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA 4
ON SALE: November
BASE PRICE: $77,100
POWERTRAIN: 3.6-liter, 325-hp, 273-lb-ft H6; awd, six-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 3200 lbs (est.)
0 TO 60 MPH: 5.1 seconds (mfr.)

The stretch of road snaking through Col de Turini near the tiny principality of Monaco winds far too tightly up the mountainside for us to seriously stretch the legs of Porsche?s latest 911, the Carrera 4. Every hairpin doubles back so snugly against itself that we?re forced to run wide either on entry or exit just to complete the turn; meantime, we can only hope no one attempts the same from the other direction at the same time.

Admittedly, on more than a few occasions we do try to slide the car around the tighter corners?carrying as much speed and braking as late as we dare, cocking the wheel sharply to get the nose pointing inward and rotate the rear end around?but our bravado only lasts so long. We never do find out how far the car will grip before it gives it up. On this day prudence ultimately rules, and we decide not to explore the limits of the car or ourselves and risk finding either somewhere on the Mediterranean side of the precipice.

Of course, for folks like Walter R?hrl, limits and cliff sides don?t seem to figure. Perhaps that goes without saying, given the lanky German?s record-tying four wins at the Rally Monte Carlo.


?It?s getting a little difficult to see with the fog,? says R?hrl, as the Carrera 4S he plies careens down a road no wider than a cowpath, his voice resonating more with Teutonic matter-of-factness than concern. The clouds indeed have begun to hug the mountain, obscuring not only the drop-off to our right, but also most of the road ahead. R?hrl never flinches?and barely ever lifts.

His speed exceeds ours by factors during this demo run through Camp d?Argent, a mountain pass that once served as the highest leg of the famous rally R?hrl dominated in the 1980s. But that?s not even the most impressive part of the exhibition. The ease with which he wields the car?tail hanging out, hands crossed in opposite lock through big, sustained drifts (all the while chatting away casually, no less)?serves as the perfect showcase of Porsche?s all-wheel-drive system?s capabilities.

The grip afforded by the C4?s all-wheel drive?over and above that of the car?s already super-sticky tires?inspires colossal confidence in even the most ham-fisted of drivers. It?s no wonder, then, that far more than half of the 911s Porsche sold last year, including the Turbo, were all-wheel-drive models: They can make anyone believe they have a little R?hrl in them, but won?t bite them in the hindquarters when they discover they don?t.


When the 2006 Carrera 4 and 4S hit showrooms this November ($77,100 for the Carrera 4; $87,100 for the Carrera 4S coupe), they will represent the third variant of the current-generation 911, internally known as the 997, to roll out of Zuffenhausen. For now you can still find previous-generation 996 all-wheel-drive Carreras?the C4 cabriolet and C4S coupe and cab?sitting next to rear-drive 997 Carrera coupes, which bowed last August, as well as C2 cabrios that followed early this year. (Next year Porsche will turn its attention to launching the high-output 997s, among them the 911 Turbo and, most likely, a new GT3.)

The all-wheel-drive system found on the C4 and C4S coupes remains largely unchanged from two generations of 911 ago, since its introduction on the 993 model Carrera 4. It?s a multi-plate viscous coupling unit that, under normal driving conditions, transfers just 5 percent of engine torque to the front wheels. If the system detects any rear wheelslip, however, it can shuttle up to 40 percent of the engine?s power forward.

It?s a lighter and more robust system than that found on the first series production all-wheel-drive 911, the 964 Carrera 4 that bowed in 1988. That system used a mechanical center differential and limited-slip-like clutch packs to split engine power 31 percent fore and 69 percent aft, and weighed twice as much as the current 911?s all-wheel-drive system.


Much of the theory behind the 964?s system was derived from the all-wheel-drive setup found on Porsche?s 959 supercar of the mid-?80s, but it required far less cost and even less complexity. The system worked remarkably well and all but erased the car?s inherent tendency to snap oversteer. Because a significant amount of engine power was constantly fed to the front wheels, the 964 C4 could literally pull itself through turns.

The current setup ensures the C4 feels more like its rear-drive stablemates under most conditions. When driven aggressively, it is difficult to discern any shift in torque forward or aft. Put the power down over any loose surface, however, and you?ll feel the tires scrabble for traction, gravel shooting out from any of four corners while the fronts help to claw their way forward.

You will also be hard-pressed to identify any palpable degradation in stopping performance as a result of the 110-pound weight penalty imparted by the all-wheel-drive system. That?s because both the C4 and C4S get bigger brakes, with 12.52-inch front and 11.77-inch rear vented and cross-drilled discs on the C4, and 13.0-inchers front and rear on the C4S. Both cars also get correspondingly larger brake pads, with the C4S?s calipers painted bright red to distinguish it from its less powerful twin.

Porsche also equipped both the C4 and C4S with slightly larger master brake cylinders to accommodate the cars? higher curb weights, so the stopping distances of the all-wheel-drive cars equal that of their C2 siblings.


Both all-wheel-drive cars get an updated version of Porsche?s Stability Management system, featuring two new functions to aid in offsetting that extra heft at the curb. First, PSM pre-fills the brake system with hydraulic fluid in response to sudden throttle lifts to ensure the pads are already rest-ing on the discs by the time your foot makes it to the brake pedal; Porsche says this quickens braking responses and shortens stopping distances. PSM also features a brake assist-type function, whereby the system will assume an emergency braking situation based on the speed and pressure with which the driver depresses the brake pedal, and fully engage the brakes even if the pedal isn?t depressed all the way. Thankfully, for those who intend to run their cars at the track, this function can be turned off.

The final drive ratio remains the same as in the 996 C4s, at 3.44:1 in six-speed-manual-equipped cars, with only a slight change in transmission gear ratios to compensate for the larger tires on the 997 models. The Carrera 4 comes standard with 18-inch 235/30ZR fronts and 295/35ZR rears, while the C4S gets more aggressive 19-inch rubber, 235/35ZRs in front and 305/30ZRs in back.

Most of the content you?ll find in the C4 and C4S mirrors that of its rear-drive 997 siblings, from engine options, specifications and standard and optional equipment. Both cars get a six-speed manual standard, with the five-speed Tiptronic S optional. The C4 coupe uses the familiar 3.6-liter boxer-six found in the 911 Carrera coupe and cabriolet, turning out 325 horses at 6800 rpm and 273 lb-ft of torque at 4250 rpm. Likewise, the C4S draws power from the 3.8-liter six found under the hood of the Carrera S and C2S cab, with the same 355 hp at 6600 rpm and 295 lb-ft at 4600 rpm. Porsche says those numbers are good for delivering a 5.1-second 0-to-60-mph time in the C4, with the C4S turning in a 4.8-second performance.


PSM comes standard, as does Porsche Communication Management. But while the Carrera 4, like the base C2 and C2 cab, makes do with a conventional suspension setup with MacPherson struts front and multilinks behind, the more powerful C4S comes equipped with Porsche?s Active Suspension Management system, which modulates the damper settings between normal and sport modes. PASM is optional on the C4.

Available on both models are Porsche?s Ceramic Composite Brakes, as well as a tire pressure monitoring system. The optional Sports Chrono Package, when activated by a button on the center console, modulates the engine management controls, as well as the aggressiveness of PSM intervention and the level of operation of PASM. On C4S models equipped with the Tiptronic gearbox, the Sports Chrono Package can adjust for a more agile setting of shift functions and times.

Of course it?s the all-wheel-drive car?s distinguishing visual feature that we relish the most, outside of driving it. With a rear end widened by 1.73 inches over the C2, the car takes on a much more aggressive demeanor, its flaring rear fenders broadening the car by 0.86 inch over even the mighty 996 Turbo.

It?s as impressive a rear view as any car wearing the 911 badge has borne, made all the more so by what that fat rear end delivers: more stick than you?ll ever know what to do with.

[ifcar]

I appreciate that you started posting the articles instead of just the links.

[BMWDave]

I appreciate that you started posting the articles instead of just the links.

I originally posted all the articles, but then stopped for some time. And also, 4-5 page reviews off M/T are hard to copy and past, simply because they will be extremely long, and I have to edit out all the ads, etc.

[Raghavan]

nice, but way too expensive for the awd.

[Run Away]

I seriously think for the most part I'd prefer the RWD Porsches simply because having that much grip isn't as fun. To me, a car is all about fun to drive. Sure the AWD will make it faster around a track, but it's more fun to slide the tail and squeal the tires, plus I wouldn't end up killing the tranny like I probably would in a AWD car.