There is something eternally beautiful about an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), as long as it's silently standing in its concrete bunker awaiting a call which might never happen. But it's always nice to know that when needed, it can deliver a lethal blow. The point? Well, the launch control function on the 911 Turbo is totally fissile material – much like that lonely ICBM out there. You don't generally need it, especially since Porsche has a whole bunch of stunning 0-100 figures for the new 911 Turbo cabrio. With the new seven-speed PDK, the road missile does it in 3.6 seconds, but opt for the chrono pack and that comes down to 3.5 seconds. Am not sure which one of these figures suits it when the launch control is engaged, because I made a meek attempt at trying it and I was left with my face covered in drool, hair standing on its end and feet trembling like a 108-year old super-geriatric.
I don't even remember when it crossed the 100 kph mark, because the next time I actually got my eyes to settle down, the needle had crossed 180 kph. My head had already hit the optional Porsche-crested neck restraint several times by then, but it wasn't because Porsche's new PDK, dual-clutch gearbox was giving me tranny knocks. It (PDK) has simply become the best thing on a 911 Turbo since, er, the Turbo itself! They call it Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (relative of that Icelandic volcano?), but it is far easier to use it than pronounce it. Unlike the six-speed tiptronic in the past, the PDK-equipped Turbo comes with a limited slip differential as standard. Given how quick the PDK keeps the next gear ready, it makes sense. Of course it meant that unless you got that friggin’ launch control to work, the boost pressures to anywhere around 0.8 to 1 bar, switched off stability control and pressed sport plus (huff!) and raised the revs to over 4000 rpm there was just no way of getting the car to wheelspin. You could say the limited slip diff is a bit of a killjoy, but it really doesn't take away the rapidity with which the 500 horses keep pulling you closer to the horizon – albeit with slightly reserved amounts of sensation going through your hip.
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