Enough Car
At 80 on the M1, the flat-six settles into a hum. Its owner chose the base Carrera.
“People think the base Carrera is some kind of compromise,” he says. “It isn’t. It’s the 911 that still makes sense.”
The shape
The 992 keeps the 911 outline: low nose, rising roofline and a wider rear. In Aventurine Green, the paint shifts from grey-green to bottle-green with the light. It photographs darker than it looks in person.
The flat-six sits behind the driver. On Old Pacific Highway, the weight over the rear axle is always apparent.
The interior is tan leather, with sport seats and no carbon trim or Alcantara. The Fuchs-style Heritage wheels were the indulgence.
Screens and age
He likes this car. He is less certain about what comes after it.
The centre tachometer is analogue, flanked by digital panels. Physical buttons sit below the touchscreen. The owner wanted more of them.
He does not know how the car will look at 50,000 kilometres. On older cars, paint thinned, chrome pitted and leather cracked along the bolster seam. The LED light bar and piano-black trim will age differently.
“The older cars aged like leather,” he says. “These age like a laptop.”
The base Carrera
The three-litre, twin-turbo engine sends 283 kilowatts through the rear wheels. He chose the base Carrera rather than the S, GTS or Turbo.
His argument is that the base car weighs less, rides better and has enough power for public roads. (Your correspondent would have ticked the S box.)
At 11,200 kilometres, he has not wanted more. The car does the school run and fits through the multi-storey at Westfield. He specified ceramic brakes.
The first mark
He drives it every day, parks it in the sun and does not cover it. Somewhere ahead is its first proper mark.
It’s enough car.