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One of the most captivating moments in a cinematic guilty pleasure of mine, Scent of a Woman, is when Al Pacino, playing a blind retired lieutenant colonel, demonstrates how to reassemble his 'piece" in record time. It reminds me of Henry Reed's 'Naming of Parts". Pacino rapidly feels for each cool metal element, and slots, twists and slides the sections together.
There's something so satisfying about the clicks of working parts slotting into place, which might explain why I finally get the 911.
I've been driving the new Carrera S model, and it's got a fantastic seven-speed manual gearbox that clicks and clacks in and out of its gates just like Al Pacino's Colt. I found myself having fun in a 911, which is not something I've ever written.
The transmission is crammed with more ways to make noise (even more so if you press the button that looks like binoculars but is in fact exhaust pipes) and accelerate than I've ever been offered in a car.
The clutch is stiff and has a strong rebound action beneath your foot, kicking back as you ease off with an urgent spring that reprimands you for dallying between gear changes. The brake pedal is the opposite, with barely any resistance, as if to say: 'Brake if you must, you wimp, then get back on that throttle."
The steering is direct and quick, the chassis darts around corners, the nose seems a more sober version of its bobbing predecessors, and the acceleration (0-62mph in 4.5sec) from the almost-400bhp flat-six engine is enough to give you a thrill, but not a scare.
This version is a better looking one, too. You have to squint hard to see the differences between generations of 911s, but this one has meaner tail-lights and maintains the simpler headlight design. It's as if the 911 has wised up, and I like it, even more so now I've discovered that you can fit a child seat in the back, attached to Porsche's Isofix.
Shame about the interior, though, which I still don't get – the black plastic buttons for music, satnav and ventilation remain as fiddly and ugly as ever, and you can only get away with ignoring the interior if you're an Italian sports-car maker, in my book. You don't buy a German car just for the engine – you expect some stylish innovation in the cabin, too.
None the less, I'm beginning to understand what all the fuss is about.
Porsche 2012 [991] 911 Carrera S
Price: £90,236
Telegraph rating: Four out of five stars
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring
There's something so satisfying about the clicks of working parts slotting into place, which might explain why I finally get the 911.
I've been driving the new Carrera S model, and it's got a fantastic seven-speed manual gearbox that clicks and clacks in and out of its gates just like Al Pacino's Colt. I found myself having fun in a 911, which is not something I've ever written.
The transmission is crammed with more ways to make noise (even more so if you press the button that looks like binoculars but is in fact exhaust pipes) and accelerate than I've ever been offered in a car.
The clutch is stiff and has a strong rebound action beneath your foot, kicking back as you ease off with an urgent spring that reprimands you for dallying between gear changes. The brake pedal is the opposite, with barely any resistance, as if to say: 'Brake if you must, you wimp, then get back on that throttle."
The steering is direct and quick, the chassis darts around corners, the nose seems a more sober version of its bobbing predecessors, and the acceleration (0-62mph in 4.5sec) from the almost-400bhp flat-six engine is enough to give you a thrill, but not a scare.
This version is a better looking one, too. You have to squint hard to see the differences between generations of 911s, but this one has meaner tail-lights and maintains the simpler headlight design. It's as if the 911 has wised up, and I like it, even more so now I've discovered that you can fit a child seat in the back, attached to Porsche's Isofix.
Shame about the interior, though, which I still don't get – the black plastic buttons for music, satnav and ventilation remain as fiddly and ugly as ever, and you can only get away with ignoring the interior if you're an Italian sports-car maker, in my book. You don't buy a German car just for the engine – you expect some stylish innovation in the cabin, too.
None the less, I'm beginning to understand what all the fuss is about.
Porsche 2012 [991] 911 Carrera S
Price: £90,236
Telegraph rating: Four out of five stars
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring
