It’s Sunday morning, and a swarm of car enthusiasts is orbiting a 1992 Porsche 911 (964) Turbo. The enthusiasts are acting like flies circling a ham sandwich: they buzz in close, sniff at the open window, and then flit back a few feet. Who can blame them? With its punched-out fenders and gargantuan rear wing, the 964 Turbo looks like a tasty treat.
The car’s magnetic aura goes beyond its Hollywood good looks. The 964 Turbo is a pop-culture hero, the main four-wheel character from the 1995 movie Bad Boys. Will Smith whipped this Porsche around Miami, chasing criminals, and burning an indelible image into the minds of a generation.
In that generation is Eddie, the owner of my test car. Eddie says certain cars need certain colors, and for the 964 Turbo, it is Bad Boys’ black or bust. He’s not wrong.
I feel incredibly lucky as I push through the buzzing crowd with the key in hand, open the driver’s door (which clicks mechanically when unlatched), and take the driver’s seat. The sports seat’s deep bolsters give me a nice hug as I adjust my seating positioning using the manual levers.
The 964 Turbo’s interior is narrow and spartan, but the high roof works for my lanky frame. Thanks to the upright windows and the low center console, the cozy cabin still feels light and airy.
Behind the steering wheel are five clock dials, with a big tachometer taking the place of honor in the center. The switches, sliders, and dials on the dashboard’s beltline are only marked with icons, but the unlabeled mirror adjustment toggle is hidden on the underside of the gauge cluster binnacle. Eddie has to point it out to me before I can adjust the right wing mirror.
As is Porsche tradition, the ignition is to the left of the steering column. A quick twist of the key and the 3.3L flat-six turbocharged engine fires up with a deep, uneven thrum. The engine’s 315 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque sound puny today, but it is worth remembering that the car weighs less than 3,300 lbs.
My right hand finds the stick for the G50 five-speed manual gearbox. I shake the shifter and find tight gate spacing left-to-right but long rows top-to-bottom. Reverse is up and to the left, guarded by a modest detent that I push through as I prepare to back up.
Eager to hit the road, I gradually lift my foot off the heavy clutch pedal, feel friction plates engage the flywheel, and put the 964 Turbo into motion. I’m underway!
The 964 Turbo has power steering, but the assistance is minimal, and the helm is one of the heftiest I’ve felt. (The prior 930 Turbo had unassisted steering, so perhaps Porsche tried to mimic its weight.) I grunt and question the effectiveness of my upper-body routine as I force the steering wheel to the left, aiming for the parking lot exit. The muscle-straining heft doesn’t go away until I’m moving at 10 mph.
Like Will Smith on the red carpet, all eyes are on the 964 Turbo as I exit Cars and Coffee. Heads swivel, photos snap, videos roll. Usually, black cars offer anonymity, but the 964 Turbo’s flared arches and tea-tray wing have high visual impact.
The city roads on the way to the highway are cracked, deteriorated, and bumpy. Regardless, the suspension and seats keep the impacts from jarring me unpleasantly. (My wife wouldn’t object to this ride.)
I’m getting healthy servings of steering feedback, with the wheel twitching from tire impacts and vibrating to the engine’s hum. The shifter also shimmies to the drivetrain’s tunes.
The 964 Turbo is more work around town than modern metal. In low-rpm driving, the turbo is below its boost threshold, so engine power is modest. The action of the floor-mounted pedals and shift lever require my feet and hands to learn unfamiliar movements, and the stiff steering has not completely eased. The 964 Turbo is trickier to drive, but it is a rewarding challenge.
Most of my classic Porsche miles have been logged in a 1963 Porsche 356. I am finding few similarities between the 964 Turbo and the 356. Both Porsches share the scent of evaporating gasoline, floor-hinged pedals, heavy controls, and steering wheels that rub my right thigh. But while the 356 feels completely classic, the 964 Turbo straddles the modern era.
The 964 Turbo’s controls have precision and competency that the 356’s lack. No place is this more true than the 964 Turbo’s confidence-inspiring brakes. Stand on the firm middle pedal, and the binders immediately scrub off speed. The same precision is there in the shifter, throttle, and steering.
At the highway’s entrance, I merge into the weekend traffic. Quickly, the 964 Turbo’s long gearing reveals itself: second gets me past 60 mph, and fourth is appropriately tall for steady state cruising. (Top gear, fifth, must be reserved for autobahn velocities!)
The turbocharging is evident in the 964 Turbo’s throttle response. When I dip into the throttle, acceleration surges as the turbo builds boost. The nonlinear responses make it feel like the car has a need for speed.
Now that I’m cruising, there is a fair amount of tire and wind noise in the cabin. I can still hear the flat-six humming over my shoulders, but it doesn’t drown out the cacophony of background noises.
At highway speeds, the steering sheds some of its previously tiresome weight, but never becomes breezy. If modern, highly-assisted steering is as light as a bed sheet, then the 964 Turbo’s power steering offers a weighted blanket. The 964 Turbo’s wheel is communicative and slop-free, reacting immediately to my inputs as I guide the car down the road. It also relays the coarser pavement textures as high-frequency vibrations.
I’m loving the 964 Turbo’s balance between road feel and comfort, and I could cruise like this for hours, but then I’d be missing the fun. When traffic clears. I downshift to third gear and mat the throttle. As the revs pass 3.5k rpm, the turbo hits its stride, ravenously forcing air into the engine. Then it’s an unabating thrill ride to the redline as the torque is laid on thick and steady!
Deep engine noise fills the cabin, and the flat-six sustains the lion’s share of its 315 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque to the 6.8k redline. Subjectively, it feels like I can chase 500 hp road rockets like my Mercedes-AMG GT S, though the objective numbers disagree. (The 964 Turbo clocked 4.4s to 0-60mph and 12.9s in the ¼ mile, per Car and Driver.) One way or another, my maniacal grin can’t be denied!
I could spend all day climbing the rev range, savoring the crisp shifts, and listening to the belting engine, but my test drive is drawing to a close. Sadly, today’s route was as dynamically challenging for the 964 Turbo as the happy-birthday song is for award-winning singer Will Smith. No doubt there’s much more sport to report in this car! Maybe some lift-off oversteer, too.
But my ten miles in the 964 Turbo are more than enough for it to win my heart. The car’s precise controls (with consistent weighting!), excellent chassis communication, melodious rumble, and wait-for-it turbo power are a tremendous package. On the go, it whispers sweet nothings in my ear, and parked up, it looks fresh enough to put on the silver screen.
It’s a Hollywood hero car and a ham sandwich, indeed.
Mike's Steering Column 