Certainly the 911’s talents, and they are substantial, are wasted on city streets, its specification as hopelessly over-the-top for the morning rush as an H2’s – bred on and for the track, its numbers are mind-numbing. Forget the batch of crossovers we’ve paraded in front of you over the years; if you’re looking for extreme sports, look no further than the Turbo, especially in the “X50” form tested here. Its race-bred flat-six has two turbos and intercoolers, and pushes its power through six speeds and all four wheels. The rear tires are almost a foot wide, the front brakes a foot in diameter; the top speed almost 300 km/h, the price almost $200,000. As if the “base” $170,000 Turbo wasn’t fast enough, the new “X50” package adds various factory engine and exhaust bits to up power to a truly frightening 450 hp, bringing the car’s performance to almost the same level as the ultimate $253,000 GT2, while retaining the safety of all-wheel-drive and electronic stability control. Short of that car, and some rarefied, fair-weather-friend Italian exotica whose prices make the Porsche look cheap by comparison, you can’t get much faster than this. There is certainly a part of me that thinks that the Turbo may even be too fast. Even if you’re capable of exploiting its impossibly high limits on the road – limits which are most certainly beyond my fairly modest driving skills and my rather active self-preservation instinct – you’d have to be pretty irresponsible to actually do so. It’s not so much a matter of you being ready for it – like all Porsches, the Turbo’s not only a cinch to drive at huge speeds, but also clearly and accurately telegraphs when and where its limits will arrive through its seats, pedals, and steering wheel – but more a matter of other road users being ready for you.
Price: Auction
More info: Listing has ended. Click to search on eBay for similar 2003 Porsche 911 (Affiliate link)
Location: Miami, Florida, United States
