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"What is your favorite car brand?" This is a question that I am constantly asked, for which I think I do not have an easy answer. But I do. I am an absolute fan of Porsche and I absolutely love the bright cars made by this German sports car manufacturer, more than any other. Yes, Ferraris and Lamborghinis pull harder on the strings of the heart with their alluring Italian flair, but once the pulse sets in, it's the fine engineering of Porsche cars, built over seven decades , which seduces me.

Perfectly stale

Porsche is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year and remembering its glorious past, it's easy to see what makes the brand so special. It's a 70-year-old rich heritage built on an outstanding race of sports cars (and later SUVs) and unmatched success on the race track. But the only car that has shaped the brand more than anything else is the iconic Porsche 911, probably the biggest sports car of all time.

The 911 stands out as the car who breaks the rules over 50 years by firmly adhering to a design, which has the engine thrown far behind the rear wheels. While this layout increases the space of the cabin, it completely goes against the fundamentals of sports car design. It concentrates the weight at the rear of the car and this inherent imbalance can make a powerful car difficult to manage. Rather than giving up and moving the engine to a place in the middle or front, Porsche engineers have been repairing the chassis of the car for decades to make the 911 handle mostly faulty with flying colors.

The first 911 that I drove was in 1990 and it was an unforgettable experience. I had a bright purple 964 Carrera 2 Cabriolet powered by a 3.6-liter six-cylinder in-line engine, 250hp for a few days in the Black Forest. The asymmetrical weight distribution was immediately evident at the first corner and respect for the car was the order of the day.

Braking news

There is a particular way to drive a 911 and when you master it, the driving experience goes from scary to exhilarating. The trick is to take a slow or fast approach in a turn or to finish all your braking (and the brakes on every 911 are just phenomenal) before entering the turn and accelerating gradually . The nose of the car first becomes a disconcerting light, the effect of its imbalanced weight distribution, but when you accelerate sharply, the 911 squats on its big hips to grab the road and the way its turns take you away.

I have driven a lot of 911 over the years and with each generation, they have become faster, more comfortable and easier to manage.

The Porsche stayed true to the original model of the 911 and avoided any temptation to switch to a mid-engine configuration, which made it a legend

One of my most memorable 911 was in the Andalusian mountains of southern Spain. I had a 911 GTS Targa, a sportier variant with an open roof, and I could not think of a better car to be, running down the empty rural roads that cut the steep hills on that glorious sunny day. The engine had a tingling thrill of the spine and begged to be revved. Like all the 911s, the grip was phenomenal and the speed through the curves forced me to focus so hard that I had a headache.

The driver's car

This is not a car that we can give up.

He asks you to drive it in perfect inches, with small and precise steering inputs, brakes and throttle. What I like the most about the 911 is that it truly rewards the serious driver and that timeless design that has not changed for over half a year. -century.

This Porsche stayed true to the original 911 model designed by Ferdinand Butzi's Porsche and avoided any temptation to switch to a mid-engine (and better balanced) configuration like most supercars.

Hormazd Sorabjee is one of the most prominent and beloved automotive journalists in India. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Autocar India. The Sunday walk appears every two weeks

From HT Brunch, July 29, 2018

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