Five-Point Inspection: 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S

So you’ve already read all there is to know about the new Porsche 911 Carrera 4S and its seven-speed manual transmission? We’d like to challenge that notion.

More than just a novelty, or an engineering trick to help the car meet fuel economy regulations, the car is amazingly executed, faster than you’d guess and we even discovered something we (or anyone else for that matter) have never mentioned about the car.

Without fail, reviews of powerful manual transmission cars include justifications for the notchy feel and heavy operation required. Such high performance engines require beefy components, or so the excuses go. The Porsche 911 proves that’s not the case.

It delivers 400 hp and can hit 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds. Anyone who claims it’s not a true sports car belongs in an asylum. Powerful and fast, it’s one of the single best gearboxes on the market. It snicks between gears with ease, each short throw progressing naturally from the gate before it.

About the only piece keeping this transmission from being declared perfection is the rather long clutch pedal travel.

The new seven-speed manual transmission comes standard, but to get the rev-match feature you’ll need to push the Sport Plus button, which comes as part of the $1,850 Sport Chrono package.

With few manual transmission rev-match units in the world, and Nissan’s being both the first and the one you’ve most likely heard about, a comparison is a must.

Yes, it works just like the long-winded Synchro-rev-match unit in the 370Z, but, as one would expect, (not just from the Germans, but from a 100k German sports car), it’s more precise. While the 370Z matches gears like a sloppy heel-toe, catching the gear as the rpms fall, the 911 seems to do it at precisely the right moment.

Knowing how to heel-toe is a skill. Knowing how to heel-toe well is a gift. Porsche’s new rev-match feature makes you feel like gifted driver.

At some point in your life, you’ve probably wanted to punch someone at a Starbucks. Porsche’s new seven-speed manual will have you punching your own coffee instead.

Why? Simple. Porsche’s gearbox pattern makes the final gear shift up and away. If you’ve got your Americano resting perilously in the car’s notoriously poor cup holders, that shift into seventh is certain to deliver four knuckles to the face of a green mermaid.

As though we needed more proof that the German automaker disapproves of cup holders, it’s now making it even easier to pour scalding brown liquid on your pricey Porsche.

The new C4S is fast, but you probably already knew that. What’s impressive is just how fast it is.

Wrung-out at the AutoGuide Test Track it can now lay claim to holding the second fastest lap time of any car we’ve ever tested there. With a 1:19.634 time the only car that posted a better result was the Audi R8 V10 plus. Just over a second quicker, that Audi costs tens of thousands more, makes 150 hp more, has four more cylinders and had fancy carbon ceramic brakes. Plus, our R8 tester came equipped with a dual-clutch transmission that should be good for a few tenths of a second.

After posting the lap time and consistently pulling 1.2 gs in the corners, our hot shoe David Pratte commented; “There was zero fear factor driving the 991 at the limit (unlike the R8, which did feel like it wanted to kill me if I pushed it too hard). The Porsche definitely inspires confidence and makes you feel like a better driver.”

Comparing it to the Cayman S he said the mid-engined Porsche “feels like the better balanced car (because it is), but the 991’s ability to put the power down thanks to all that weight over the rear tires (and the AWD system) really gave it a huge advantage over its mid-engine little brother.”

Certainly. Even just swapping out the manual for the PDK dual clutch transmission would speed things up. But that’s not all.

Hypothetically, the fastest possible setting for the Carrera 4S would be to turn stability control full-off and engage the most responsive Sport Plus setting while letting the rev-match function ensure the most consistent heel-toe. Unfortunately, even in Sport Plus, once Porsche Stability Management (PSM) is switched off, the rev-match feature is disengaged.

Some would argue that anyone who can or would want to drive with PSM off would also likely know how to execute a proper heel-toe. That may be true, but as Porsche’s seven-speed PDK automatic has proved, machines make a faster driver and any advantage the rev-match function might give is taken away the second PSM is turned off.

Porsche PR reps were equally surprised when we brought up this “Easter egg” with them, but explained away any concern commenting that with just a 20 percent take rate for the manual and a smaller percentage of those being Sport Chrono equipped models, it’s not of concern to very many folks. Besides, we were told, only the most elite driver could drive the 911 faster with PSM-off, rather than just use Sport Plus mode.

That sounds like a theory we’d like to test!

Priced at $105,630 the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S is powered by 3.8-liter flat-six making 400 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque. For more specs and to build your own, visit our new car shopping section here.