Few automobiles are as neatly defined as the Porsche 911. The 911 says "sports car" by look, reputation, even by name, and the substantially revised 2005 model delivers on a reputation for speed and style in spades.
This sports car hasn't earned its reputation overnight, of course. The 911's 41-year run is a story of steady, subtle improvement punctuated by periodic major overhauls. The changes for 2005 are closer to an overhaul, marked by a change in the 911's internal codename at Porsche (it's designated 997, replacing the 996, which had been built since 1998). If the 2005 model looks conspicuously similar to the original 1964, this 911 is nonetheless a thoroughly modern driving machine, packed with the latest in material advances, engine technology, and electronic management. The 911 remains the standard by which other sports cars are judged, and the 2005 raises the standard.

There are hundreds of changes from 2004, including new electronic technology, more powerful engines, and a redesigned interior. The 911 is equipped with curtain-style head-protection airbags for the first time. Even the familiar silhouette has subtle changes a Porsche nut will notice in an instant. These styling tweaks increase storage space and improve aerodynamic efficiency; in our view, they also increase the 911's sex appeal.

The 911 had evolved from its original air-cooled, VW Beetle roots long before this latest round of updates. Yet over the past 10 or 15 years, as Porsche engineers ironed out some of the 911's handling quirks, they'd also moved this sports car in a more civilized direction. Granted, the 911's race-bred handling and braking performance were surpassed by few cars. It turned with the accuracy of a sniper and blitzed along at 125 as stable as the Rock of Gibraltar. But the 911 has also adapted the accoutrements of a grand-touring coupe, with multiple-adjustment heated memory seats, automatic climate control, more sound insulating material and one-button convertible tops. To some hard-core 911 old-timers, it's become downright cushy. One of the most striking things about the 2005 model is that in some subtle but obvious ways, the 911 has devolved.
That doesn't mean it's suddenly become a Spartan buckboard of a high-performance car. The comfort, convenience, and high-tech features are still here, and then some, including a new, optional fully active suspension. Yet in certain, very deliberate respects, the 2005 Porsche 911 is more primal than its predecessor. Perhaps it's a more aggressive rasp from the exhaust, the way the engines deliver power to the drive wheels or the way the shift lever snicks between gears. Maybe it's an extra tingle of vibration through the frame channels. Whatever the reason, in standard trim the new 911 is edgier, and we're sure driving enthusiasts will appreciate the difference.

All told, if the 911 can be classified as a supercar, it remains one of the easiest supercars to live with. It's more user friendly than competitors, from the Chevy Corvette to the Ferrari F430. It rides smoothly and comfortably for a sports car. It's relatively easy to get in and out of and it's happy to putt around all day at Buick pace, particularly with the Tiptronic automatic transmission. The 911 has earned a reputation for being nearly bullet-proof, and there's very little about it that's finicky.

With launch of the 2005, Porsche has reduced the number of 911 models from 11 to just four. Among those four, the all-wheel-drive, crazy-powered Turbo S and Turbo S Cabriolet are still based on the previous platform (996). More variants of the new 911 will trickle out over the next few model years. A new 911 convertible should reach showrooms by the end of calendar 2005.

This we say with certainty: Nearly 60 years after the company was founded, Porsche continues to make some of the world's great sports cars. The 2005 Porsche 911 is the best one so far.

The introduction of a heavily revised Porsche 911 comes with a significant reduction in the number of 911 models in Porsche dealerships. While the company offered nearly a dozen 911 variants in 2004, it has just four in 2005. This simplification is likely to be short-lived, however, as Porsche rolls out more versions of the new 911 over the next few model years. A convertible should reach showrooms by the fall. For now, only the 911 Carrera and Carrera S are built on the new platform (designated internally as the 997).

The least expensive 911 is the Carrera ($69,300). It's powered by a 3.6-liter version of Porsche's classic flat six-cylinder "boxer'' engine generating 325 horsepower (10 more than last year) and 273 pound-feet of torque. Standard equipment includes leather-trimmed height-adjustable seats with power recliners, a digital AM/FM/CD stereo, trip computer, leather telescoping steering wheel, power windows, power locks with keyless remote, cruise control, and a speed-dependent retractable rear spoiler. The 2005 Carrera is the first "entry level" 911 equipped with 18-inch wheels.

For 2005, Porsche offers two different 911 engine sizes for the first time since 1977. The Carrera S ($79,100) is powered by a 3.8-liter boxer six, delivering 350 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque and shaving 0.2 seconds from the standard Carrera's 0-60 mph times. Besides the bigger engine, the Carrera S adds Porsche's new Active Suspension Management technology, 19-inch wheels with larger brakes and red-painted calipers, Bi-Xenon headlights, a sport steering wheel and aluminum-look interior trim.

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The remaining 2005 911s are both based on the older platform (known within Porsche as the 996), but neither is anything to sneeze at. The all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo S ($131,400) gets Porsche's race-bred, twin-turbocharged version of the 3.6-liter engine, creating a whopping 444 horsepower. The Turbo S comes with Porsche's Ceramic Composite Brakes, which use exotic nonmetallic discs, and comfort and convenience upgrades such as full leather interior and a high-power, Bose-tuned stereo with a six-disc CD changer. The Turbo S Cabriolet ($141,200) is a Turbo S with a power-operated convertible top.

All 2005 911s come standard with new safety features. Porsche Stability Management, an electronically controlled system that helps a driver maintain control in the event of a skid, was previously a $1300 option on some models; it's now standard on all 911s starting with the Carrera. Further, the Carrera and Carrera S are the first 911s equipped with curtain-style head protection airbags. These deploy from the doors and augment the front and side-impact torso airbags.

Before it's finished, Porsche will surely roll out a host of 997-based 911 variants. For now Carrera and Carrera S buyers will have to do their personalizing from the option sheet, and there are a lot of options to choose from. These include performance enhancing equipment like the Ceramic Composite Brakes and practical things such as a roof-transport system that can turn a 911 into a building material or bike-hauling workhorse. Other more conventional options include Porsche Communication Management, which incorporates audio, navigation system, and trip computer into a single control interface ($2,680); heated seats ($410); metallic paint ($825); and a CD changer ($715). Not personal enough? Go for the Deviating Front Seat Stitching Color ($335), the Leather Dome Lamp Cover ($335) or the Non-Metallic Paint to Sample ($4,315). They'll gladly match the color of the stone in your fraternity ring. Porsche maintains its long tradition of factory customization, with options that cover colors and materials for virtually every part or surface inside the car. And if there's not an existing option, Porsche will likely go off the card, for a price. Ostrich door pulls or jade-faced pedals might be doable.

Porsche fanatics don't like to identify the company's cars by their model names. These walking Porsche history books prefer internal code names, as if this bit of insider jargon demonstrates superior knowledge of the product. When it comes to the Porsche 911 (model name, not code name), the internal identifier has changed only a handful of times in 41 years, and only when Porsche considered changes significant enough to identify the model essentially as a new car. With the 2005 911, Porsche has changed its identifier to 997 (the internal code is 996 for 911s built since late 1998, and 993 before that). To consumers in a broader sense, this means that, whatever appearances might suggest, the 2005 911 is a major update. Porsche says that 80 percent of its parts are new, including every body panel but the roof stamping.
Given all that, no one other than a Martian will mistake the 2005 model for something other than a 911. In broad strokes, this sports car maintains the classis profile that has landed it in art museums and design school lecture halls. For Porsche, the 911's heritage can be a double-edged sword. Leave the car alone, and it might be perceived as dated. Change the car too drastically, and it might alienate hard-core loyalists, many of whom form the core group of 911 buyers.

If anything, the 2005 911's look seems to have devolved a bit, just like the basic character of the car. The most obvious change is the headlights and front fascia. Rounder, single-pod lamps replace the 2004 model's teardrop-shaped multi-light headlight assemblies. The new headlights sit more upright in the front fenders, and the turn signals and foglights are now laid horizontally in a squarer front bumper. The new look more quickly distinguishes the 911 from Porsche's less expensive Boxster. As significantly, it harkens back to the rugged look of 911s built during the 1980s.
In back, the new 911's taillights are smaller, installed at a more vertical angle relative to the bumper. Curvy rear fenders and wheel arches extend further from the side of the car, housing the 911's classic extra-wide rear wheels (the front wheels are eight inches in width, the rear, 10 inches). This staggered setup helps the 911's rear tires turn its horsepower into quicker acceleration and balances tire grip front and rear for high g-force turning. All 2005 911s have wheels at least 18 inches in diameter, and all are equipped with Z-rated tires. That's the highest speed rating available for street use.

In total, the 2005 911's styling changes sacrifice some of the 1999-2004 model's beauty in favor of more visual belligerence. Yet very little at Porsche is done strictly for appearance's sake. The 2005 911 is a few hairs longer and taller that the 2004; more significantly, the 2005's track (the distance between the outside edge of the tires) and overall width have increased an inch. This wider stance improves the 911's lateral stability during quick, sharp directional changes. The 2005 uses aluminum body parts more extensively than the 2004, minimizing weight increases that would otherwise come with new equipment such as active suspension and head-protecting side airbags. New structural designs underneath the sheet metal improve the chassis' resistance to flexing (as when the car brakes full force or crashes over a pothole) as much as 60 percent, without increasing weight significantly.

When an automobile is designed to be stable at 180 mph and beyond, you'd better pay attention to aerodynamics. Much of the 2005 911's design work was undertaken to more efficiently manage airflow over, under, and around the car, down to very small details. The side mirrors were designed to direct air along the sides of the car toward the automatically deploying rear spoiler, sweeping the side windows clean in the process. A new undertray reduces friction beneath the 911, while the wheel arches are flared in a fashion that guides air around the tires (one of the biggest sources of drag on an automobile). Brake spoilers guide more air toward the rotors and brake assemblies, reducing operating temperatures as much as 10 percent, according to Porsche. That means more effective braking under extreme conditions.
In total, these changes reduce the 2005 911 Carrera's drag coefficient from an already slippery 0.30 to 0.28, despite the new, slightly more upright look. For drivers, that means less air resistance, improved fuel economy at a given speed, and less wind noise inside the car. The changes also reduce forces that engineers measure as coefficient of lift at the front and rear of the car. In other words, the airflow over the car more effectively keeps it pressed to the pavement, in turn keeping the tires in better contact with the surface.

And if you still prefer the look of the 2004 Porsche 911, you're not entirely out of luck. You'll just have to ante up another $50,000 or so for one of the turbo models. The 2005 911 Turbo S and Turbo S Cabriolet are still built on the previous 911 platform (remember, that's the 996), and haven't adapted the styling changes on the Carrera and Carrera S (the 997).