Gallery: Porsche 992 911 takes on Wheels Car of the Year

It’s the most expensive and one of the most rapid cars in the 2020 Wheels Car of the Year field. We’re talking, of course, about the esteemed 992 generation Porsche 911. What a thing indeed.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And there are few cars quite as contentious as the evolutionary 911. The iconic design can still be seen today. It works for some, and not for others. Either way it has a commandeering presence, one with oversized and sculpted rear haunches. Yet it’s filled with delicacy and finesse, too.

Inside the retro, yet ultra-modern cabin is impressive – both in build quality and design. The gurus within the Stuttgart HQ have a habit of making the driving position just so, and the current 911 carries on the tradition of near perfection. You sit low, legs out and arms bent at just the right angle. It’s unashamedly loud; you can hear the ticks and crackles from the flat six when it awakes from slumber.

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When angry, the Carrera S’s 331kW and 530Nm twin-turbo 3.0-litre is a monster. It’s quoted 0-100km/h time of 3.5 seconds is utterly believable. Behind the wheel you’re left bewildered at the fact this is a Porsche sans a GT badge… what must be coming next? And then the eight-speed PDK ’box slams through another gear and the speedo throws a figure at you that grabs your attention.

Perfecting the rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout has always been the 911’s USP. The 992-gen car has Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground to, ahem, prove that hasn’t changed. We might have even captured some cheeky drift shots on a skid pan in the process… all in the name of serving you, of course, dear reader.

The Carrera S is a special car at a very special event. Yet, Porsche has never won Wheels Car of the Year. The 911’s polarising value proposition could be its undoing. Although with a tweak to the COTY rules and the brilliance that is the 992 911, there’s every chance 2020 could be the breakthrough year. You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.