The Porsche 911 Carrera GTS seems often forgotten in the world of 911s, where Turbos and GT3s constantly make headlines. But it shouldn’t be. With excellent dynamics, good looks, and 473 horsepower from a twin-turbo flat-six, it’s one of the best performance cars on sale today. Judging from this video out of Germany, it looks easy to reach nearly 200 mph behind the wheel of a GTS.
The folks at AutoTopNL managed to get their hands on a new 911 Carrera GTS for some testing, going straight to the Autobahn — Germany’s frequently speed-limitless highway system — to see just how fast the mid-range coupe could go.
The driver is very quickly able to crest 300 kph (186 mph) before reaching the GTS’s manufacturer-claimed top speed of 312 kph (193 mph). They don’t let off because the car has nothing left to give, but rather because there’s fast-approaching traffic ahead. We have no doubt this 911 would’ve been able to exceed its listed top speed if it were given enough room.
This particular GTS is equipped with Porsche’s optional Lightweight package, which gets lightweight bucket seats, thinner, lighter glass, reduced sound-deadening, rear-steer, and a different aero setup, for a total weight savings of 55 pounds. That’s not much, but it could’ve been enough to coax out the extra thrust seen on screen.
It’s also worth noting that in the two times we see this 911 GTS crest the 300-kph mark, it’s sitting in sixth gear, rather than eighth. It’s a good demonstration of how seventh and eighth gears in Porsche’s PDK dual-clutch transmission work as overdrive gears, meant more for fuel economy than performance. This video is just proof you’ll never need more than sixth gear on a race track.
