Porsche 911 Coupé (04 on) - Review

Review by David Ross on
Last Updated: 18 February 2011
Now in its fifth decade of continual evolution, the 911 is more honed and polished than ever. It retains those classic looks which have made Porsche such an iconic carmaker, but underneath lies some of the most sophisticated technology around. It's still rear-engined, but it's not intimidating to drive and offers incredible traction along with stunningly effective brakes. There's a wide range of models available from the entry level Carrera up to the racetrack-inspired GT3 RS, but all offer storming performance along with that unmistakable Porsche engine soundtrack. In mid-2008 the 911 was facelifted with new engines, styling tweaks and the introduction of a twin-clutch automatic gearbox called PDK.
5 out of 5

Other Porsche reviews

2.5 out of 5

Running costs

The 911 is not a cheap car, but it does enjoy very strong residual values, so you'll get back much of what you initially spent if you decided to sell or trade in for a newer model. Insurance, servicing, fuel and tyres aren't cheap but Porsche has worked to reduce these by extending service intervals over the previous model and designing it to be cheaper to repair if there's minor damage.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

Every 20,000 miles.

Warranty

Two years/unlimited miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£250.00 - £475.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

2 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
    194
  • K
  • L
  • M
    326

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

By family car standards the 911 performs poorly on the environmental front with average emissions of 295g/km of CO2. However the company has worked to reduce this and facelifted Carrera and Carrera S models from 2008 have lower emissions. Considering the performance on offer fuel economy is more than acceptable - the 3.6-litre Carrera returns 29mpg. Not bad for a car with 345bhp.

Find the exact engine and CO2