The Porsche 991 tries to repeat as MotorTrend's Best Drivers Car but will using the 4S instead of the S hurt its chances?

[Sticky]

The 2013 Best Drivers Car competition is shaping up quite awesomely with cars such as the SLS Black Series competing. Last year the 2012 Porsche 991 Carrera S won the competition and rightfully so. The 991 Carrera S is all about driving pleasure taking everything one loves about the Porsche 911 and simply making it better in the 991 generation. More power, less weight, greater efficiency, better balance, just improvements across the board.

MotorTrend chose a 991 C4S instead of the rear wheel drive Carrera S to defend though. That does not make too much sense as the C4S offers a bit of a different experience and is slightly heavier. With the new Cayman in the mix as well will this really be the most fun to drive Porsche in the competition even?

The entire field consists of an Aston Martin Vanquish, Audi R8 V10 Plus, Bentley Continental GT Speed, BMW M6, Ford Focus ST, Jaguar F-Type V8 S, Mercedes-Benz AMG E63 wagon, Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series, Nissan GT-R Track Edition, Porsche 911 Carrera 4S, Porsche Cayman S, and SRT Viper. The SLS is the most expensive car in the field.

Check out the video preview and Randy Pobst's impressions below.

Randy's Impressions

On the AWD: The all-wheel drive to me is invisible. I don't notice it. The car was surprisingly tail-happy, but in a very usable way. Not in a scared, I-might-crash-this way. An enjoyable way. It made me want to be a better driver. It made me want to use it, right? You'll love it, Angus (MacKenzie, MT editor-at-large), because you can just hang that tail on the way into the corners.

On the Brakes: The braking is fantastic. It has got a firm pedal, no fade. It stops better than anything else that I have driven here, and consistently and controllably. You need a brake pedal with short travel to be able to control the exact moment that your braking begins, and, more importantly, the exact moment that your braking ends. You have got to have a good release, and when the pedal is long and soft like it is in the Aston and the Bentley and the BMW M6, you do not have that precision in that kind of control, and the Porsche does that so well.

On being a 911: Still tail-happy, and not so much tail-happy under power. It hooks up under power. It does not have power push. I'm really happy to see that, because the old 911 all-wheel drivers push real badly under power and a lot of four-wheel-drive cars do, but less so as we get more modern applications.

On driving the 911: I enjoyed the car so much, I came through here and instead of cooling off, I was going to do another timed lap and I had a beautiful Turn 1 and then I got over-aggressive in Turn 3. Got all sideways there, but it's not a scary moment. The car is a car that can be driven on the edge without fear and I really, really enjoy that part about it.

Final 911 Thoughts: An incredibly enjoyable experience. I didn't want to stop driving it. You know, I know I have a tight time schedule with all the cars we've got. I just wanted to keep going.

[whoosh]

I had the opportunity to drive the 991 AWD S and non-S back to back with the new Cayman S and non-S at the Porsche World Roadshow a few weekends ago. I have to agree with what Randy said about the AWD on the 991 compared to the 997. On a test drive i took of a 997 a couple years ago, i recall the 997 felt like an AWD car, with a lot of push and vague steering in the front end. The 991 had practically no feeling of AWD from the front axle, even when driving it a bit ham-fisted. The tail still dances on abrupt lift going into a corner or when trail-braking, which made the car a lot of fun to handle.

Walking away from the cars at the end of the track session, I was more impressed by the C4S than the Cayman S. Given that I prefer the 987 Cayman S to the 997 C4S, I think that says a lot about how well the 991 C4S handles.

[Sticky]

I had the opportunity to drive the 991 AWD S and non-S back to back with the new Cayman S and non-S at the Porsche World Roadshow a few weekends ago. I have to agree with what Randy said about the AWD on the 991 compared to the 997. On a test drive i took of a 997 a couple years ago, i recall the 997 felt like an AWD car, with a lot of push and vague steering in the front end. The 991 had practically no feeling of AWD from the front axle, even when driving it a bit ham-fisted. The tail still dances on abrupt lift going into a corner or when trail-braking, which made the car a lot of fun to handle.

Walking away from the cars at the end of the track session, I was more impressed by the C4S than the Cayman S. Given that I prefer the 987 Cayman S to the 997 C4S, I think that says a lot about how well the 991 C4S handles.

I'll have to try the 991 C4S at some point.

[mpower33]

i still think that rear wheel drive cars are more fun to drive

[Sticky]

i still think that rear wheel drive cars are more fun to drive

That's because they are.