Yep, you read it right – there’s been a change of guard at P_on_P HQ. Back in the summer of 2021, I started to keep an eye on the Turbo S market. I’m a huge Porsche fan and have owned countless examples over the last 17 years – including a number of 911s; 996 & 997 GT3, 996 Turbo, and my current 996 GT2. What always amazes me about the 911 is how they combine genuine everyday usability with incredible supercar dynamics and performance.

So, I started to talk about this with my good friend Matt, the owner of Matt Johnson Prestige. Matt has a profound knowledge of performance cars and a similar taste in cars, so I always trust his advice. I initially was looking at the 997 Turbo S, as I believe this is the last iteration to still have that ‘old school’ 911 feel and balance, but Matt’s opinion was that, as a daily driver, I really shouldn’t look past a 991.2. His reasoning behind this was that a more modern generation car will be less fragile, much faster, and have all of the modern toys that come in so handy on a daily driver.

I took into consideration his thoughts but nothing more was said on the subject for well over a year and, in that time, I bought and started daily driving my SL65, as reported on in previous issues of this magazine.

Fast-forward to October 2022, when I get a phone call from Matt, where he simply said, “I’ve got something that you’re going to buy” then laughed and hung up. A phone call like this always means I’m about to spend vast sums of money, so I started to prepare myself and my bank manager (my wife) for the inevitable. A few days went by, and Matt refused to reveal what this mystery vehicle was or even any details – he knows how I work and if he builds it up as much as this, there’s no way I’ll say no!

Of course, once he finally revealed the car to me, he had no such worries. He had sourced an absolutely immaculate, low mileage 991.2 Turbo S, in near enough my perfect spec: Agate grey over Bordeaux Red leather. I was sold.

After approx. 3000 miles since collection, I am still sold. The 991.2 Turbo S combines comfort, usability and surprisingly decent economy, with an absolutely earth-shattering level of performance. In wet weather, I can cover ground at a pace that would be impressive in any other car in the dry! Floods, standing water, greasy asphalt…nothing gets this car flustered. It is remarkably sure-footed which inspires confidence behind the wheel – my only concern now is for the lifespan of my driving licence!

Life with the Turbo S has been almost completely hassle-free - as you would expect from a five-year-old, 15,000-mile 911. However, there has been one issue, which was - in my opinion - turned from a molehill into a mountain by the Service Department at my local main dealer… A common occurrence for many Porsche owners, I am led to believe. What should have been a minor setback was complicated by the Service Department’s apparent lack of motivation to achieve a resolution - something which became a great strain on our relationship!

A few weeks into ownership, I remembered that I needed to register the factory-fitted tracker system for my insurance, so I promptly contacted my dealer who advised that it would only be an hour’s worth of work to activate the tracker system and connect it to my ‘My Porsche’ account, after which the car and I would be good to go. So I booked the car in for a 1-hour waiting appointment on 4th December, taking my laptop so that I could do some work during the hour slot.

Thank goodness that I did because I was still sitting there waiting three hours later! Eventually, I was advised that the work was complete at the dealership’s end and all I had to do was call Vodafone Automotive when I got home to set up the tracking services… Oh, and pay the dealer £117 for their time. When I returned home, I called Vodafone as instructed, only to be told that they could not locate the tracker or connect to the vehicle as the dealer had not activated the device properly!