Standard Porsche 911 delivers insane base-model performance
Pros
- Blistering acceleration
- Extraordinary handling
- Commendable daily usability
Cons
- $120,000+ starting price
- Less analog than before
- Some cheap-looking piano-black plastic
Ever-changing with gradual improvements, the base-model 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera has reached an inflection point. What was once an aspirational if just out of reach sports car is today a bona fide object of desire. Porsche usually ups the ante with its flagship performance nameplate with every half generation it introduces, and now that the 992.2-generation 911 has arrived for 2025, we’ve tested the latest version of the “basic” platform.
Sports car performance
This 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera coupe test car stuns in its Slate Grey Neo paint over Slate Grey and Chalk interior, options that cost $2,980 and $4,960, respectively. Rolling on staggered 20- and 21-inch Carrera Exclusive Design wheels for a further $3,820, it has curb appeal in spades. Porsche’s Sport Chrono package, available for $2,400, is effectively necessary to extract maximum performance, as beyond the stopwatch and clock Porsche adds atop the dashboard, Sport Chrono also bundles a Sport Plus drive mode, a Sport version of Porsche Stability Management, a Sport Response button that cranks up the 911’s setup to its maximum, launch control and telemetry features.
The base 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera is better equipped than you might expect from a mere entry-level model. It also benefits from enhancements added as part of the 992.2-generation refresh. In addition to cosmetic updates, the 3.0-liter flat-six engine receives a new intercooler and twin turbochargers, netting a 9-hp bump. Output now totals 388 hp and 331 lb-ft of torque, sent to the rear wheels by way of Porsche’s eight-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission.
The upgrades translate directly to the 911 Carrera’s on-track performance. Our test car stacks up well against the previous base-engine Porsche we tested, the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera T from the 992.1 generation. Whereas that model accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and featured a seven-speed manual transmission, this entry-level coupe needed just 3.3 seconds to get the job done. That’s only 0.4 second off the more powerful 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S, which also had an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox but developed a superior 443 hp. Launch control makes acceleration runs quick and repeatable. Once the tires are warm, the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera gets off the line with ease. Keep the throttle pinned, and the car dashes through the quarter mile in just 11.7 seconds at 118.8 mph. That bests the 992.1 Carrera T’s 12.2-mph sprint at 116.4 mph and trails the 2020 Carrera S, which did the same in 11.2 seconds at 124.3 mph.
The new base 911 offers impressive braking to match its acceleration figures. Stopping from 60 mph required only 99 feet, not far off the Carrera T’s 97 feet and the Carrera S’ 96 feet. Pedal travel is minimal, but there’s lots of feedback through your foot as the brake calipers engage progressively, making for smooth stops on the street without sacrificing rapid deceleration on the track.
Speaking of the base Carrera’s lap-turning abilities, its prowess impressed us around our “racetrack-in-a-bottle” figure-eight track. The Carrera took just 22.5 seconds to run the course, beating both the 992.1 Carrera T and Carrera S, which recorded times of 23.3 seconds and 22.7 seconds, respectively. As such, the new base-model Porsche 911 is greater than the sum of its parts, capable of taking down two previous variants situated higher in the automaker’s hierarchy. In other words, Porsche does a lot with 388 hp; it equals a 655-hp 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray 2LZ with track camber settings applied and beats the current-generation Mercedes-AMG GT63 Coupe 4Matic+, which needed 23.4 seconds to cover the figure eight—despite producing a whopping 577 hp from its twin-turbo V-8.
An experience beyond basic
The numbers only tell part of the story. For all the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera’s objectively impressive test data, the manufacturer continues to put driver experience first. Tooling around town, the 911 disguises its capabilities with sedate transmission tuning that shuffles through the gears quickly in the Normal drive mode. Toggling the switch that controls the optional sport exhaust system, available for $2,960, adds some sonic sensation to ordinary driving, but this only reveals an iota of the 911’s dramatic potential.
Slam your foot to the floor, and the flat-six chatters to life. The revs build and the 911’s speed gathers with devastating linearity, building excitement for the moment when the cam profiles change over as the engine approaches the top of its rev range. It’s incorrect to compare the sound of Porsche’s sport exhaust to a race car’s, because neither the 911 GT3 R nor the Cup car produce this exact timbre. Still, our test car’s distinctive shriek leaves an indelible impact on your psyche, beckoning you to work the engine to its maximum to get another hit from the powertrain’s brain-tingling tones.
That aural sensation is the soundtrack to your drive. Clicking the steering wheel’s switch to the Sport or Sport Plus drive modes recalibrates the 911 for back-road or track driving, sharpening the car’s responsiveness. Nicely weighted pedals and steering contribute to a feeling of ultimate driver confidence. As you wheel the car up a curvy road, the sticky summer tires grip the pavement with what feels like unending adhesion. Fortunately, the Adaptive Sport Seats Plus, a $3,470 upgrade, are very supportive and comfortable. Steering weight varies by load, helping you place the chassis exactly where you want it as you slither through the bends. The Carrera turns into corners with aggression, and the e-differential has your back as you explode out onto a straightaway. You don’t have to think much to enjoy the base Carrera’s performance, yet the 911 executes your every whim and gives you all the tools you need to hone your abilities.
Touring car credentials
As fun as it is to rip the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera on the track or carve a canyon road, the reality is you’ll likely spend more time commuting or crushing highway miles. Fortunately, Porsche engineered comfort into the car’s standard ride setting. The automaker also offers a strong suite of standard tech for its flagship sports car backed up, of course, by a lengthy list of pricey options.
Porsche enables some Apple CarPlay integration that makes its way from the 10.9-inch infotainment touchscreen onto the 12.6-inch curved fully digital instrument cluster. If you navigate with Apple Maps, turn-by-turn directions appear on the right side of the driver display along with your ETA underneath the leftmost pod. While your phone wirelessly broadcasts CarPlay to the central screen, a wireless charger located inside the center console keeps your device topped off. A nice touch is the fact the compartment is air conditioned to prevent overheating. As another thoughtful feature, Porsche integrated a soft-touch swipe-to-open function into the front bumper, allowing you to access the frunk while keeping the car key in your pocket.
Outside of the standard equipment, our test car carried the Premium package, which bundles desirable items including a high-resolution 360-degree camera view for parking, ventilated seats, lane change assistance, an air ionizer and a storage net for the passenger footwell. These items go a long way to improving the Carrera’s comfort as well as your peace of mind when you’re behind the wheel. We’re particularly fond of being able to see all the way around the car when parking; it makes the 911 very easy to place in a tight parking spot, especially thanks to the on-screen graphics’ crisp resolution. And on a road trip, there’s no beating the cooling sensation of ventilated seats.
The Premium package incurs a $5,240 increase to the 2025 911 Carrera’s starting price, but judging by our heavy use of its features, we know it’s worth the spend. Even if you don’t want to drop the money for these features, the car still has a solid foundation of active driver assistance technology such as front and rear parking sensors, cruise control, forward automatic emergency braking, emergency calling and driver awareness detection. Along with the outstanding performance on offer, it all makes for a combination that will satisfy enthusiasts dead set on driving their 911 every day.
Porsche still has its mojo, but …
There are, however, certain aspects of the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera that have us pining for the good old days. Call us luddites, but we miss the physical switch that’s been replaced by a button for starting and stopping the engine. While SUVs like the Cayenne have taken the transportation appliance mantle, we’d like to see the 911 focus on being as much of a sports car experience as possible. Ditching little things like the ignition switch and the physical tachometer needle pushes the car that much closer to being yet another chariot of the techno dystopia that feels so inevitable these days. So too does the base Porsche 911 Carrera coupe’s starting price of $122,095. The last time a 911 started for less than $100,000 was when the 992-generation sports car arrived for the 2020 model year. Until recently, a base 911 felt as though it existed on the upper end of the attainability spectrum, but that perception is fleeting with every price hike.
Should the 911 still be my dream car?
Whether you’re on your 10th Porsche 911 or still dreaming of buying your first, the 992.2-generation Carrera is worthy of your aspirations. Few products deliver sheer sports car perfection to this extent; drive one for a week, and you’ll wonder how it’s possible that even faster and better variants exist. Our test car’s $148,155 price is steep, but we can wrap our head around the figure as Porsche does immaculate work splitting the difference between premium sports cars and true supercars with the 2025 911 Carrera.
Photos by manufacturer