Source: cnet.com
The Porsche 911 is the quintessential sports car. Created by Ferdinand Porsche in 1964, the car quickly gained a following of enthusiasts and eventually attained a close-to-cult status. The way that 911 enthusiasts attained such a title was by being extremely critical to every single change made to the car every time it was updated. These “purists” that believe that the best way to maintain the purity of the driving experience is by not moving forward are almost obsessively and unfairly critical of the 991’s changes. The first 911s came with an air-cooled engine, so when the 996 generation Porsche 911 came with a water-cooled engine, the purists were so upset with the change that they refused to call it a “real” 911. Unfortunately for the 996, it had some other flaws such as headlights which weren’t the typical 911 circle shape which further infuriated these purists.
More examples of purists getting upset for not having their way is when the 991 generation Porsche 911.1 GT3 RS was not offered with a manual transmission and the only choice was a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic. While this may seem like an improvement in terms of speed and efficiency, the purists contested that it took away from the driving experience. The purists caused so much uproar that Porsche decided to bring back the manual transmission for the 991.2 GT3 RS.
Even minor decisions to change the 911 such as shifting from hydraulic power steering to electric power steering for the 991 series in 2012 were harshly criticized by Porsche fanatics. The reason for the upset over the discontinuation of the hydraulic power steering which was in use from 1989 is the reduction in driver engagement. With the hydraulic system, the driver was more engaged and was able to know exactly when the car was losing grip. The electric system was still pretty decent in terms of driver engagement but was more drivable on a daily basis.
The purists don’t just critique the 911, however. They critique the brand as a whole.
In 1995, Porsche released the Boxter. People thought this would be the car to kill off the 911 and prove to the world that a Porsche with a mid-engine would be the ultimate Porsche. Porsche, however, knew better and they made the Boxter considerably less powerful so as to not knock off their flagship car from the top. Enthusiasts loved the Boxter nevertheless. For the 2017 model year, the Boxter/Cayman which was renamed to the 718, was given a four-cylinder engine. While it did make more power than ever before, the lack-lustre sound of the flat-four was a stark change from the almost melodic flat-six that enthusiasts were used to.
However, none of these complaints of changes to the 911 and Boxter can compare to the shock that purists received in 2002 when Porsche unveiled their first-ever SUV, the Cayenne. Even so, Porsche had judged the market perfectly and released the SUV as consumers were just starting to buy bigger cars. So even though the Porsche die-hard fans were unhappy with it, the Cayenne soon became one of their most popular models.
The Porsche 911 is a car that’s history precedes it.
The traditional air-cooled engines that hung off behind the rear axle, that were connected to a manual transmission, and had a characteristic Porsche flat-6 sound were considered to be the reason for the companies success. When the 911 was released on the 930 chassis with a turbo for the first time ever, the Porsche purists were infuriated. They claimed that the turbo caused a considerable amount of lack of throttle response which made the driving experience less engaging, even if it made the car much faster.
From the get-go, the positioning of the engine behind the rear axle was fundamentally wrong. It should have meant that the car should have been undrivable. The main reason for purists staying true to the original ideology of the 911 is the fact that Porsche has managed to make a car that has a fundamentally incorrect concept into something that is so enjoyable. The attitude of the purists is merely to protect the driving experience of the 911 and the belief that technological progress takes away from it.
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