1997 Porsche 911 Turbo review from UK and Ireland

No faults.

An absolutely astonishing car. It's spectacularly fast thanks to 408 bhp, immensely useable thanks to permanent four wheel drive, and totally reliable thanks to a level of build quality which has to be seen to be believed.

The sheer grip and unflappability of the chassis makes my old R33 Skyline look stupid, which is the highest possible compliment that you could pay to a car. Yet it has none of the electronic trickery to help it. You simply turn the wheel and it goes where you point it. Come streaming rain, high winds or sleet, this car is impeccably behaved, yet can be provoked into lairy oversteer if you feel like destroying a £450 pair of rear tyres. It's tricky on the road though because of the silly speeds you need to be doing in order to break grip.

Performance is astonishing. It's hard to describe the sensation as the twin turbo flat six snarls and whistles its way through the gears. It feels as if a giant, unseen hand has scooped you up and propelled you toward the horizon with brutal yet strangely civilised force. It's amazing, and even two years on, it still gives the same stab of adrenaline fuelled excitement that it gave when I first dropped it a cog and floored it on the test drive. Only a well ridden superbike or a handful of specialist British manufacturers cars would be significantly quicker in the dry, and in the wet, it will simply squat and leave them for dead!

Running costs are actually surprisingly reasonable. Fuel consumption averages between 18 and 30 mpg depending on use, and reliability is flawless. Servicing is not horrendous either considering the superb ability and attention to detail of the dealers.

A stunning and pretty all-rounder which is outrageously fast, yet civilised enough for daily use. A triumph!