The Saint of all Saints
The engine of a Porsche 911 sounds even sweeter than Gregorian chants; toying with the throttle can result in a fabulous symphony. For 2009, the flat-six mill is all-new and more compact, generating a respectable 345 horsepower along with a hefty 288 pounds-feet of torque at 4,400 rpm.

The flat-six mill is all-new and more compact, generating a respectable 345 horsepower.

Unfortunately, since my road test was performed in the thick of winter, I was wise enough to avoid pushing the limits of the car. Still, I didn't need any sermon to realize how powerful the 911 is and how quickly it eats up tarmac. Porsche clocked the car at 4.7 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h.

With even the slightest bit of provocation, the rear end starts to dance like Whoopi Goldberg in "Sister Act". The reason is quite simple: the mid-mounted engine increases the load on the rear axle despite a near-perfect weight distribution.

During my time behind the wheel of the 911, I was in the spirit of the holiday season and, as a matter of fact, the traction control indicator gave a light and sound performance that many Christmas trees would envy. Plus, the huge benefit of not testing the full potential of the 911 was a reasonable fuel economy average considering all the power at my disposal. I wound up with a meager 11.6 liters per 100 kilometers.

The big news for 2009 is the Porsche Doppelkupplung transmission (PDK). This true marvel of German engineering no doubt makes Josef Ratzinger, aka the Pope, even more proud of his origins. It's a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic transmission with a slight artificial flavor but a highly-commendable set of skills.

The thing that requires the most getting used to is by far the transmission controls on the steering wheel. While the system follows the action of the wheel, using it is definitely not intuitive. For upshifting, you have to click the front-mounted paddle; for downshifting, it's the one on the back, immediately behind. Even for a race car driver like me, who's used to manipulating controls on the steering wheel, this setup proves to be a handful.

For all its outstanding qualities, the Porsche 911 is hard to push to the limit while remaining comfortable. It's a good thing the automaker incorporated many safety features and electronic aids because the car tends to lose it when overtaxed.

The big news for 2009 is the Porsche Doppelkupplung transmission (PDK).