What Does It Feel Like To Drive A G50 911 Turbo?

Does this car’s ‘widowmaker’ reputation precede it?

byBradley Brownell|
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When you're given the keys to a gorgeous Grand Prix white special-wishes 1989 5-speed 930 coupe

with color matched Fuchs, you don't say no to the experience. At least, not at first anyway. This car is allegedly worth around $190,000, so it would be wise not to completely wad it up, but it still deserves to be romped on a bit. With the side-inlets in the rear quarter panels, this is obviously one of the very rare Sonderwunsch cars that received all of the upgrades to M505 specification except the slant nose front bodywork. Only 1374 total 911 Turbo coupes were built in 1989 (the only year with a 5-speed G50 gearbox), and we have to believe this is among the more rare specs given to any of those cars. 

Having driven a few Porsche 911 Turbos of various generations, the best thing I can recommend is a quality set of good sticky tires on all four corners of this car. The car in the video is fitted with a set of Bridgestone RE-11 performance summer tires, which are an excellent choice. The more grip this car has, the more hamfisted you have to drive it to get it to lose traction. Obviously, we still don't recommend jumping off the throttle and stabbing the brakes while you're in the middle of a turn in this car, but it certainly can handle educated motoring a bit better than it could on even the best tires available in the 1980s. Tire tech has come a long way, and you'd be surprised how docile a 930 can be on the right tires. Hmmm, perhaps docile is the wrong word. Restrained? No, that's not right, either. 

Sadly, in the video, Jacob doesn't really drive the car all that hard. He gets into boost a couple of times and comments that he thought it would spin out by downshifting into second (we seriously hope that part was a joke). This 930 should probably feel very similar to driving a 993, as he mentions, being that the greenhouses are basically the same and the dash layout is largely unchanged. Besides, the 993 was released just five years after this car. The video itself is short and sweet, so give it a watch, it might spark some discussion among Porsche friends.  

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