2025 Porsche 911 Turbo 50 Years | UK Review

There are two very valid ways of looking at the 911 Turbo 50 Years. The first, kinder assessment, is that this is just Porsche being Porsche: a modest, discreet, quite reserved big birthday special for one of its most iconic models. Sure, the 911 Turbo is 50, but they don’t want to make a big fuss about it. They’ll make the 1,974 units (the year of introduction), then move onto the next thing. No biggie, as the kids very much don’t say. 

The other view surely says that this is, on paper at least, a missed opportunity. Five decades of 911 Turbos deserved more than a cosmetic enhancement, those folk will say; where’s the whaletail, where’s the manual, where’s the special sauce to really mark this out as a proper anniversary edition? Somewhere between a standard Turbo S, a Sport Classic and whatever the GT2 will be, there must have been room for a spicier S to mark the big 5-0. 

They’re both persuasive viewpoints. Whatever your thoughts about the 50 Years in principle, you’re certainly not going to miss one – especially if it has £11,790 worth of Heritage Design Package fitted. As standard all 50s come with the ‘turbo’ script over the rear arches (and it does look great to see the font back there in the mirrors), but spend the money and the 911 can be transformed from a regular Turbo S. The option pack brings Aventurine Green paint as seen here (others can be chosen), plus the number, additional stripes, the lovely heritage badges and the equally gorgeous gold lettering. The extras can be added and deleted as required; keeping the turbo script and the gold bits without the number could look fantastic. Heritage Design also means the Sport Classic rims in white and silver – nothing a refurb can’t sort. 

The interior gets the tartan whichever options are plumped for, and with four seats there’s definitely no escaping it. To these eyes it brings a welcome bit of pizzazz to what can be a slightly sombre cabin, celebrating the old school without being naff. Spend the money on the HDP and the 50 is also kitted out with the green dials like an S/T (you want to dislike them; they’re great), more classic logos, more tartan and more leather. It’s a lot, for sure, and sadly for the inside there’s no chopping and changing possible; the badges are really nice (see the wheel and above the glovebox), though it could be a bit OTT on the tartan. 

On the road, it’ll come as no surprise to learn that the 50 Years is extremely familiar from the standard 992 Turbo S. Probably identical, truth be told. But given it was one of the most absorbing, engaging 911s in the lineup – the Turbo hasn’t been given its 992.2 update yet – that’s arguably no bad thing. With the introduction of electrification and that immediacy to the GTS, to experience some old-fashioned forced induction pause – followed by a turbo rush to pull your face off – is more thrilling than ever. 

While it feels like stating that Death Valley is hot or that grass is green, holy heck is the 50 Years Turbo fast. Every model of the 992 range is more than a little brisk these days, though there’s quick – then there’s a Turbo S. You’ll need to peer around the wheel to see the boost gauge, slowly building up the bar as revs build – the lag bleeds away as the green paint is introduced to the tacho at 2,500rpm – before really hitting its stride at 4,000rpm. The clever bit of a 992 Turbo mind, is how it keeps on getting quicker and quicker. Steel yourself, hold on tight, and that boost gauge will be showing 1.5 bar eventually – somewhere around peak power at 6,750rpm. The limiter then calls time at seven, so there’s this exhilarating rush throughout the rev range every single time. And that feels superb, particularly with sports exhaust blaring. There are family EV SUVs just as fast, if not more so, these days, but there’s nothing to rival the exhilaration of combustion building and building to a rollicking crescendo. 

PDK is the perfect partner to that rabid acceleration, as ever, flawless whether left to its own devices or with you on the paddles. Indeed, the 50 is a nice reminder that the Turbo is quite a focused, fierce 911 – certainly by 992 standards. Cast aside any thought that says the big T is some laid-back Gran Turismo: it’s as alert, alive and confidence-inspiring as you’d want a four-wheel drive flagship 911 to be. The common refrain is that 992s are too large, but then everything has become oversized with it. This weighs what an AMG A45 does, and can’t be an awful lot larger than an M2. So chuffing it along with 650hp does have a pretty dramatic effect. 

And there’s plenty to keep the driver occupied. Ratios are short enough to ensure you’re busy on the paddles, and that slight softness to the response at low revs means thinking about gears going into a bend. That moment’s hesitation can feel a lot longer if it’s a ratio too high. Similarly, catch the boost at the wrong time and maybe the 911 will push a tad before hooking up and hoovering in the horizon. It isn’t a tartan-clad GT3 – ask Sonderwunsch about that – but the 50 is undoubtedly a richer driving experience than people tend to credit Turbos with. 

The damping is supreme, of course, locking down that mass with unimpeachable authority; there’s no need for Sport Plus on the road, really. Sport feels like the sweet spot, with Normal offering up some ebb and flow for everyday. There’s great feel from the brakes, an intuitiveness to the steering that still eludes a lot of 4WS systems, and a connection to the road that means it never feels like just a quick Carrera. The 50 is cleverly judged in fact, always enough Turbo S if that makes sense; it can pootle in Normal with the performance always ensuring a specialness, while remaining as usable as any other 911 even when cranked to the max and travelling at light speed. A very neat trick. 

But, of course, a neat trick that can be just as ably executed by a standard 911 Turbo S. Everything that is so good about this special edition is absolutely present and correct in the standard one. And while Porsche is making no great claims for this car, it’s hard not to leave the tartan and the gold siding with the second argument and wanting a little bit more for a £200,000 911. The trouble being, of course, that the Turbo S is already so rampantly capable that it’s hard to really know what to change. Where are you going to use more than 650hp? Why offer a manual when the Sport Classic has already happened? Something like a GT2 spec would seem daft with a GT2 RS appearing to be imminent.

All champagne problems in the long run, but it’s hard to think how 50 years of the 911 Turbo could have been marked more emphatically without compromising what already exists. Maybe a whaletail and some deep dish rims would have been a tad more evocative. As it is, the 50 Years remains one for the dedicated collector – with one just like this in the classifieds already – and the ‘regular’ 911 Turbo S for those who want the ultimate everyday 992. From £130k now, in fact. If that seems a tad disappointing as a verdict for the 50th, it almost goes without saying that more extreme 992s with 3.7-litre turbos will follow. And 60 will be here before you know it…  

Engine: 3,745cc, twin-turbocharged, flat-six
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 650@6,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 590@2,500rpm-4,000rpm
0-62mph: 2.7secs
Top speed: 205mph
Weight: 1,640kg
MPG: 23.5
CO2: 271g/km
Price: £200,600 (price as standard; price as tested £222,140, comprising Aventurine Green Metallic, 20-/21-inch Sport Classic wheels painted in white and silver, Leather interior in Black with tartan, Decorative graphic Heritage Design 50 Years turbo, all no cost options, Heritage Design Package 50 Years Turbo for £11,790, Electric tilt/slide glass sunroof for £1,830, Preparation for roof transport system for £48, Protective foil front for £1,937, Lane Change Assist for £668, ParkAssist including Surround View for £842, Adaptive cruise control for £1,385, Comfort Access for £446, Burmester sound system for £2,594