Porsche’s most exciting car gets even better.
Move inside and you’re greeted with stitched beige leather all over the place; a few black panels and sterling silver trims complement the package. Porsche has very successfully managed to make the interior look extremely simple, while in reality it’s fairly complicated once you get to see the myriad of buttons around the center console.
The speedometer contains three dials, the tachometer dominating the central area. To the left is the speedometer and to the right we have the fuel gauge as well as the main computer. This shows you the trip computer, media playback as well as a 3D navigation area, albeit much smaller than the main navigation console screen.
Pretty much everything is easily controllable by the steering wheel, as most buttons are easy to use. The two dial knobs for menu scrolling and volume control are blissfully smooth. I was surprised to find the cruise controls on a lever behind the wheel, instead of on it.
Move onto the central console area and you’ll see a very crisp screen that shows you the media, phone and navigation system. Without a doubt the Porsche navigation and entertainment system is the fastest system I have seen in any car to date. Everything is extremely responsive to the touch and switching between different menus is almost instantaneous. It’s not iPhone level fast, though; we’re still a long way for in car navigation systems to match that kind of UI speed.
Literally everything you can control by touch on the main screen can be selected (sometimes in a roundabout way) by the buttons just below. With such a responsive screen, these buttons seem like a waste of space.
Instead, Porsche engineers should have rather implemented an easier climate control system. Controlling fan speed and temperature is very cumbersome because of the switches; instead dials should have been used. Worst yet is the temperature screen which is almost hidden out of view behind the gear. For all of Porsche’s emphasis on having an excellent driving experience, these buttons are the one thing that distracts the driver the most.
The rest of the inside is a pleasant place to be. The ventilated seats do a good job of keeping the driver comfortable, as are the other controls within reach. I will say that at highway speeds, there is a fair bit of road noise coming inside, more than what I would have expected from a Porsche, but all that unpleasantness is drowned out by the nicely tuned BOSE surround sound system as well as the incredible sound from the flat 6-clyinder engine behind your backseat.
