Cars

2025 Best Premium Performance Car: Porsche 911

Sixty years and counting. That’s how long the Porsche 911 sports car has been coursing the world’s motorways and thrilling drivers lucky enough to pilot this rear-engine icon from Zuffenhausen. Yes, “icon” is a much-overused descriptor, but if any car deserves to wear it, it would be the Porsche 911. And after sampling several examples of the 911 – from the base Carrera to the new hybrid GTS to the raw and rare S/T, our panel of experts have voted for the Porsche 911 as the Best Premium Performance Car in the 2025 AutoTrader Awards. 

And it wasn’t a walk in the park for the Porsche, as it was up against every other vehicle in the segment, including such worthy adversaries as the Chevrolet Corvette, Jaguar F-Type, and Mercedes-AMG GT. 

The past six decades have shown a gradual yet unrelenting evolution of the 911, yet despite getting bigger, faster, more tech savvy, and, in some cases, downright luxurious, the essential blueprint of this 2+2 sports car with its horizontally-opposed six-cylinder engine hung out beyond the rear axle has remained intact. As has the 911’s unmistakable profile. Transport someone from 1964 to the present, plunk them in front of a 911, and they’ll say, “Yep, that’s a Porsche.”

The Porsche 911 delivers a trademark driving experience that spans its formidable lineup. Anchoring the stable is the rear-drive Carrera Coupe that, with a starting price of $135,600, charges out of the gate with a 3.0L twin-turbo flat-six making 388 horsepower. It will blow through the 100 km/h mark in 4.1 seconds and top out at 294 km/h. Does anyone really need any more 911 than this?

Having recently spent a day driving this very car through the mountains of southern Spain, my answer would be an emphatic “no.”  It’s fast, it makes spectacular noises (oh yes, you’ll want the $3,370 Sports Exhaust System), yet most importantly, the rear-drive Carrera delivers an undiluted 911 handling experience that magically melds into your being. Are you reading the 911’s mind, or is it reading yours? However it works, there’s a driver/car handshake going on here that’s equal parts confidence inspiring and spine-tingly thrilling. The 911 eggs you on, and while the car is unflappably secure and stable, there’s also an element of daring and danger that keeps you on your toes. It’s an addictive cocktail.

For 2025, the 911 enters the electric age with the GTS T-Hybrid. It uses a performance-oriented hybrid system that pairs a single electric turbocharger and electric motor in the transmission with an all-new 3.6L flat-six. While there was much handwringing amongst the 911 faithful, the GTS T-Hybrid is everything you want in a blazingly fast 911 and nothing you don’t. Purity of purpose unscathed.

There are a dizzying number of 911 variants, including open-top Targas and Cabriolets for those who’d like to take in some Vitamin D with their Vitamin P. The all-wheel-drive 640-hp 911 Turbo S is one of the fastest accelerating gas-powered cars on the market, and if track days are your thing, the $300,000 911 GT3 RS is a legitimate race car that can be driven on the street. For those with more modest budgets, the new 911 T is a lightweight, purest version of the base rear-drive Carrera available only with a six-speed manual transmission.

The Porsche 911 might occupy a relatively minuscule piece of the automotive market, but within that slice is an incredibly broad sports car bandwidth, with every model showing the vault-like solidity, scintillating performance, and purity of purpose that has made the Porsche 911 an enduring touchstone of the sports car experience. Happy 60th to AutoTrader’s 2025 Best Premium Performance Car.