Though we've yet to get our Cheeto-stained hands on the 2009 Porsche 911, the testers at Popular Mechanics had the chance to roam the Stuttgart roads in a few variations, finding the new model to be Porsche par excellence. They also found the new Porsche's wizardly dual-clutch PDK gearbox to be a vast improvement over the previous Tiptronic transmission. And those famous Porsche flat sixes? Both the Carrera and Carrera S get power increases to 345 and 385 horsepower, respectively, while also improving fuel economy. It seems the minor visual tweaks hide the important and immediately noticeable physical changes beneath.

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