Trading a fancy folding roof and a pair of front driveshafts for no more than a third pedal in the footwell, this standard, rear-drive, manual 911 GTS coupe will always be the first choice of those who’ve always believed that, when it comes to 911s, simplest is best.

This is the lightest GTS you can buy, weighing just 10kg more than a Carrera S and that’s only thanks to its Carrera 4 wide body. And regardless of what figures enhanced by four-wheel drive traction or super-swift PDK shifts might claim for other GTSs, it’s the fastest, too. How fast? Well, it has a better power-to-weight ratio than that of a well known rival, the Mercedes-AMG GT.

2017 Porsche 911 GTS rear

Outside there’s a minor aero tweak to front and rear spoilers and true to GTS form, the car’s gone all moody with black wheels, black exhausts, smoked tail lights and black GTS badges. Inside the familiar Alcantara theme returns on the steering wheel, gear lever, and seat centres.

2017 Porsche 911 GTS wheels
2017 Porsche 911 GTS interior

What’s it like to drive? You’d think it would be easy to tell. It’s like a Carrera S, only more so, surely? In fact it’s not nearly as simple as that. The cleverest thing Porsche has always done with what is now three generations of 911 GTS, is while appearing to do little more than a spot of choice plundering of the options list, produce a car with a character all of its own. And of the three of them, I’d say this one feels the most evolved.

2017 Porsche 911 GTS driving

Finally, here is a 911 whose abilities in both straight lines and through corners feels perfectly matched, not fractionally favouring the chassis like a Carrera S, nor substantially the engine, as in the performance-focused Turbo.

2017 Porsche 911 GTS exhaust

Should you buy one? Put simply, of course you should. It’s as if this were the 911 that Porsche’s engineers designed first in this series, the one from which all others would be derived, only then to realise it was better even than they’d hoped, and must, therefore, be kept up their sleeves for a while. Only once all the Carreras and Turbos were safely launched could it be unleashed.

All nonsense of course, cars aren’t designed that way, but that’s how it feels. The GTS is the best ‘normal’ 911 on sale, and the best of the best rear-drive coupes. And it is every bit as good as that sounds.

2017 Porsche 911 GTS side

Like Devastatingly fast, sorted-rear drive dynamics

Dislike Finding fault with the GTS is merely nitpicking

Specs Engine: 2981cc flat-six, DOHC, 24v, twin-turbo Power: 331kW @ 6500rpm Torque: 550Nm @ 2150rpm Weight: 1450kg 0-100km/h: 4.1sec (claimed) Price: $279,000 (manual)