The Porsche Turbo S: A Monster on Wheels

For those who have forgotten, the Porsche Turbo S is the most powerful car that Porsche makes. With two turbos and an intercooler, this behemoth of a vehicle weighs in at 2.5 tons and can go from 0-60mph in just 5.2 seconds, making it faster than a BMW M3. But what's truly impressive about this car is its incredible power-to-weight ratio, thanks to the massive 4.5L V8 engine that produces an astonishing 512 horsepower. While the numbers may seem impressive, it's not just about how fast and powerful the Turbo S is - it's about the sensation of unleashing such a significant amount of mass towards the horizon.

The Porsche Turbo S is certainly not the prettiest car on the road, but its aggressive design makes up for its ugly exterior. With its massive brakes that are "as big as planets," this car can stop on a dime and still manage to go from 60mph to 0 in under 30 seconds. And with Porsche's traction management system and active air suspension with six ride height settings, the Turbo S is more than capable of handling even the toughest terrain. But all these features come at a price - the Turbo S costs a whopping $815,000, which is roughly equivalent to £650,000 or €750,000.

Of course, that's not even the most expensive part of owning a Porsche Turbo S. Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister of the UK, allegedly asked for an additional 50p as part of his "for four" tax, which is simply laughable. And with fuel consumption that's more than enough to make one question whether such a powerful and expensive car is truly worth it.

But what really matters is how well the Turbo S performs off-road. To find out, we've devised another Richard Hammond-style real-world test, where we'll see if this monster can handle some of the toughest terrain on earth. The course takes us through the Cyprus rally route, which features a mix of rough gravel tracks and sharp blind bends. With its advanced technology, including Porsche's traction management system and active air suspension, the Turbo S should be more than capable of handling even the most challenging sections.

As we set off from the starting line, Lance Corporal Macmillan (or "Lance" as he's known) jumps out of a helicopter 10,000 feet above us and takes to the skies in his custom-made wing suit. With the Phoenix Fly Vampire V2, which is modeled on a flying squirrel, he'll be able to fly faster and cover longer horizontal distances than he can drive. Meanwhile, we're stuck on the ground, trying to average an incredible 60mph over 2.5 miles of rough terrain.

As Lance takes off, I hit the accelerator and charge down the road, feeling the massive power of the Turbo S beneath me. The car is a beast to handle on these rough roads, but with its advanced technology, I manage to keep up with Lance's speed as he swoops above us in his wing suit. However, just when I think we're evenly matched, disaster strikes - my tires start to lose grip, and the car begins to skid wildly out of control.

Luckily, Lance deploys his parachute at the last second, saving him from a potentially disastrous landing. But as he soars above us, I realize that my only hope is for him to deploy his parachute eventually, which should slow him down just enough for me to catch up. The question is, will it be enough?

With Lance's parachute deployed, I see him slowly descending towards the ground, and I know I have a small window of opportunity to make up time. But as he hits the brakes, the Turbo S starts to slide wildly out of control - it's like trying to stop a 2,500-pound tank! The Red Devil manages to keep his cool and release his parachute just in time, deploying it with precision to slow down.

As we near the halfway point, I can see Lance struggling to maintain speed on the rough terrain. He's flying high above us at an incredible pace, but he knows that eventually, he'll have to deploy his parachute to survive. Meanwhile, I'm still trying to navigate this treacherous course in a car that's more than capable of taking down trees.

The final stretch is brutal - sharp blind bends and steep inclines threaten to shake the very foundations of my car. But with its advanced technology, the Turbo S manages to stay on track, inching closer to Lance's parachute-borne pace every second.

As we near the finish line, I can see that Lance is slowing down, which means it's almost time for me to make my move. The question is, will I be able to catch up and take the win?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome to Green peece hell what we have here is the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S forget the 911 Turbo forget the GT3 this in a headline is the most powerful car that Porsche makes two turbos two intercool it weighs 2 and 1/2 tons and yet n to 60 takes just 5.2 seconds that's faster than a BMW M m 3 naturally the brakes are now the size of planets and whil we're on the superlatives it has to be said it is still the ugliest 44 ever made but at least you'll be going so quickly no one will notice the power from the 4 1/2 L V8 is up from 450 to a massive 512 BHP but they're all just well numbers what it's about is the sensation of this much mass being hurled towards the horizon this physics got mad the Turbo S costs $815,000 and then sadly Gordon Brown will want another 50 Quid for his for four tax but you probably guess that and on top of all that the fuel consumption is well do you really have to ask so it's a fast and furious Le the expensive family car and one which bristles with technology like Porsche traction management to cope with tough terrain and active air suspension with six ride height settings the next task then is to find out what happens when that Mighty power and all those gizmos come together Offroad so we've devised another Richard Hammond realworld test this is Cypress near Greece and these roads make up the course for the Cyprus rally it's a mesay of rough gravel tracks and sharp blind bends a good place then to try out the Turbo S the other good thing about Cyprus is well the weather is not exactly what you'd call bad sun and clear Clear Blue Skies which means this man can see where he's going he's a red devil one of the British Army's crack parachutists and today he's going to race me this isn't actually as dared as it sounds you see I'm going to set off from a start line about 2 and a half miles away over there in the mountains I'll then drive as fast as I can down the r track to the Finish Point here meanwhile Lance corporal Mac mcliff will jump from 10,000 ft directly above me and race me to the Target as the crow flies Mac will also be covering about 2 and 1/2 miles and that should take him 2 and A2 minutes which means if I'm to have a fighting chance I'll have to average 60 M an hour and that is a tall order on roads like this the Red Devil will be jumping from this helicopter which we've borrowed from somebody now the challenge facing m is he needs to descend as quickly as possible to win the race but stay high enough to cover the horizontal distance which is why he'll be wearing the Phoenix fly vampire V2 it's a Cutting Edge wing suit modeled on a flying squirrel and it allows the wearer to fly faster over longer horizontal distances now obviously he will have to open his shoot at some point otherwise he'll just fall to earth like a well like a man dressed as a flying squirrel within minutes the Red Devil was 10,000 ft up hovering directly over my GPS coordinate position on his start line in the sky 4 3 2 1 oh my God I'm going to have an off on the first Corner oh my God come on all the off-road technology was working fine it was the tires that were holding me back the problem is 20in rims on this car torture don't Supply off-road tires if you go down the size to 19 they won't fit over the huge brakes that you need to stop the thing these tires have absolutely no grit he's right now falling but just 30 mph but he's going along the ground at 100 come on this is terrifying come on I got another head don't have do it don't ever do it don't die don't die three tons of car all the power in the world how in the name of God do you stop it I need his parachute Cliff Cliff ow oh that sounded expensive I can see him he's going like a missile as we neared the halfway point the Red Devil was well ahead but soon he'd have to slow down literally my only hope once he deploys his shoot he's got a 90c drop that's when I'm going to make up time it's never going to come with drop Big Bang at 2 and 1/2 th000 ft only seconds away from slamming into the ground the Red Devil has to hit the brakes by releasing his parachute he's got his shiot deployed come on power power power God no turn big tank slapper come on no no no no no he's nearly down just give me a little bit more now this is it where is he I can't see him no how close could that bewelcome to Green peece hell what we have here is the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S forget the 911 Turbo forget the GT3 this in a headline is the most powerful car that Porsche makes two turbos two intercool it weighs 2 and 1/2 tons and yet n to 60 takes just 5.2 seconds that's faster than a BMW M m 3 naturally the brakes are now the size of planets and whil we're on the superlatives it has to be said it is still the ugliest 44 ever made but at least you'll be going so quickly no one will notice the power from the 4 1/2 L V8 is up from 450 to a massive 512 BHP but they're all just well numbers what it's about is the sensation of this much mass being hurled towards the horizon this physics got mad the Turbo S costs $815,000 and then sadly Gordon Brown will want another 50 Quid for his for four tax but you probably guess that and on top of all that the fuel consumption is well do you really have to ask so it's a fast and furious Le the expensive family car and one which bristles with technology like Porsche traction management to cope with tough terrain and active air suspension with six ride height settings the next task then is to find out what happens when that Mighty power and all those gizmos come together Offroad so we've devised another Richard Hammond realworld test this is Cypress near Greece and these roads make up the course for the Cyprus rally it's a mesay of rough gravel tracks and sharp blind bends a good place then to try out the Turbo S the other good thing about Cyprus is well the weather is not exactly what you'd call bad sun and clear Clear Blue Skies which means this man can see where he's going he's a red devil one of the British Army's crack parachutists and today he's going to race me this isn't actually as dared as it sounds you see I'm going to set off from a start line about 2 and a half miles away over there in the mountains I'll then drive as fast as I can down the r track to the Finish Point here meanwhile Lance corporal Mac mcliff will jump from 10,000 ft directly above me and race me to the Target as the crow flies Mac will also be covering about 2 and 1/2 miles and that should take him 2 and A2 minutes which means if I'm to have a fighting chance I'll have to average 60 M an hour and that is a tall order on roads like this the Red Devil will be jumping from this helicopter which we've borrowed from somebody now the challenge facing m is he needs to descend as quickly as possible to win the race but stay high enough to cover the horizontal distance which is why he'll be wearing the Phoenix fly vampire V2 it's a Cutting Edge wing suit modeled on a flying squirrel and it allows the wearer to fly faster over longer horizontal distances now obviously he will have to open his shoot at some point otherwise he'll just fall to earth like a well like a man dressed as a flying squirrel within minutes the Red Devil was 10,000 ft up hovering directly over my GPS coordinate position on his start line in the sky 4 3 2 1 oh my God I'm going to have an off on the first Corner oh my God come on all the off-road technology was working fine it was the tires that were holding me back the problem is 20in rims on this car torture don't Supply off-road tires if you go down the size to 19 they won't fit over the huge brakes that you need to stop the thing these tires have absolutely no grit he's right now falling but just 30 mph but he's going along the ground at 100 come on this is terrifying come on I got another head don't have do it don't ever do it don't die don't die three tons of car all the power in the world how in the name of God do you stop it I need his parachute Cliff Cliff ow oh that sounded expensive I can see him he's going like a missile as we neared the halfway point the Red Devil was well ahead but soon he'd have to slow down literally my only hope once he deploys his shoot he's got a 90c drop that's when I'm going to make up time it's never going to come with drop Big Bang at 2 and 1/2 th000 ft only seconds away from slamming into the ground the Red Devil has to hit the brakes by releasing his parachute he's got his shiot deployed come on power power power God no turn big tank slapper come on no no no no no he's nearly down just give me a little bit more now this is it where is he I can't see him no how close could that be\n"