Funny things happen when you’re 17. Aside from the awkward female encounters and complete lack of judgment, being that age affords you mistakes you may appreciate down the road (no pun intended). I had what I’m going to define as a “911 moment.” If you aren’t aware what that is, well, it’s basically the feeling you get in your stomach, chest and brain whilst being rotated in an unfamiliar pendulum full of rear-biased slip. It happens quickly and deliberately, especially in an older 911 variant. I was unfamiliar with lift-off oversteer—frankly, driving in general—but in some sort of family-filled haze, I was handed the keys to a 930 Turbo pushing just north of 400 horsepower. The occurrence lives vividly in some weird little corner of my memory, not because I was a lucky prick (which I was) piloting one of the great sports cars, but also because of an 80 mph powerslide that remains freakishly relevant every time I step foot into a 911 and release the throttle. It’s a small reminder of what will happen if you lift mid-corner in a 911 going flat out. However, with the new 911, another funny thing happened when attempting the same mistake: absolutely nothing.

Fading from 8,000 rpm and barreling toward a second-gear hairpin, the 3.8-liter horizontal six—violently crackling, snarling and sounding plain disgusted by the lack of a 3-4 upshift—is a buttery exotic, and in the context of a 911’s flight path, you’ll actually have time to salivate over it (now offering 350hp in Carrera guise and 400hp in the Carrera S). Instead of setting yourself up in typical rear-engine 911 fashion, obsessing (extremely franticly) over the perfect way to approach the entry and departure angles without turning the rear-biased tail into a 3,000-pound Porsche mace, you’re through the turn without the slightest hint of “what could’ve been.” Instead you’re left with “WTF didn’t happen?”

It’s quite amazing, really. Just as the Nissan GT-R defies physics from a Butterbean standpoint, the new 911, with the engine moved rearward and a wheelbase increase of 100 mm (roughly four inches), is unshakable and accurate with grip. Relinquishing the throttle of its duty mid-turn no longer requires you to pucker up; the new 911 simply shifts weight, settles and moves along. In the hands of a skilled driver, this 911 will do more for you than ever before. Porsche Torque Vectoring (PTV), which is standard in the Carrera S, systematically makes minor braking adjustments on the inside rear wheel depending on steering angle, making the Porsche pivot with greater ease. You won’t ever feel the system working, but in terms of getting you through the turn, it just works. Also, an 80-kilogram weight reduction over outgoing models surely helps as well.

Steering feel: The one new addition to the 2012 model year Porsche that I wanted to try for myself was the new electro-mechanical steering. For obvious reasons, skepticism and doubt entered the mind of someone who has driven mostly every Porsche 911 variant from the ’60s to present and had been fascinated with how responsive and direct they were. I wasn’t exactly thinking an electrically boosted rack would “ruin” the steering (Porsche knows better than to release something that would aggravate purists, and they’ve spent enough research on it) but wondering if the addition of another “system” would mitigate the feel. My first reaction was that on-center feel felt somewhat off. In 911s of old, the on-center feel was frantic, almost twitchy—road imperfections, bumps and mostly anything not smooth would cause tramlining and bump—but in the 911 there’s a calm. Transition left to right and it’s smooth as glass, and that prototypical 911 “jump” when making left/right transitions is gone. After that, however, in typical Porsche fashion, the steering provides sensation that lets you know where you’re at in the range at all times. Steering feel is good—damn good—though more drama could be included. Waiting for the GT3, Porsche.

The 7-speed manual is a funky kind of cool. You can show off to your friends how many cogs you have and also get great gas mileage. EPA numbers still aren’t out, but think somewhere in the 30s on the highway. The only caveat was that 5th to 6th shifts sometimes got caught in the gate because there’s a slight downward-right angle, and 6th to 5th double de-clutch upshifts would do the same when pushed fast without the right accuracy.

The new 911 is impressive and also grown up. It’s a batch of honey mixed with gravel—sweet enough to salivate over—and when you put the power down, it plays rough to your heart’s content. It has refined with age. Not once during testing was I nervous about making a mistake, which, in some circles, could be considered a shortcoming for the 911. Times have changed since the times when naively jumping into a 911 without the correct procedure would’ve resulted in very bad things, and the rear-engined stigmata associated with it has been distanced. Porsche has an amazing car on their hands that firmly represents 911 lineage and maintains itself as one of the greatest sports cars of all time.

Bonus: Check out the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S’s launch control powers below.