2026 Best Premium Performance Car: Porsche 911
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The Porsche 911 has won the Best Premium Performance Car category once again. That makes three out of the last four years the sports car icon has earned the hardware, and for good reason, too. No other manufacturer seems as tireless in their pursuit of constantly bettering themselves the way Porsche does with the 911.
As a result, every time Porsche is presumed to have reached the pinnacle of what’s possible with such an unorthodox format having its engine slung out over the rear axle, a new variant arrives that leaves us gobsmacked again. So, here we are, celebrating the legendary Stuttgart sports machine once more as Porsche presents new trims and models of the 911.
There are more than 20 AutoTrader experts, and we drive a lot of serious machinery every year. It has become difficult to find a bad car these days, with both quality and refinement better than they’ve ever been. But spending time with a 911 – any 911 – reminds each of us just how special a machine it is, even amongst the greatness.
Fundamentally, what makes a sports car brilliant is a combination of impressive performance and the ability to elicit an emotional response from its driver. The 911 manages both at a level that exceeds nearly every other car. And just when we presumed electrifying the 911 would dull the experience, Porsche proved once again to effectively employ technology to improve performance without losing any of the car’s character.
The 911 GTS and Turbo S models with their T-Hybrid systems are utterly sensational. In both cases, electric motors nestled between the engine and transaxle, and fitted within the turbos, eliminate any hesitation in the power delivery. This means that the thrust delivered mimics that of the fastest electric vehicles, yet the requisite flat-six engine belts out a gruff but sonorous tune.
Drivers looking for an engine wail that’ll make the hairs on their neck stand up will prefer a 911 GT3 with its race-inspired engine that howls to a stratospheric 9,000 rpm. While others may want a simpler version with a stick shift, or perhaps an electrically operated Targa top, or even a convertible. Each of those variants, with rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, is on offer. Porsche has even done an off-road-ready version called the Dakar, showing the sheer breadth of the 911’s excellence.
Yet despite all the variations of this extreme performance sports car, it’s also durable, reliable, and finished in fine materials. It’s also comfortable enough for extended road trips and practical enough to be a daily driver all year round. There’s nothing else on the market quite like it.
Porsche has been refining the 911 for more than 60 years, listening to buyers and producing increasingly impressive machines. For 2026, the changes to the 911 are mostly evolutionary things like the infotainment system, but the big news is the new 911 Turbo S T-Hybrid that now delivers more than 700 horsepower. It’s engineered to allow even modestly skilled drivers to look like a driving ace on the track, while allowing actual driving aces to set lap records. And remember, the 911 Turbo S isn’t even the company’s track-ready version of the 911, yet it’s still just as at home on the track as it is the valet stand.
The Porsche 911 in any variant is not exactly affordable. In fact, even the most inexpensive 911 Carrera without any options starts at $160,000, while the new Turbo S Cabriolet is more than $340,000 before a buyer starts adding options. Still somehow, despite the cost, a 911 never feels like poor value. As AutoTrader’s own Editor-in-Chief Jodi Lai recently stated, “this vehicle is the highest form of automotive perfection.” That is why it is the winner of Best Premium Performance Car once again.
