2005 Porsche Carrera & Carrera S

You'll know it by its shape and the familiar, hairdryer rasp of that whirring flat-six. The ignition switch remains just to the left of the steering column. And for the 2005 model year, Porsche's iconic 911 will greet you with a modern rendition of the friendly face that made you love it in the beginning.

Like it or not, Porsche had to get past an air/oil-cooled powerplant. The current 996-platformed cars, introduced for the 1999 model year with proper liquid cooling, accomplished that. More than 160,000 have been sold. We've tested every iteration and generally praised them. But that praise always came with a To-Do list attached: "Too much road rumble from the rear suspension." "The front sheetmetal and interior designs resemble the Boxster's." "This Tiptronic sucks." "Wish it looked more like the old one."

It would be daft of us to suggest that Porsche had a copy of this laundry list on hand when it designed, engineered, and spec'd out the new Carrera and Carrera S. But the sweeping evolution the car has undergone aptly addressed our issues, and then some. Save for reuse of the roof panel and some chassis architecture, the changes go far beyond the scope of a midlife update, creating, for the most part, an all-new machine.

"This new look is a huge improvement--what the 996 should have been from the beginning."

Draw your own conclusions about the exterior restyling, but to our eyes, this look is a huge improvement and probably what the 996 should have been from the beginning. The waist is tighter, the fenders more curvaceous, the surface detail sharper. The front end is now properly differentiated from that of the Boxster and the ovoid headlamp design evokes classic 911s without being purely retro. There are four louvers (rather than the previous seven) on the deployable rear spoiler. The front and side glass are closer to flush-mounted, for a smoother look and reduced wind noise. Ditto the new twin-strut mirror mounts. Wheel and color choices are shuffled, and even the door handles have been redesigned.