Porsche 911 Turbo

God made Black Rock Lake for the Porsche 911 Turbo. Or perhaps it's the other way around. Anyone can drive as fast as he chooses, any time he wishes, on the powdery-dry Black Rock lakebed. Neither the state of Nevada nor the U.S. Government's Bureau of Land Management gives a whit. No need to ask permission or forgiveness. Just stand on it, dude.

But make sure it's not flooded or occupied with land-speed-record attempts, large-scale amateur rocketry, campers, wind-sailors, or clothing-optional festival-goers. And understand its surface is less like pavement and more like a freshly plowed field and that the nearest EMT is a 30-minute helicopter ride away.

We went to Black Rock for Porsche's U.S. press introduction of the new-generation 911 Turbo. (See our May issue for our first-drive report.) However, driving the 415-horse 911 Turbo on public roads is like piloting an F-15 Eagle strictly within an airport's landing pattern: All you can get away with are brief, furtive throttle stabs. But Black Rock is one of the few places in America where you can explore the Turbo's gargantuan speed potential with a modicum of safety.

Black Rock Lake is a 27-mile-long, intermittently dry lake, although "sea" would better describe its vastness. In spring, it floods with snow runoff and dries dead-level: There's just a 5-ft elevation change over its length. But "level" ain't the same as solid: By June, the surface starts to break up. Before my test, alkali chunks came up in my hands like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. I tried not to imagine what 415 lb-ft of torque would do to it. Before we hit the dirt, it's worth restating that the all-new 911 Turbo is one raucous machine, no matter the surface. Though we haven't yet attached the MT test gear (which will have happened by the time you read this), I can tell you: It's fast. Way fast. Though initial launch in a Tiptronic-equipped car (also a Turbo first) is a bit soft, it pulls mercilessly once the revs are up and boost checks in. And then there's that sound-smoother, a bit softer, not as raspy as in a pre-996 series 911, but still the hair-curling wail that comes only from a 911 Turbo. Any car with 415 hp and a 0-60 time in or around 4 sec deserves your attention, commands your respect, and serves up our kind of fun

The test course featured a measured mile preceded by two miles of run-up. If the surface had been asphalt-and Le Mans winner Hurley Haywood hadn't been riding along-that would've been enough to reach the 911 Turbo's true top speed, said by Porsche's test drivers to be in excess of 190 mph. But the crumbling surface felt like slushy, wagon-wheel-rutted I-25 in Colorado after a late-May snowstorm: lots of surface drag and not much grip or directional stability.

Haywood didn't encourage redline shifts and actively discouraged wide-open throttle running until near the start of the measured mile: On the deteriorating playa, the car wandered from one set of the ruts to another. At times, I had the sense the tail was on the verge of stepping out. Even with all-wheel drive and enhanced rear aerodynamic downforce of the new Turbo, subtle steering inputs were required. I allowed the car to largely meander where it chose: I might as well use some of Black Rock's 12-mile width

The lack of visual reference was disconcerting and made our speeds seem far slower than they actually were. To get a speed-to-distance perspective, I tried to focus past the lake mirage at the namesake ebony rock formation several miles away, but that proved useless. In an attempt to avoid the previous runs' tire tracks, I dropped my vision close to the car, which did nothing to help me stay out of the ruts-it was almost completely tracked over by my other run-while preventing me from staying on a constant heading. All told, I wouldn't have done much worse with my eyes closed.