The new, turbo Porsche 911 Carrera 4S does 0-62mph in 3.8 secs

The automotive world’s shift away from natural aspiration and towards turbocharging may irk some driving purists, but it’s sure as heck good for speed.

Porsche has today revealed the first four-wheel drive variants of its newly turbocharged 911 (a car we’re yet to drive, but got a passenger ride in here), and they’re blinkin’ rapid.

The 911 Carrera 4S, which makes 414bhp from its twin-turbo 3.0-litre flat six, now nails the 0-62mph sprint in just 3.8 seconds, a 0.3-second drop on the time of the current, nat-asp Carrera 4S.

That’s as quick as the Ferrari F40 ever managed it, but the F40 was a bona fide, scary supercar. The 911 Carrera 4S is a safe, sensible sports car, albeit one with a 189mph top whack and a meaty 369lb ft of torque.

Of course, if a sub-four-second 0-62mph time sounds a bit violent for your tastes, you could always opt for the standard 911 Carrera 4, which makes 365bhp from a mildly detuned version of that same 3.0-litre turbo six. In coupe guise, that car will manage the benchmark sprint in 4.1 seconds.

Those with a penchant for windy, four-wheel drive acceleration can option their Carrera 4 or Carrera 4S in cabriolet or Targa guises. Porsche claims official economy figures as high as 36mpg across the range.

Visually, the new four-wheel drive 911s are distinguished from their rear-drive cousins by a 44mm wider rear track, and a new light strip between the rear clusters. They sit 10mm closer to the road, with a hydraulic lift raising the nose by 40mm to clear particularly vertiginous speedbumps.

From big brother 911 Turbo S, the Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S borrow Porsche’s four-wheel steer technology, an option whereby the rear wheels turn slightly in the opposite direction to the fronts at low speeds to improve maneuverability – the turning circle reduced by 40cm – and in the same direction as the fronts at high speed to improve control.

In addition to Porsche’s standard array of bewildering acronyms, the Carrera 4 and 4S get, for the first time, a mode switch on the steering wheel allowing the driver to toggle the traction control, reponse of the PDK gearshifts, exhaust and more.

We’re also informed of a cheery new feature labelled the ‘Sport Response Button’, which ‘pre-conditions’ the drivetrain for a 20-second burst of maximum acceleration. We assume this button can be taped down in the ‘on' position.

The Carrera 4 will start at £81,398 in the UK, rising to just shy of 100 grand for the Targa 4S. Not cheap, but a whole sight cheaper than that M4 GTS…