The Swagger Returns; Porschephiles praise the new C2.(Porsche's 2002 911 Carrera C2)(Brief Article)

If the 2002 911 Carrera C2 seems a bit more arrogant than usual, it has a right to be.

``I'd swear the swagger is back in the exhaust tone,'' said one owner, coming off a disappointing eight-month stint with a '99 996. Said a more satisfied member of the Porsche faithful, ``It sounds much better than my 2001.''

Owners should thank redesigned chrome pipes sprouting from revamped mufflers for the tailpipe tunes. And, given its Teutonic roots, never assume escalated rumble is just useless growl.

For its new Carrera, Porsche upped displacement, plugging in a 3.6-liter boxer six where a 3.4-liter used to be. The result is a broader torque range that peaks with 273 lb-ft of torque at 4250 rpm as compared with 258 lb-ft at 4600 rpm.

``The car goes like a bat out of hell,'' said one owner.

Porsche says this is the ``quickest and fastest normally aspirated model ever offered in North America.'' Our tests back that up, with a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.8 seconds, compared to 4.86 for the old C2.

This newest Carrera was also slightly faster on our slalom than the old car, while sticking to the road convincingly, lacking the darty, unstable tendencies of some of its wannabe rivals.