As promised here are some initial impressions of the new Gen 2 Turbo. Just to provide a little context, I was somewhat surprised to realise that this is my fifth "blown" motor and all five have been Porsche. To that extent therefore there are for me a number of benchmarks against which to judge the new car. In sequence starting in 1989 they have been 930; 996TT; 997TT; 997GT2 and now the Gen 2.
Seeing a Gen 2 turbo for the first time yesterday I thought to myself that is a very smart looking car, I'd like one of those. Which is just as well because it was my car! I think Meteor Grey suits it very well and achieves a fine balance between showing off the curves whist not over accentuating some of the scoops and cut outs. The standard wheels were an unexpected plus. I had wondered about the Spyder wheel but cost and the torque issues had somewhat put me off despite liking the appearance. Maybe it is because the grey of the wheel is close to Meteor, but whatever the reason I am quite happy with the standard wheels. The yellow callipers are an interesting one. People who know the marque like them because of what they represent; people who don't know the marque assume you couldn't afford red; and for choice I would have either grey or black!
Conclusion is that all round it is the best looking of the five cars but lacks a little of the aggression of the GT2
Inside is cocoa. (Photos haven't come out so will have to have another go) I had had that on the Gen 1 car and knew I liked it. What did surprise me was that the sales manager (who I know from buying cars in the past) had said when he saw the spec he had told the saleman to ask for a larger deposit, and only relented when he knew it was me. However, he had the good grace to say he had been completely wrong and, along with everyone else at the dealership, think it looks fabulous. But I knew it would!! Even having said that I would have preferred a light grey but for many years Porsche haven't done one to my taste. I wish I could remember what the 930 interior colour was called because for me it was the best colour of the lot, though I can live with cocoa. Just on the 930, it wins on sheer quality of finish and interior materials....I do miss those deep pile carpets and quality switch gear (even if some of it was a bit random).
The adaptive seats are fine and I found a comfortable driving position very quickly which is now stored in key 1 memory. The steering wheel feels great. At first I thought the paddles were too close to the rim but once used to it find them ideally placed. The instruments are now pretty standard but again for me the 930 layout was more attractive even if you couldn't read half of the dials. Of course there is now so much more information available and on display so perhaps an honourable draw would be fair.
As you guys will know part of the sales patter is to go through all the controls, but to be frank you would need to have phenomenal memory to absorb every last sub menu at first acquaintance and I much prefer to use a combination of experiment and handbook. PCM3 is very much more capable than earlier versions but I like neither the graphics nor the touch screen which now shows finger marks in certain lights. But then I prefer Wordperfect 5.1 for DOS with its Reveal Codes so guess I have been left behind by the Playstation generation. There again the ipod and phone sync'd easily and I would never have got my wind up gramaphone in the storage bin where the ipod goes.
Finally I was ready to go, the sales guy shook my hand and got out. After a moments quiet reflection I turned the key, fired it up, selected D and eased out of the showroom. Always a special moment.
I'm not familiar with the area around the showroom so was reliant on sat nav for guidance. As a concession I allowed the woman to speak as this was our first trip together but it won't be long before she is silenced. Nevertheless she and I got ourselves out through a sequence of turns and roundabouts and were soon heading out of town. I had been concentrating on where we were going but suddenly realised I hadn't noticed any gear changes, which was odd because we were in 7th. PDK is an amazing system. OK it may have the odd foible but it's sheer capability is breathtaking. I was in love with it after 3 miles (and still feel the same after 300!). Manual waste of time...Clive you are so right!
The traffic eased somewhat and I gave the throttle a little squeeze. Nothing too serious you understand but enough to wake the boost gauge from it's slumbers. I had to smile. The shove is linear relentless and addictive. Whereas dialing up boost on the 930 was best done with plenty of notice, now to all intents and purposes there is no lag just a wall of torque catapulting you forward instantly. And the exhaust note? Well somewhere between Gen 1 and GT2 I would say but, as you might expect, nothing like the GT3 let alone the 430. In fairness I have not given it full beans nor will I for a few hundred miles yet. They may say the engines don't need running in these days but I am far too old to listen to that sort of talk.
At any sort of sane road speed the handling seemed to me to be utterly neutral, planted and assured. I have a trip to the Porsche track at Silverstone coming up so no doubt will be shown what it can really do, but all I know is that I have the utmost confidence in its ability to exceed my ability in all road conditions.
And when you need to slow down the PCCB are beyond superb. They have an exquisite modulation that delivers exactly the retardation you thought you wanted, almost telepathic. They are without doubt the best brakes I have ever used on a road car.
OK it's only two days in but so far I am absolutely delighted. It is a good step on from the Gen 1 and as an all round package it is very hard to find anything meaningful to fault it on.
I'm one happy chappy
Nick
Seeing a Gen 2 turbo for the first time yesterday I thought to myself that is a very smart looking car, I'd like one of those. Which is just as well because it was my car! I think Meteor Grey suits it very well and achieves a fine balance between showing off the curves whist not over accentuating some of the scoops and cut outs. The standard wheels were an unexpected plus. I had wondered about the Spyder wheel but cost and the torque issues had somewhat put me off despite liking the appearance. Maybe it is because the grey of the wheel is close to Meteor, but whatever the reason I am quite happy with the standard wheels. The yellow callipers are an interesting one. People who know the marque like them because of what they represent; people who don't know the marque assume you couldn't afford red; and for choice I would have either grey or black!
Conclusion is that all round it is the best looking of the five cars but lacks a little of the aggression of the GT2
Inside is cocoa. (Photos haven't come out so will have to have another go) I had had that on the Gen 1 car and knew I liked it. What did surprise me was that the sales manager (who I know from buying cars in the past) had said when he saw the spec he had told the saleman to ask for a larger deposit, and only relented when he knew it was me. However, he had the good grace to say he had been completely wrong and, along with everyone else at the dealership, think it looks fabulous. But I knew it would!! Even having said that I would have preferred a light grey but for many years Porsche haven't done one to my taste. I wish I could remember what the 930 interior colour was called because for me it was the best colour of the lot, though I can live with cocoa. Just on the 930, it wins on sheer quality of finish and interior materials....I do miss those deep pile carpets and quality switch gear (even if some of it was a bit random).
The adaptive seats are fine and I found a comfortable driving position very quickly which is now stored in key 1 memory. The steering wheel feels great. At first I thought the paddles were too close to the rim but once used to it find them ideally placed. The instruments are now pretty standard but again for me the 930 layout was more attractive even if you couldn't read half of the dials. Of course there is now so much more information available and on display so perhaps an honourable draw would be fair.
As you guys will know part of the sales patter is to go through all the controls, but to be frank you would need to have phenomenal memory to absorb every last sub menu at first acquaintance and I much prefer to use a combination of experiment and handbook. PCM3 is very much more capable than earlier versions but I like neither the graphics nor the touch screen which now shows finger marks in certain lights. But then I prefer Wordperfect 5.1 for DOS with its Reveal Codes so guess I have been left behind by the Playstation generation. There again the ipod and phone sync'd easily and I would never have got my wind up gramaphone in the storage bin where the ipod goes.
Finally I was ready to go, the sales guy shook my hand and got out. After a moments quiet reflection I turned the key, fired it up, selected D and eased out of the showroom. Always a special moment.
I'm not familiar with the area around the showroom so was reliant on sat nav for guidance. As a concession I allowed the woman to speak as this was our first trip together but it won't be long before she is silenced. Nevertheless she and I got ourselves out through a sequence of turns and roundabouts and were soon heading out of town. I had been concentrating on where we were going but suddenly realised I hadn't noticed any gear changes, which was odd because we were in 7th. PDK is an amazing system. OK it may have the odd foible but it's sheer capability is breathtaking. I was in love with it after 3 miles (and still feel the same after 300!). Manual waste of time...Clive you are so right!
The traffic eased somewhat and I gave the throttle a little squeeze. Nothing too serious you understand but enough to wake the boost gauge from it's slumbers. I had to smile. The shove is linear relentless and addictive. Whereas dialing up boost on the 930 was best done with plenty of notice, now to all intents and purposes there is no lag just a wall of torque catapulting you forward instantly. And the exhaust note? Well somewhere between Gen 1 and GT2 I would say but, as you might expect, nothing like the GT3 let alone the 430. In fairness I have not given it full beans nor will I for a few hundred miles yet. They may say the engines don't need running in these days but I am far too old to listen to that sort of talk.
At any sort of sane road speed the handling seemed to me to be utterly neutral, planted and assured. I have a trip to the Porsche track at Silverstone coming up so no doubt will be shown what it can really do, but all I know is that I have the utmost confidence in its ability to exceed my ability in all road conditions.
And when you need to slow down the PCCB are beyond superb. They have an exquisite modulation that delivers exactly the retardation you thought you wanted, almost telepathic. They are without doubt the best brakes I have ever used on a road car.
OK it's only two days in but so far I am absolutely delighted. It is a good step on from the Gen 1 and as an all round package it is very hard to find anything meaningful to fault it on.
I'm one happy chappy
Nick
] I'm coming to this car from a different direction to Nick being very familiar with PDK but not "blown" Porsches.
