sidicks
PCGB Member
My 997.1 C4S was at Mid-Sussex Porsche today for its 6 year service, and they kindly provided a 991 Carrera S in Guards Red for me to play with.
Normally my car is serviced by Tonbridge OPC (near where I live), but having had some favourable dealings with them recently I thought I'd let Mid-Sussex service take control this time around.
Unfortunately, I ended up having to undertake a significant amount of work during the day, meaning that I didn't get to drive the 991 as much as I'd hoped, but probably did 100 miles or so, so thought I'd share my initial observations:
Key observations:
Guards Red isn't my cup of tea, and I was very conscious of the wings / bonnett / mirrors being prominent in my view - I'm not sure whether this is due to the red colour or to changes to the driving position and car shape??
(I did see an Aqua Blue 991 in the showroom which looked nice, plus an Agate Grey (my original choice)).
Ride - The 991 was certainly much smoother riding than my 997 C4S and I would suspect would be a quieter and easier drive over a long distance.
Interior - I'm a big fan of the new interior - particularly the instrument binnacle with the new information screen which works really well. I didn't like the metal interior trim, and would probably choose to replace this with body coloured panels or carbon fibre.
PDK - I'm still adapting to PDK, having only used it on courtesy cars, but there is no doubt that the latest version is much improved on previous versions I've tried. Having said that, I am still learning how to get the most from it, and whereas in my manual, I am always instinctively in the right gear, this wasn't always the case with the PDK. However, I'm taking full responsibility for that, and think it would readily be resolved with some more practice. I also think that having paddles, rather than buttons, would increase the interaction and tactility with the car.
2WD v 4WD - I can't say I pushed the car hard enough to notice much difference if I'm honest - the 991 certainly felt very sharp to turn it at the front, but I'm putting that down to the wider track at the front rather than any differences between this 2WD car and the 4WD I'm used to.
Performance - Although I didn't get to drive the car that hard, I was genuinely impressed by the performance - one overtake that I thought I'd slightly mis-judged ws completed with literally hundreds of meters rather than tens of metres to spare. The car feels so much quicker than my C4S - much more so that the 45bhp would suggest. i guess the 50kg+ weight difference also helps!
Overall - very impressed. The biggest issue for me is whether the 991 is so fast that the 911 Turbo that I had pencilled in for 2014 is 'unnecessary' or even unreasonable, given the potential £40k saving.....
Thanks to Jeremy at Mid-sussex for making all the arrangements.
PS - My car needs to go back to the OPC for the RMS to be looked at, so I might get he chance to get another, longer test!
Sidicks
Normally my car is serviced by Tonbridge OPC (near where I live), but having had some favourable dealings with them recently I thought I'd let Mid-Sussex service take control this time around.
Unfortunately, I ended up having to undertake a significant amount of work during the day, meaning that I didn't get to drive the 991 as much as I'd hoped, but probably did 100 miles or so, so thought I'd share my initial observations:
Key observations:
Guards Red isn't my cup of tea, and I was very conscious of the wings / bonnett / mirrors being prominent in my view - I'm not sure whether this is due to the red colour or to changes to the driving position and car shape??
(I did see an Aqua Blue 991 in the showroom which looked nice, plus an Agate Grey (my original choice)).
Ride - The 991 was certainly much smoother riding than my 997 C4S and I would suspect would be a quieter and easier drive over a long distance.
Interior - I'm a big fan of the new interior - particularly the instrument binnacle with the new information screen which works really well. I didn't like the metal interior trim, and would probably choose to replace this with body coloured panels or carbon fibre.
PDK - I'm still adapting to PDK, having only used it on courtesy cars, but there is no doubt that the latest version is much improved on previous versions I've tried. Having said that, I am still learning how to get the most from it, and whereas in my manual, I am always instinctively in the right gear, this wasn't always the case with the PDK. However, I'm taking full responsibility for that, and think it would readily be resolved with some more practice. I also think that having paddles, rather than buttons, would increase the interaction and tactility with the car.
2WD v 4WD - I can't say I pushed the car hard enough to notice much difference if I'm honest - the 991 certainly felt very sharp to turn it at the front, but I'm putting that down to the wider track at the front rather than any differences between this 2WD car and the 4WD I'm used to.
Performance - Although I didn't get to drive the car that hard, I was genuinely impressed by the performance - one overtake that I thought I'd slightly mis-judged ws completed with literally hundreds of meters rather than tens of metres to spare. The car feels so much quicker than my C4S - much more so that the 45bhp would suggest. i guess the 50kg+ weight difference also helps!
Overall - very impressed. The biggest issue for me is whether the 991 is so fast that the 911 Turbo that I had pencilled in for 2014 is 'unnecessary' or even unreasonable, given the potential £40k saving.....
Thanks to Jeremy at Mid-sussex for making all the arrangements.
PS - My car needs to go back to the OPC for the RMS to be looked at, so I might get he chance to get another, longer test!
Sidicks
