Hi again,
My car finally arrived yesterday and I've driven it for a couple of hundred miles (partly business, partly 'coz it was the best way to spend a couple of hours)!! Hope you don't mind, but here are my first impressions of 997S. Now it's outside my house, I'm just starting to take in how different the shape is from the 996. So subtle, yet so noticeable once you start to look closely. 997 is a really good looking car! But OMG what a difference otherwise! The shape's similar but EVERYTHING else is a different car!
Good points: Punchier, far more 'planted', handling (awesome) build quality from a different millennium, looks (yeah, I know, it's very subjective) interior. Bad points: sounds like a hoover, gearbox is appalling compared to the 'click, clack' rifle-bolt, ultra-positive 996 'box. This 'box feels like any Jap import - yuk! Clutch - VERY heavy (probably needs replacing so I'll report back). This car also lacks that wonderfully raw feeling that my old 996 had. (With PSE's, no PSM and uprated dampers , mine mightn't have been typical)!
Reaction so far? Much better all-round car (it's my daily driver) subjectively quicker (a lot of this is down to markedly shorter gearing though) much better around the twisty stuff but lacks some of the character that makes a 911 drive 'to-die-for' and that my loud and fidgety (but slower and old-fashioned by comparison) 996 provided in spades! (I actually miss my 996 in some ways)!!
I'm now looking at the various sports exhaust options, in particular Europipe and AWE. I think that once 'tweaked' to remove the politically-correct, Euro-compromises forced on the factory spec, this will very easily be the best 911 I've owned.
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