First Impressions

[pwebb]

ORIGINAL: mnk303
If you like 911 cars you will always like this car, for me I am sad that the price is pushing the car into a different arena, Porsche now will compete harder as it hits the Italian cars head on.

Bottom line is IMO is people will not want to pay £,0000's more for a car that "looks" the same, we all want for people to go wow there is the new Porsche ...........will joe public? From where I am standing the answer will be no. After all if i have just lost £30-50k on my 997 and then spent £90k on a 991 I would like to feel it looks different, when the two are side maybe, but how often will that happen in real life?

After all people first buy with the heart you have to get in drive it to buy with a brain, some won't bother! There is many a new car is brought with the heart look at the Ferrari 512 crap drivers cars but sold well.

With a similar spec, the outgoing 997 C2s was about £3k less than the new car. The Gen 1 to Gen 2 997 meant a similar depreciation gap to trade up (I remember it well []) but the blow was softened slightly as VAT was at 15% briefly... As for Joe Public, most can't tell a 993 from a 996 from a 997 let alone the dozens of variants.... I think when they are on the road the differences will become more apparent with familiarity.

I'm not sure which Italian car the C2 and C2S will compete with head on, certainly not the Fezza, the Italia is double the price!

Personally, apart from the much heralded changes to steering, pdk, etc the good news for me is the reduction in tyre roar which I've substituted with a sports exhaust []

 

[mnk303]

[/quote]

I'm not sure which Italian car the C2 and C2S will compete with head on, certainly not the Fezza, the Italia is double the price!
[/quote]

I think it compares well with a Maserati or maybe even an Aston V8.

I think from memory the Ferrari California is £143K so about the same I guess as the new Turbo will be .

In time I am sure the sales are there for the 991's, but the price is pushing higher all the time which may mean "if" other makers hold their price then you may find Porsche has a bit more competition.

 

[pwebb]

nothing wrong with a bit of competition - I looked at the R8 and Vantage but a few things tip the balance in favour of the 911 for me.

 

[chrismouzou]

IMO thought interior similar to cayenne under front bonnet plastic looked cheap and massed produced liked exterior lights-new cab with extras over 100k[:-]

 

[Melv]

ORIGINAL: chrismouzou

IMO thought interior similar to cayenne under front bonnet plastic looked cheap and massed produced liked exterior lights-new cab with extras over 100k[:-]

ORIGINAL: chrismouzou

......under front bonnet plastic looked cheap and massed produced.....

Mrs Melv pointed that out to me!

And as for the open sunroof........aaaargh!

 

[shorthouse]

Mrs Melv pointed that out to me!

And as for the open sunroof........aaaargh!

I agree, it looks like its about to fall off!
It was explained to me that they have made it as wide as possible, which prevents it from recessing inside the car, the downside being it doesn't fully open either, so you end up with a narrow'letterbox' opening.
I'm sure they'll change it with v 991.1 ... Otherwise it looks great.

PS Admin edited quotes for easier reading!

 

[m.brace]

Too big and too expensive. The depreciation on a well-specified "S" will be crippling. Am sticking with my GT3 .

 

[pwebb]

I know the new car is 56mm longer than the 997 but it's the same width as the previous C2S and 40mm narrower than the C4 or Turbo and 7mm lower than the previous C2S. I'm sure depreciation will be crippling, that's a given. Even new GT3s dropped in value pretty hard. But then I'm still trying to justify my own purchase []

 

[mnk303]

ORIGINAL: pwebb

I know the new car is 56mm longer than the 997 but it's the same width as the previous C2S and 40mm narrower than the C4 or Turbo and 7mm lower than the previous C2S. I'm sure depreciation will be crippling, that's a given. Even new GT3s dropped in value pretty hard. But then I'm still trying to justify my own purchase []

Peter I can never justify a car purchase, but I know just how you are thinking, I often feel really guilty spending so much, that's why after so many cars I am trying very hard to stick with what I have now, I am just hoping that my RS might be worth keeping as it a bit rarer than the normal Porsches as its limited, but I have a feeling I would need to keep it for at least 10-15 years to see the depreciation bottom out.

A Local Indy dealer said to me a new car is always best on the first day and the last .........

 

[tscaptain]

Wind the clock back 6-7 years and I wouldn't mind betting very similar conversations were happening at the time of the 997 launch! I can justify a car purchase Martin. It gives me great pleasure, especially when discovering the delights of places like N Wales with the register, and I'm lucky to be sat behind the wheel of such a splendid beast. I just accept that I will lose loads of money by owning it - just like all the cars before it. It's not a business deal - it's one of life's pleasures that we are fortunate to be able to enjoy and I'm making the most of it while I still can![]

 

[mnk303]

ORIGINAL: tscaptain

Wind the clock back 6-7 years and I wouldn't mind betting very similar conversations were happening at the time of the 997 launch!  I can justify a car purchase Martin.  It gives me great pleasure, especially when discovering the delights of places like N Wales with the register, and I'm lucky to be sat behind the wheel of such a splendid beast.  I just accept that I will lose loads of money by owning it - just like all the cars before it.  It's not a business deal - it's one of life's pleasures that we are fortunate to be able to enjoy and I'm making the most of it while I still can![]

I agree Peter, Just after losing approx 300K on cars in the last 10 years alone, I need to be a good boy

Cant say how long that will last though[]

 

[garyw]

ORIGINAL: m.brace

Too big and too expensive. The depreciation on a well-specified "S" will be crippling. Am sticking with my GT3 .

Goes round the ring as quick as a GT3 in base form []

 

[garyw]

I went to the midlands launch tonight, my first impressions were..

The Champagne was spot on
The Cranberry juice was a bit bitter for my liking.
The Quaile egg and something? were amazing.
The Pumpkin was tender and worked well with the other bits..
The duck and potato with the apple sauce was something to behold and almost made the trip worthwhile on its own... []

garyw

oh! and the model was a nice gift....

 

[Dylan1]

"The Quaile egg and something? were amazing.
The Pumpkin was tender and worked well with the other bits..
The duck and potato with the apple sauce was ......"

absolutely ,gary.

linda was a bit surprised when i got home and said i wasnt feeling too hungry[]

 

[unclewinks]

Tanya was given the model without me knowing
She then was going to wrap it as a present for christmas
To Paul merry christmas( this was sooo hard to find) hmmm[]

 

[Andy Rodgett]

I can only agree with previous comments on the launch at Bristol - an excellent evening.
Took the opportunity to speak with one of the service technicians who confirmed how fundamentally different it is under the skin except for the PDk gearbox. The chassis construction being aluminium glued (and ? rivetted) will be interesting to repair as the bigger the impact will be proportionately greater to repair.
The much discussed sunroof affects the spoiler position which has two angles of attack for spoiler open and closed. The roof can be opened to 90mph ( I think) and closed from top speed but may affect the wax in your ears...
Most people placing orders seem to be bottling out at £96K.

Andy

 

[garyw]

My wife and myself both really liked the sunroof in the tilted position, maybe not so in the back position.
I noticed that it did look to give more headroom when closed than on the 997(not that it bothers me [])

The bulbous headlamps looked so but they do follow the front wing lines nicely..
Interior the mrs liked, mind you she very much liked the KN for the short shuttle trip...

I actually liked the rear lines more so in the flesh and liked the sharp lines on top by the spoiler in contrast to the curves of its haunches.
Overall liked the car more than expected but the drive wil be the important bit...
I mentioned the prices to my wife who looked gob-smacked at the cooking models being so pricey.. with the cost of these I wonder just where they will price the new Turbo model?? maybe a bit too close to other 'interesting' brands [&:]

As always with Porsche, a well exucuted and corporate evening... I only knew a few people there and the majority were in suits [&:]
Salesman didn't even say hi when I looked at him, maybe he was miffed I didn't buy the S after all??? or he knew my passion for forced induction or Vpower...

garyw

 

[kasspa]

ORIGINAL: garyw

I went to the midlands launch tonight, my first impressions were..

The Champagne was spot on
The Cranberry juice was a bit bitter for my liking.
The Quaile egg and something? were amazing.
The Pumpkin was tender and worked well with the other bits..
The duck and potato with the apple sauce was something to behold and almost made the trip worthwhile on its own... []

garyw

oh! and the model was a nice gift....

Gary, sounds like you had the same caterers as we had at Cambridge..... trouble was I'd had a large bowl of stew before leaving home[].....

 

[bobfair]

Those of you considering a more GT car may be interested to know that Bentley launched the price of their new V8 today. A hardtop GT V8 is £123,850 and a soft top GTC V8 is £136,250. Of course you can push the price up with extras spending £16k on a paint job if you want to. But it looks like you could put a GTC V8 on the road with good spec for less than £145k. Less sporty than a Porsche but possibly an interesting alternative given the high prices Porsche will be charging for the new Turbo

 

[vitesse]

Well they also travelled up to Chester for tonights launch oop here! Food was very good-champagne excellent,as was the ginger beer (had to drive home to Freshfield so swapped drinks early on).The cars are quite clearly much longer with a profile more matching the Aston mould than before-I would love to have one but being a hardnosed northerner ,i couldn't justify the cost of depreciation.best of luck to those of you who have ordered one ,however.
Also liked the free model gift!