Senna
New member
Absolutely incredible!
My current car is a 997 Gen 2 PDK bought new in March 2009 (currently 18k miles).
On Monday just gone, my car went in for its first MOT, warranty purchase110 point check and a re-call (fuel pump).
The 991S wasn't quite ready as apparently it picked up a couple of punctures over the weekend and they were awaiting tyres to be delivered and fitted. To save me hanging around, I was given a 61 plate 997 Turbo PDK for half a day which was virtually brand new with some 1,700 miles on the clock. Very impressive, with immense performance from what seemed like a nuclear reactor where the flat 6 was normally kept
Took the Black Turbo back (or Darth Vader as I now started calling it) and picked up the 991S PDK.
First thing to notice is that the car in the flesh is absolutely gorgeous. Sheer class! Pictures do not do it justice. The lines of the car are now right up to date and how Porsche has done this without spoiling the iconic looks of the car is beyond me. The car also 'looks' quite a bit bigger. And though it is a little bigger, I suspect its the 4" extra wheelbase length and the re-styling that is playing tricks with the eyes. 10 out of 10 for looks IMO.
The lust continues inside the car.
IMO the 997's cabin was the first 911 cabin worthy of the cars price bracket. Given that a new 991S is now knocking on the door of £100k on the road, Porsche had to up their game big time here. And they have. The cabin now oozes class, and I have to say everything about the interior is exquisite and is an appropriate level to the cars price tag. Another 10/10
Performance, handling, ride and overall driving experience.
I'm really annoyed at my dealer. Why oh why did they give me this car? (actually I think I may know this already).
On paper this car doesn't seem much quicker, however once in the driving seat that view changes completely. The car feels much quicker and the whole drive-train seems to be operating more coherently. The PDK gear changes are much more seamless than mine (in normal and sport modes) without a hint of a jolt or gap. The ride is more comfortable with far less road noise and vibration coming through into the cabin. The car also feels more planted especially at the front end.
I must confess to not knowing a huge amount about the 991's new features before hand so a few things caught me by surprise.
First thing happened when I was doing a steady 70 mph down the A10 one evening. The car was moving along in 7th, I took my foot of the accelerator pedal and suddenly the rev counter needle dropped to the floor. WHAT? Basically the car took itself out of gear and was coasting to save fuel. So instead of doing the usual 1800-2000 rpm at 70mph, you are now doing 750 rpm at 70mph and not slowing down as much during lift-off either (so that's around 50-60 mpg for quite a while........gulp). Touch the accelerator even very slightly and hey presto its seamlessly back in gear. Touch the brake and again its back in gear. Touch the brake a little harder when in coasting mode and rather than go back into 7th it will go into whichever gear is appropriate including 6th, 5th or 4th. I tried several times to trip it up and couldn't. It's witchcraft!
Going round a pretty quick but fast bend I lift off and it doesn't go into coasting mode (very clever).
Back to a straightish high speed road and coasting mode goes into action again. The whole thing is flawless and annoyingly brilliant []
Ok here's some red lights. I stop, the engine stalls. WHAT?
Quick flashback to my Panamera test drive of last year and I realized this 'stalling' was intentional as the engine is basically switched off when the car is standing still (from memory this feature can be switched off).
OK so I now touch the accelerator pedal very lightly and hey presto the car is up and running. Let me explain about this process. When I first heard about this new 'driving mode' I was horrified and thought I would never engage it if I had the choice to switch the dam thing off. How wrong I was. This feature actually works very well on this car. First off the re-start is instant. Almost similar to how you wake your PC when it's in sleep mode. Somehow it doesn't seem like the starter motor is whizzing around endlessly for what seems like an eternity before the car starts. Touch the gas and it's just whoooooshe. Its like hitting the ground running because the car is already in gear so touch the gas pedal and it starts and goes all in one go...instantly!
You've got to experience this to understand and appreciate it.
Now lets try sports mode. What? It's actually remembering to change gear in sports mode unlike my car which no matter how lightly my foot is placed on the gas, wants to do 3500-4000 revs before it changes up. Pointless given the fact I want to keep to below 30mph in my area before I hit faster roads even though I would prefer the sharpened throttle response sports mode brings to the table.
I've always said sports mode is poor on the 997 Gen 2 PDK and we needed an in-between mode from Sports mode to the normal D mode (or driving miss daisy mode as I like to call it). What Porsche have done here is given us an intelligent sports mode. Most like the increased throttle response of sports mode so I'm glad we have it again but this time around the programming is now far smarter. Go easy on the gas pedal and the car changes gear at 2k rpm or less. If you need to move along a little it will hold onto the gear a tiny bit more. A little more gas and more revs per gear. You get the picture. The whole experience is infinitely better than my current cars dumb offering. Oh and did I mention the annoying exhaust note?
It's only annoying because I don't have it on my car
I have an OEM sports exhaust on my car and whilst it sounds better than the standard exhaust system its always sounded a little on the metallic side rather than throaty roar this beast has.
In sport mode above around 3k revs I thought I was morphing into Steve McQueen because I could swear I was listening to the sound track of Bullitt. The engine note sounds absolutely glorious with a wonderful crackle on the overrun. Holy crap I'm in love.
Move into manual mode in sports and the up shifts/down-shifts are instant and seamless. Unlike my car where you can definitely hear and feel some mechanical jolts here and there.
Down-shifts in particular are a joy as the engine briefly blips to raise the revs (so the car is basically doing a heel and toe for you too). The whole experience is just wonderful.
Another 10/10 for all of the above.
To sum up.
I've been trying to convince myself for months that the 991 isn't that much better than my current car. Think about it, it has more or less the same DFI engine and PDK box as my own car. Not forgetting it would cost a shed load of money for me to change. What's the point?
Well, the point is the 991 (certainly the S version with PDK) is worth every penny. In my humble opinion its a huge leap. If you can afford one, don't even look back, just go for it. If you can't afford one. Find some money from somewhere, take 2 jobs, work 20 hours a day and just buy one. Don't bother sleeping, it's overrated. The 4 hours you'll have with it will be well worth it.
Any negatives?
A couple.
There's been a lot of talk about the new 'electric steering'. I've been driving for over 35 years, I've had 3 years with my Gen II 997 PDK and a few days with the 991 so I reckon I'm qualified enough to comment. From my two days with the 991 I can honestly say there is definitely a 'very slight' detachment now to steering feel when compared to the reference/yardstick that was the previous car. However, if you were to score the 997 at 100 points for its amazing steering feel, I'd give the 991.......95 points. What I'm saying is that the 991 is still infinitely better than 99% of the cars on the road................I reckon I can live with that
My last comment is to do with aesthetics. IMO there are way too many graphics on the back of the car which now looks a little on the messy side.
Is this for the benefit of dumb people who don't know that a Carrera. is Porsche and a 911 is a Carrera? Surely if the joe six pack hasn't sussed this out after 40 odd years why bother trying to educate him now and spoil the finishing touches on these lovely cars. Without the graphics the car looks sparse on the back, with 17 digits stuck to the back, it looks like my 6 year old has gone on the rampage with his magnetic alphabets on our fridge .
Other than that. I'm going to keep dreaming about this car until a) I surrender, sell my children and buy one , or b) I go to a hypnotist and have the whole experience erased from my memory.
Thanks for reading.
Eric
My current car is a 997 Gen 2 PDK bought new in March 2009 (currently 18k miles).
On Monday just gone, my car went in for its first MOT, warranty purchase110 point check and a re-call (fuel pump).
The 991S wasn't quite ready as apparently it picked up a couple of punctures over the weekend and they were awaiting tyres to be delivered and fitted. To save me hanging around, I was given a 61 plate 997 Turbo PDK for half a day which was virtually brand new with some 1,700 miles on the clock. Very impressive, with immense performance from what seemed like a nuclear reactor where the flat 6 was normally kept
Took the Black Turbo back (or Darth Vader as I now started calling it) and picked up the 991S PDK.
First thing to notice is that the car in the flesh is absolutely gorgeous. Sheer class! Pictures do not do it justice. The lines of the car are now right up to date and how Porsche has done this without spoiling the iconic looks of the car is beyond me. The car also 'looks' quite a bit bigger. And though it is a little bigger, I suspect its the 4" extra wheelbase length and the re-styling that is playing tricks with the eyes. 10 out of 10 for looks IMO.
The lust continues inside the car.
IMO the 997's cabin was the first 911 cabin worthy of the cars price bracket. Given that a new 991S is now knocking on the door of £100k on the road, Porsche had to up their game big time here. And they have. The cabin now oozes class, and I have to say everything about the interior is exquisite and is an appropriate level to the cars price tag. Another 10/10
Performance, handling, ride and overall driving experience.
I'm really annoyed at my dealer. Why oh why did they give me this car? (actually I think I may know this already).
On paper this car doesn't seem much quicker, however once in the driving seat that view changes completely. The car feels much quicker and the whole drive-train seems to be operating more coherently. The PDK gear changes are much more seamless than mine (in normal and sport modes) without a hint of a jolt or gap. The ride is more comfortable with far less road noise and vibration coming through into the cabin. The car also feels more planted especially at the front end.
I must confess to not knowing a huge amount about the 991's new features before hand so a few things caught me by surprise.
First thing happened when I was doing a steady 70 mph down the A10 one evening. The car was moving along in 7th, I took my foot of the accelerator pedal and suddenly the rev counter needle dropped to the floor. WHAT? Basically the car took itself out of gear and was coasting to save fuel. So instead of doing the usual 1800-2000 rpm at 70mph, you are now doing 750 rpm at 70mph and not slowing down as much during lift-off either (so that's around 50-60 mpg for quite a while........gulp). Touch the accelerator even very slightly and hey presto its seamlessly back in gear. Touch the brake and again its back in gear. Touch the brake a little harder when in coasting mode and rather than go back into 7th it will go into whichever gear is appropriate including 6th, 5th or 4th. I tried several times to trip it up and couldn't. It's witchcraft!
Going round a pretty quick but fast bend I lift off and it doesn't go into coasting mode (very clever).
Back to a straightish high speed road and coasting mode goes into action again. The whole thing is flawless and annoyingly brilliant [
]Ok here's some red lights. I stop, the engine stalls. WHAT?
Quick flashback to my Panamera test drive of last year and I realized this 'stalling' was intentional as the engine is basically switched off when the car is standing still (from memory this feature can be switched off).
OK so I now touch the accelerator pedal very lightly and hey presto the car is up and running. Let me explain about this process. When I first heard about this new 'driving mode' I was horrified and thought I would never engage it if I had the choice to switch the dam thing off. How wrong I was. This feature actually works very well on this car. First off the re-start is instant. Almost similar to how you wake your PC when it's in sleep mode. Somehow it doesn't seem like the starter motor is whizzing around endlessly for what seems like an eternity before the car starts. Touch the gas and it's just whoooooshe. Its like hitting the ground running because the car is already in gear so touch the gas pedal and it starts and goes all in one go...instantly!
You've got to experience this to understand and appreciate it.
Now lets try sports mode. What? It's actually remembering to change gear in sports mode unlike my car which no matter how lightly my foot is placed on the gas, wants to do 3500-4000 revs before it changes up. Pointless given the fact I want to keep to below 30mph in my area before I hit faster roads even though I would prefer the sharpened throttle response sports mode brings to the table.
I've always said sports mode is poor on the 997 Gen 2 PDK and we needed an in-between mode from Sports mode to the normal D mode (or driving miss daisy mode as I like to call it). What Porsche have done here is given us an intelligent sports mode. Most like the increased throttle response of sports mode so I'm glad we have it again but this time around the programming is now far smarter. Go easy on the gas pedal and the car changes gear at 2k rpm or less. If you need to move along a little it will hold onto the gear a tiny bit more. A little more gas and more revs per gear. You get the picture. The whole experience is infinitely better than my current cars dumb offering. Oh and did I mention the annoying exhaust note?
It's only annoying because I don't have it on my car
I have an OEM sports exhaust on my car and whilst it sounds better than the standard exhaust system its always sounded a little on the metallic side rather than throaty roar this beast has.
In sport mode above around 3k revs I thought I was morphing into Steve McQueen because I could swear I was listening to the sound track of Bullitt. The engine note sounds absolutely glorious with a wonderful crackle on the overrun. Holy crap I'm in love.
Move into manual mode in sports and the up shifts/down-shifts are instant and seamless. Unlike my car where you can definitely hear and feel some mechanical jolts here and there.
Down-shifts in particular are a joy as the engine briefly blips to raise the revs (so the car is basically doing a heel and toe for you too). The whole experience is just wonderful.
Another 10/10 for all of the above.
To sum up.
I've been trying to convince myself for months that the 991 isn't that much better than my current car. Think about it, it has more or less the same DFI engine and PDK box as my own car. Not forgetting it would cost a shed load of money for me to change. What's the point?
Well, the point is the 991 (certainly the S version with PDK) is worth every penny. In my humble opinion its a huge leap. If you can afford one, don't even look back, just go for it. If you can't afford one. Find some money from somewhere, take 2 jobs, work 20 hours a day and just buy one. Don't bother sleeping, it's overrated. The 4 hours you'll have with it will be well worth it.
Any negatives?
A couple.
There's been a lot of talk about the new 'electric steering'. I've been driving for over 35 years, I've had 3 years with my Gen II 997 PDK and a few days with the 991 so I reckon I'm qualified enough to comment. From my two days with the 991 I can honestly say there is definitely a 'very slight' detachment now to steering feel when compared to the reference/yardstick that was the previous car. However, if you were to score the 997 at 100 points for its amazing steering feel, I'd give the 991.......95 points. What I'm saying is that the 991 is still infinitely better than 99% of the cars on the road................I reckon I can live with that
My last comment is to do with aesthetics. IMO there are way too many graphics on the back of the car which now looks a little on the messy side.
Is this for the benefit of dumb people who don't know that a Carrera. is Porsche and a 911 is a Carrera? Surely if the joe six pack hasn't sussed this out after 40 odd years why bother trying to educate him now and spoil the finishing touches on these lovely cars. Without the graphics the car looks sparse on the back, with 17 digits stuck to the back, it looks like my 6 year old has gone on the rampage with his magnetic alphabets on our fridge .
Other than that. I'm going to keep dreaming about this car until a) I surrender, sell my children and buy one , or b) I go to a hypnotist and have the whole experience erased from my memory.
Thanks for reading.
Eric
