Today I went with one of my neighbors at OPC Reading to see the new 991 Porsche first hand. His brother in the US is waiting for a delivery of his 991 so both of us were curious and eager to go and see the cars and compare them and see if it will tick the boxes so as to start thinking of a change over
Despite the weather been terrible we still went ahead
At OPC Reading they have a number of them on the showroom all of then 911C2S with no 911C2 to be seen anywhere. We had a good look both inside and outside and that was helped by the fact that a GTS 997 with the same color combination was next to one of them so comparisons were easier
Externally the car as we know its bigger than the 997 and you can immediately tell . Also the edge of the doors or where the window starts look higher. And of course the back looks different. The overall shape gave me the impression of moving slightly away from the classic shape in a sense what the 996 did 15 years or so ago. The front lights are interesting. Although the glass from far looks similar to the 997 when you look at it is more curvy and I believe that is to do with aerodynamics.
Overall I would stay the car looks fantastic but still need to digest its looks compared with the 997 that has more classic look (Hope I am not biased here )
Internally the car look much more modern and I can see items that came from the Panamera as well some of the things we saw in the Gen2 cars. The one obvious thing that is missing is the parking brake which is now electromechanical and looks like identical to the ones on the Mercs and VWs (reminded me the one I saw on my brothers VW Passat) The centre console is much higher than the 997 as with no Hand Brake there is more flexibility to play with the space. Also that area is full of buttons for all the functions and extras you want on the car.
Saying that I could not fault that approach but call me old fashion I love to see a hand brake And last but not least is more spaciour at the back than the 997. I would say it has 1-1.5" more leg room for the rear passengers/kids at the same driving position like the 997
After our self tour and a nice cappuccino we spoke with one of the Sales Guys and started having a more General discussion around what is popular and what is not. It was interesting to hear that most if not all the cars so far have been with the PDK. He said that he personally has not sold a manual yet and he was not sure what the other colleagues have done . Also it was interesting to hear that so far the balance between 911C2 and 911C2s in terms of sales is more even than in the 997 but is too early to tell
And then of course came the test drive. Craig took us initially out on a 911C2s PDK with a number of extras (Electric seats, Sunroof, cruse control etc) including Sport and SportPlus which is the one that was the most interesting from my point of view. He demonstrated both the performance and the handling of the car and that was impressive as all the roads were extremely wet and greasy.
I was really impressed how the car was handling in those conditions and so big improvement compare with the 997. Also it was obvious that without the Sport or SportPlus on the gear change was just about ok or even a bit lazy but with Sports on all 400 horses are awake and kicking. The right also felt smother compare with my 997 with the PASM but that might be related to the tyre pressure on the tyres which in my opinion was low i.e 29 front and 38 rear (I run 34 front and 40 rear)
After few minutes it was my tern to drive it. My initial thoughts were confirmed around the handling and the performance with the Sports mode on. Also its worth noting despite me been a manual car person I was very happy with the PDK and it was doing all the work better than I could do in the manual. Also its worth mentioning that the PDK is much better than the earlier ones that I drove either on a boxter S or 997 Gen2. It looks like the got the software algorithm right this time
Now everything was fantastic and the car as I said looked much more well balanced than the 997 and that can explain the much better quoted lap times at the Ring. But there is one thing I was not comfortable with and that was the steering wheel. Yes its very responsive but does not give you any feedback of the road conditions. Even uneven B roads felt like a Motorway with smooth surface. I could not feel any difference when the road surface conditions were changing. Now would that thing put me off ? Not sure yet... I need to think about it
After the test drive finished I jumped into my car and through the B roads I headed back home . The steering wheel differences were confirmed as well as all the other positive things. By no means the handling on the 997 was bad but the 991 is in a different class. As for the cabin yes my Gen1 does not look as good as either the Gen2 or the 991 but... Now performance with the PDK... Well that I would say is the reason that might make me start planning for a change .... but..... Still not convinced ... as I need to digest the following
1. Car overall look (something that very likely I would end up liking )
2. Steering wheel feedback when driving (one of the pleasures having a sports car)
Those are might thoughts for the time
Regards
Theo
Despite the weather been terrible we still went ahead
At OPC Reading they have a number of them on the showroom all of then 911C2S with no 911C2 to be seen anywhere. We had a good look both inside and outside and that was helped by the fact that a GTS 997 with the same color combination was next to one of them so comparisons were easier
Externally the car as we know its bigger than the 997 and you can immediately tell . Also the edge of the doors or where the window starts look higher. And of course the back looks different. The overall shape gave me the impression of moving slightly away from the classic shape in a sense what the 996 did 15 years or so ago. The front lights are interesting. Although the glass from far looks similar to the 997 when you look at it is more curvy and I believe that is to do with aerodynamics.
Overall I would stay the car looks fantastic but still need to digest its looks compared with the 997 that has more classic look (Hope I am not biased here
) Internally the car look much more modern and I can see items that came from the Panamera as well some of the things we saw in the Gen2 cars. The one obvious thing that is missing is the parking brake which is now electromechanical and looks like identical to the ones on the Mercs and VWs (reminded me the one I saw on my brothers VW Passat) The centre console is much higher than the 997 as with no Hand Brake there is more flexibility to play with the space. Also that area is full of buttons for all the functions and extras you want on the car.
Saying that I could not fault that approach but call me old fashion I love to see a hand brake
And last but not least is more spaciour at the back than the 997. I would say it has 1-1.5" more leg room for the rear passengers/kids at the same driving position like the 997After our self tour and a nice cappuccino we spoke with one of the Sales Guys and started having a more General discussion around what is popular and what is not. It was interesting to hear that most if not all the cars so far have been with the PDK. He said that he personally has not sold a manual yet and he was not sure what the other colleagues have done . Also it was interesting to hear that so far the balance between 911C2 and 911C2s in terms of sales is more even than in the 997 but is too early to tell
And then of course came the test drive. Craig took us initially out on a 911C2s PDK with a number of extras (Electric seats, Sunroof, cruse control etc) including Sport and SportPlus which is the one that was the most interesting from my point of view. He demonstrated both the performance and the handling of the car and that was impressive as all the roads were extremely wet and greasy.
I was really impressed how the car was handling in those conditions and so big improvement compare with the 997. Also it was obvious that without the Sport or SportPlus on the gear change was just about ok or even a bit lazy but with Sports on all 400 horses are awake and kicking. The right also felt smother compare with my 997 with the PASM but that might be related to the tyre pressure on the tyres which in my opinion was low i.e 29 front and 38 rear (I run 34 front and 40 rear)
After few minutes it was my tern to drive it. My initial thoughts were confirmed around the handling and the performance with the Sports mode on. Also its worth noting despite me been a manual car person I was very happy with the PDK and it was doing all the work better than I could do in the manual. Also its worth mentioning that the PDK is much better than the earlier ones that I drove either on a boxter S or 997 Gen2. It looks like the got the software algorithm right this time
Now everything was fantastic and the car as I said looked much more well balanced than the 997 and that can explain the much better quoted lap times at the Ring. But there is one thing I was not comfortable with and that was the steering wheel. Yes its very responsive but does not give you any feedback of the road conditions. Even uneven B roads felt like a Motorway with smooth surface. I could not feel any difference when the road surface conditions were changing. Now would that thing put me off ? Not sure yet... I need to think about it
After the test drive finished I jumped into my car and through the B roads I headed back home . The steering wheel differences were confirmed as well as all the other positive things. By no means the handling on the 997 was bad but the 991 is in a different class. As for the cabin yes my Gen1 does not look as good as either the Gen2 or the 991 but... Now performance with the PDK... Well that I would say is the reason that might make me start planning for a change .... but..... Still not convinced ... as I need to digest the following
1. Car overall look (something that very likely I would end up liking )
2. Steering wheel feedback when driving (one of the pleasures having a sports car)
Those are might thoughts for the time
Regards
Theo
