Hi Everyone,
I have been reading the froum for a while to get some advice and have joined now that I am ready to order a 991 cabriolet.
If I can fill people in on my situation hopefully you will have some helpful tips for me.
We currently have a family car, BMW X5, and I am looking for a weekend/fun car. I will probably drive it around 1-2,000 miles year.
At the moment, I am assuming that I will pretty much keep the car indefinitely after I buy it.
I have a wife and 5 year old daughter and the availability of small rear seats in the 991 is a big factor in choosing the car. I work away from home during the week and want to be able to enjoy the car with all of my family when I am at home.
I have test driven a Carrera S Cabriolet at my local dealer and was extremely impressed. Having never had a sports car before I have little basis for comparison. Obviously its quite different to my 4x4. Unexpectedly the ride was probably as good as my X5. I know that it is not for everyone, but the higher level of comfort and refinement in the new 991 is one of the major reasons I would now like to buy one.
I would never take the car on a track and whilst I do like to press on when driving, I do not like to drive excessively fast or throw the car around.
For me I think I am really interested in the overall experience of the car if I can explain it that way.
I do not want to over spec the car and am a little wary of having an excessive number of electrical gadgets for long term reliability.
The main questions for me are -
1. C2 or C4?
I know this generates a lot of debate. I have never had a rear wheel drive car and am somehwat used to driving a car where you can be quite brutal with the accelerator and not have to worry too much about it. I live in Edinburgh and while I won't need to drive in snow, it rains too much to think I would only ever drive in the dry.
It had just stopped raining when I drove the C2S and I was quite gentle with it. I tried one maximum throttle opening where I thought it was safe on a straight slip road and was quite shocked that it spun the wheels at around 40mph. Clearly I'd have to worry less about this in a C4, but on the other hand perhaps it is not a bad idea to be encouraged to be more gentle with the throttle.
2. 3.4 or 3.8S?
It seems that the 3.4 is more than fast enough. I have always felt that as I have had more powerful cars over the years that they lose some of the fun of wringing the power out of the car as they are going dangerously fast when you do this.
I can't see why but is there any reason I should be thinking of the S.
3. PASM or standard suspension?
The salesguy was quite happy to say that there was no need for most options. He however, did seem to be more of a fan of PASM. As I would be unlikely to drive the car aggressively enough to require the suspension to be in sport mode would I notice a difference in general driving?
4. 19 or 20 inch wheels?
19 seem fine and would likely result in a better ride. Almost all cars seem to be on the 20s. They may look a little nicer but I doubt I would really notice the difference.
5. Sports or standard exhaust?
One of the joys of these cars is the engine sound. It is perhaps a little muted in the 991, at least from the inside.
The demonstrator had the sports exhaust, I switched it off and on a few times and the difference did not seem that great, certainly not for £2000. Am I missing something, also am I right in thinking it sometimes has reliability issues?
6. If I plan to keep a car for 10+ years, is there a paint colour that ages better?
I am leaning to Aqua Blue, Platinum Silver or White
As an aside after having a black car, I have decided that they show surface scratches way too easily and thus show their age.
Other than this the spec I am looking at is-
PDK
Standard seats
Agate grey/pebble grey interior
Park assist
Garage door opener
Cruise control
Light Design
Heated Seats
Aluminium interior
Mobile phone prep
Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks
Alistair
I have been reading the froum for a while to get some advice and have joined now that I am ready to order a 991 cabriolet.
If I can fill people in on my situation hopefully you will have some helpful tips for me.
We currently have a family car, BMW X5, and I am looking for a weekend/fun car. I will probably drive it around 1-2,000 miles year.
At the moment, I am assuming that I will pretty much keep the car indefinitely after I buy it.
I have a wife and 5 year old daughter and the availability of small rear seats in the 991 is a big factor in choosing the car. I work away from home during the week and want to be able to enjoy the car with all of my family when I am at home.
I have test driven a Carrera S Cabriolet at my local dealer and was extremely impressed. Having never had a sports car before I have little basis for comparison. Obviously its quite different to my 4x4. Unexpectedly the ride was probably as good as my X5. I know that it is not for everyone, but the higher level of comfort and refinement in the new 991 is one of the major reasons I would now like to buy one.
I would never take the car on a track and whilst I do like to press on when driving, I do not like to drive excessively fast or throw the car around.
For me I think I am really interested in the overall experience of the car if I can explain it that way.
I do not want to over spec the car and am a little wary of having an excessive number of electrical gadgets for long term reliability.
The main questions for me are -
1. C2 or C4?
I know this generates a lot of debate. I have never had a rear wheel drive car and am somehwat used to driving a car where you can be quite brutal with the accelerator and not have to worry too much about it. I live in Edinburgh and while I won't need to drive in snow, it rains too much to think I would only ever drive in the dry.
It had just stopped raining when I drove the C2S and I was quite gentle with it. I tried one maximum throttle opening where I thought it was safe on a straight slip road and was quite shocked that it spun the wheels at around 40mph. Clearly I'd have to worry less about this in a C4, but on the other hand perhaps it is not a bad idea to be encouraged to be more gentle with the throttle.
2. 3.4 or 3.8S?
It seems that the 3.4 is more than fast enough. I have always felt that as I have had more powerful cars over the years that they lose some of the fun of wringing the power out of the car as they are going dangerously fast when you do this.
I can't see why but is there any reason I should be thinking of the S.
3. PASM or standard suspension?
The salesguy was quite happy to say that there was no need for most options. He however, did seem to be more of a fan of PASM. As I would be unlikely to drive the car aggressively enough to require the suspension to be in sport mode would I notice a difference in general driving?
4. 19 or 20 inch wheels?
19 seem fine and would likely result in a better ride. Almost all cars seem to be on the 20s. They may look a little nicer but I doubt I would really notice the difference.
5. Sports or standard exhaust?
One of the joys of these cars is the engine sound. It is perhaps a little muted in the 991, at least from the inside.
The demonstrator had the sports exhaust, I switched it off and on a few times and the difference did not seem that great, certainly not for £2000. Am I missing something, also am I right in thinking it sometimes has reliability issues?
6. If I plan to keep a car for 10+ years, is there a paint colour that ages better?
I am leaning to Aqua Blue, Platinum Silver or White
As an aside after having a black car, I have decided that they show surface scratches way too easily and thus show their age.
Other than this the spec I am looking at is-
PDK
Standard seats
Agate grey/pebble grey interior
Park assist
Garage door opener
Cruise control
Light Design
Heated Seats
Aluminium interior
Mobile phone prep
Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks
Alistair