T8
Super Moderator
- Joined
- 29 Jun 2010
- Messages
- 21,395
I had an excellent day at the Silverstone Porsche Experience Centre last week driving a 991.2S. In addition to getting some invaluable driver training nearly 2 hours in the driving seat gave me a great chance to thoroughly assess what I had thought would be my next 911 and the 150 mile drive each way in my current car proved to be a useful back-to-back comparison session.
I chose to forego the 0-60 and back to 0 opportunity that many experienced and spent extra time on the superb handling circuit, kick-plate and ice-hill. The opportunity to find how what happens to a 911 on black ice - with and without the different levels of PSM - was incredible and this bit, more than any other, I'd seriously recommend to anyone planning to drive their car all year round.
The 991S performed fantastically on the handling circuit and was a real joy to drive but it came across as a whole different car to any 996 or 997 I'd driven before but the traction and push from the rear made it clear that this is still undeniably a true 911 and a proper sports car. On the short test track where maximum speeds attainable are only c80 mph the car itself didn't feel any different to the 991.1S I'd driven previously. The power delivery was so linear that I certainly wouldn't have realised I was driving a Turbo and the interior was so similar to every 981/991 I'd driven before that I could have been driving any of them. As a car to drive regularly I'm convinced that any 981/991 would be superb and I doubt that the move to smaller capacity turbo-charged engines will put off buyers of new cars. I'm equally certain however that it'll be the last normally aspirated cars that will become the most sought after by enthusiasts.
Jumping back into my own car the mid-noughties style of the interior was significant. I've always thought of the pre-996 dash layouts as being ancient and that the 996/997 gave a nice blend of classic v modern. In reality, compared to a 991 they all just look 'old'. That's not a criticism but it is a fact. Many will prefer the pre-2012 look, and it probably suits the character of those cars, but it would definitely put me off buying a late 997 over an early 991 if prices were similar.
At the moment however all 981/991 cars are still significantly more expensive to buy than their equivalent predecessors and that is enough to reinforce my intention to 'stick' for at least another 12 months. With any luck a combination of holding values of the 997T and depreciation of an early 991C4S will mean that the 'cost to change' will get less.
More importantly, as a car to drive occasionally - as I do - the 997T remains special. The frustration of not being able to 'stretch her legs' very often is probably no different to what I would experience in any other 911 and the 21 mpg average when only doing 6k miles a year is palatable. My drive home from Silverstone underlined my thoughts that, whilst a Turbo can be driven like a Carrera, when conditions allow a Carrera can't perform like a Turbo.
I've always been one to think of my next car, often soon after I've just bought a current one, but sometimes there comes a time when those thoughts can be comfortably put on hold for a while.
That's where I am now.
:cloud9:
I chose to forego the 0-60 and back to 0 opportunity that many experienced and spent extra time on the superb handling circuit, kick-plate and ice-hill. The opportunity to find how what happens to a 911 on black ice - with and without the different levels of PSM - was incredible and this bit, more than any other, I'd seriously recommend to anyone planning to drive their car all year round.
The 991S performed fantastically on the handling circuit and was a real joy to drive but it came across as a whole different car to any 996 or 997 I'd driven before but the traction and push from the rear made it clear that this is still undeniably a true 911 and a proper sports car. On the short test track where maximum speeds attainable are only c80 mph the car itself didn't feel any different to the 991.1S I'd driven previously. The power delivery was so linear that I certainly wouldn't have realised I was driving a Turbo and the interior was so similar to every 981/991 I'd driven before that I could have been driving any of them. As a car to drive regularly I'm convinced that any 981/991 would be superb and I doubt that the move to smaller capacity turbo-charged engines will put off buyers of new cars. I'm equally certain however that it'll be the last normally aspirated cars that will become the most sought after by enthusiasts.
Jumping back into my own car the mid-noughties style of the interior was significant. I've always thought of the pre-996 dash layouts as being ancient and that the 996/997 gave a nice blend of classic v modern. In reality, compared to a 991 they all just look 'old'. That's not a criticism but it is a fact. Many will prefer the pre-2012 look, and it probably suits the character of those cars, but it would definitely put me off buying a late 997 over an early 991 if prices were similar.
At the moment however all 981/991 cars are still significantly more expensive to buy than their equivalent predecessors and that is enough to reinforce my intention to 'stick' for at least another 12 months. With any luck a combination of holding values of the 997T and depreciation of an early 991C4S will mean that the 'cost to change' will get less.
More importantly, as a car to drive occasionally - as I do - the 997T remains special. The frustration of not being able to 'stretch her legs' very often is probably no different to what I would experience in any other 911 and the 21 mpg average when only doing 6k miles a year is palatable. My drive home from Silverstone underlined my thoughts that, whilst a Turbo can be driven like a Carrera, when conditions allow a Carrera can't perform like a Turbo.
I've always been one to think of my next car, often soon after I've just bought a current one, but sometimes there comes a time when those thoughts can be comfortably put on hold for a while.
That's where I am now.
:cloud9: