Phil G.

Absolutely no question - BMW is making a 3 cylinder car in Europe now. Maybe I'll just get a real nice riding mower for my weekend drives.....

patdonahue

If you get a nice riding mower and add a windshield then you will have a Smart Car imitation....

SuncoastJason

Wow! So many mixed opinions about this car!

I am a "Service Advisor" and recently went to the 718 launch. Here is my impression:

• Does it sound similar to a Subaru or an air cooled VW pancake? Absolutely.
• Impressive performance? As compared to last gen - it's significantly better.
• Wow features? Nothing that made me tingle. It seems Porsche is trying to catch up to modern times in terms of the PCM but still lack features that domestic manufacturers have had for years already.

This car handles very well. PASM works great and the Sport function on the steering wheel is a great feature especially for a daily driver. The brakes work as they should, hardly any fade and stop this car from 100 to 0 in minimal space.

Personally, I think this car is primarily designed for the daily driver in urban traffic. However, one won't be disappointed when going out for the occasional DE.

That's my $.02

PhilNotHill

Turbos have more power at altitude...we live ar 8000 ft above sea level. But they don't sound as good as na engine. I have the sports exhaust...sound is important to me.

My wife thinks the 718 is fugly compared to our 2011 Boxster S. Looks like we won't be making that trade.

randr

It depends on which models are being compared - for example, I have a 981 GTS so its a wash in terms of performance, unless you live by 0 to 60, and round a track any difference will be down to the driver.

The harsh reality is a lot of soul has been lost due to the loss of the NA6, and not a lot of performance has been gained (from my GTS perspective).

You shouldn't be fooled by the torque curves, they look more impressive than they are (bearing in mind HP is directly proportional to torque multiplied by RPM) - for example a 981S makes 86kw at 2,500 rpm whereas the 718S makes 88kw at 2000 rpm. At 7000 rpm the 981S makes 235kw and the 718S makes 238kw.............

This is borne out by the official overtaking times (from Porsche) - aka 80kmh to 120kmh overtaking acceleration times (50mph to 75mph). All cars equipped with PDK.

981C 3.6s
718 3.2s
981CS 3.0s
981CGTS 2.9s
718S 2.8s

mm1

A sales guy said similar to me. I'm reserving judgement till I drive one but I'll give a lot of performance up for the right sound and feel of a car. It sounds like this will have the feel but my gut says I'd stick with my 981s w/ x73 CPO I just bought.

For quick reference I'd rank the P-cars I've owned in the following order:
GT4 > 981s > 997.2CS > 997TT. That said they are ALL great cars but just great at different things and this is subjective, if I wanted a car to haul *** I'd go with the 997TT first.

shewu

Completely OT, but you swapped cars again?! What happened to the Turbo and why back to a 2 seater? I thought you needed space to haul the kids around.

spyderphile

Jason, your comments are precisely the reason 718s will sell well. Enthusiasts may stay away. For others, mainstream buyers, this is a good evolutionary progression. For everyday usage, it ticks most boxes. With PSE, the sound is amplified. Only the enthusiasts will question the quality/nature of the sound. As long as the outright performance is on tap, which it is, a turbo 4 wouldn't faze regular buyers.

And, sales personnel are supposed to trump up the product. That's their job! How else they can sell it? No point berating them. They are right; for non-enthusiasts, this is a great product. And, I used to be a car sales person in a previous life; so, I can fully relate to their enthusiasm! :-)

Noah Fect

Yep, regular, non-enthusiast buyers who are in the market for $70K-$90K Porsches.

Marine Blue

THIS

titleistaddict87

NO question the next gen GT4 and Spyder will have the turbo-charged 6 from either the Carrera or Carrera S (probably the base IMO with a different tune). There's no source for a NA 6 other than the GT department and I find it highly unlikely they're going to put a GT3 engine in the GT4 or Spyder.

Long-live the current NA GT4 and Spyder!!

mm1

Yep, I think we'll keep this one a while. Really didn't love the turbo and tried 991s but decided to go back to a Cayman S and give the option of driving to my wife too. If you remember it was either haul the kids or PDK. It was a good experience but now everyone is happy and sometimes slightly slower is more fun.

spyderphile

I find the argument ('no non-GT NA engine available') bit odd! A 3.8 with X51 Powerkit can be spun up any time. No development cost per se, as it has already seen series production. They just need to run it through routine tuning and testing with GT4 and Spyder. It's a done deal!

However, I do agree that the GT3 engine won't find a home in GT4/Spyder. No need for it in 981.2, as the power levels can be easily modulated with 3.8 + X51. It will help to keep the costs down as well.

Marvinta

I was under the impression that the exact opposite was true. That turbo's performed POORER at altitude due to the decrease in O2?

mopar bob

Nope, a N/A engine loses 20% at 6500 feet.