Ski Porsche

I stopped by the local dealer yesterday and drove a base Carrera--PDK, PSE, 20" wheels, etc. At my altitude in Utah N/A cars lose around 10% of their power. So the new Carrera motor with 370 hp and 331 lbs/ft of torque probably has a little more hp and definitely a lot more torque than my 991.1 C2S. The base car is quick, it felt at least as quick as my car--probably quicker. The power comes in a flood of torque and it just rips. That said, there is some lag, even at 4k rpm in 2nd gear there's a blink of lag and than it's off to the races. As for the sound. To my ear, it's not that good, the tone is different, but okay, it's lacking that visceral growl/rasp/bark you get from the N/A motors. it's also not loud enough, I thought it was somewhere between the two modes on my current car. Disappointing. The aftermarket catback guys are going to make a ton of $$ on this car. Something strange I noticed was when you lift off the throttle to slow down there's a moment of coasting before the engine braking begins, as the though the throttle doesn't completely close. I tried it at different speeds and it always occurred. Turbo lag in reverse?
Would I own one? Well, yes. I think I could acclimate to the lag easily enough (and the coasting thing), the aftermarket will have a surfeit of exhaust choices and, frankly, the 991.2 is a rocket. Though the Carrera is fast enough, I think I would have to have an S.
As I was driving out of a business park to the freeway heading back to the dealer I came up behind a last generation Mustang GT that was lowered and had an aftermarket exhaust. It sounded terrific. He obviously saw me and was acting racy. I followed him onto the two lane on ramp thinking, "If he gets on it, me too". I figured I could keep him close. He had downshifted so his revs were up and as soon as I heard his pipes roar I was on the throttle and to my surprise (his too, I'm sure) I walked on by. As soon as I cleared him he backed off. I kept the throttle open a bit longer as he receded in my mirror like a whipped dog. That's a story he won't be telling his Mustang buddies.
The new turbo Carreras look great, have a gob of power, and though not perfect, I'd buy one.

subshooter

Great review! Thank you for sharing.


I'm not sure another $14k for the S is worth a few tenths of a second to 60 mph for me.

Porsche_nuts

Thanks for your take on the .2. A good read.

SuperPenguin

inb4 you get chastised for street racing

Nice review. I agree, the turbo platform really opens up a can of worms for the aftermarket. I'm really intrigued to see where that goes over the next few years. Maybe EVOMS will offer their 775 kit for the base Carrera

zer0cool

I think with the new turbo cars, the performance difference between base and S is not worth the price difference...

It's interesting how so many people love loud noise from cars... I personally think PSE on the .2 is too loud. Sounds good on occasion, but kind of annoying after 15 mins. I personally feel even louder than that would be highly annoying after just a short while on the street...

kkapoor

I think there are a lot of people thinking that that S car while great is simply not a requirement anymore. No change in engine displacement. The base Carrera is the best value proposition that the 911 has been for a long time. Here's a very interesting thread on the subject:

http://www.macanforum.com/forum/othe...2-carrera.html

arch7

You could probably give that $14k to an aftermarket tuner and have some great options for ECU and turbo changes, plus some exhaust improvements. Thats one reason I didn't order PSE on my car, due this week

pdutta2000

That post is right on track. I think the Base 991.2 is the sleeper of the group. Sound is so subjective and to be honest...even my 997.1S could sound better. No real replacement for displacement in that sense but the performance of the Base should keep the smile on my face. Looking forward to seeing what the CPO market is like in 2 years.

917k

I agree: Base + PSE is a relative bargain.

That's why after I left dealer I had a CS + 40% extra in options on plain CS price Wanted 4WS etc.

thomnellie

Agree. Almost always keep PSE off, even with Sport or Sport Plus on. At normal highway speeds, there is a droning that gets fatiguing after a while. I must admit though, that at the Porsche winter driving school, the PSE did make it much easier to judge engine response to throttle input when controlling a drift.

rkwfxd

Like others have said, I agree with this.

However, I DO want the rear axle steering and the Sport PASM and those options are only available on the S.

First World Problems.

kkapoor

I think the rear wheel steering is a sweet performance option though I've never thought that 911's were missing that feature in the first place. There will always be new goodies to spend money on. I've strongly started to tilt to the view that when it comes to the 911 less is more.

Dewinator

Interesting. When I first got the car I'd turn PSE on at startup, then back off when I was on the freeway because of the droning. Then after about a year I started to miss it if I turned it off, now I drive exclusively with PSE on.

CAlexio

$14,000 for no displacement change is marketing positioning error. for $1000 people will be putting Cobb accessports on their cars and getting back the artificially missing power and then more. i know the S has the variable vein turbo which should decrease turbo lag.. but again.. $14,000... there is a lot of turbo tuning you can do for a fraction of that. Interesting to see how quickly the porsche buyers figure it out. #nevertrump #neverturbo

Dewinator

False. S has a larger diameter turbo but you have to buy a Boxster/Cayman or true 911 Turbo to get variable "vane".