Porsche Sydney 991 Launch Event
03-06-2012, 08:33 AM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Porsche Sydney 991 Launch Event
The day started bright and early as I dropped off the 964 at Porsche. Ooh...what's that under the cover over there? 
And then it was a rather long day at work until the launch event kicked off at 6.30, which was at http://www.carriageworks.com.au/ which is a really cool venue at Redfern. They are old abandoned railway maintenance sheds which were unused since the 80s, but have been restored and now is a huge complex that hosts conventions, plays, and art exhibitions.
And just at the entrance, Porsche arranged all the generations of 911, from the longhood to the 997.
The cars were mostly provided by the Porsche Club NSW, but some newer cars were from Porsche South Sydney's inventory.
First you had a gorgeous 911S longhood
Then a nicely lowered Carrera 3.2
Then the 964 hotness...Porsche had asked if they could borrow my car as the 964 in their timeline display, and it seemed rude to say no
A superb 993 Carrera 4S with the most perfect, mile-deep black paint.
Then a 996 Carrera and 997 Carrera S
Then at 6.30 we were ushered inside one of the theatres..
Where there was quite a big crowd!
A well-fed crowd is a happy crowd, and Porsche are very good hosts
These were smoked salmon, on some sort of creme fraiche, on a mini brioche. I must have had ten of these
Lamb curry puffs
Some sort of arancini meatball thing....delish (had at least 8 or 9)
Gnocchi....they also had a stewed lamb with mashed pumpkin, which they served in little bowls...too busy eating that to take pics
And then it was a rather long day at work until the launch event kicked off at 6.30, which was at http://www.carriageworks.com.au/ which is a really cool venue at Redfern. They are old abandoned railway maintenance sheds which were unused since the 80s, but have been restored and now is a huge complex that hosts conventions, plays, and art exhibitions.
And just at the entrance, Porsche arranged all the generations of 911, from the longhood to the 997.
The cars were mostly provided by the Porsche Club NSW, but some newer cars were from Porsche South Sydney's inventory.
First you had a gorgeous 911S longhood
Then a nicely lowered Carrera 3.2
Then the 964 hotness...Porsche had asked if they could borrow my car as the 964 in their timeline display, and it seemed rude to say no
A superb 993 Carrera 4S with the most perfect, mile-deep black paint.
Then a 996 Carrera and 997 Carrera S
Then at 6.30 we were ushered inside one of the theatres..
Where there was quite a big crowd!
A well-fed crowd is a happy crowd, and Porsche are very good hosts
These were smoked salmon, on some sort of creme fraiche, on a mini brioche. I must have had ten of these
Lamb curry puffs
Some sort of arancini meatball thing....delish (had at least 8 or 9)
Gnocchi....they also had a stewed lamb with mashed pumpkin, which they served in little bowls...too busy eating that to take pics
03-06-2012, 08:37 AM
#2
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
These were awesome...serrano ham, on some sort of creme fraiche with gruyere cheese on some kind of cheese snap thing that was like a corn chip. I'm reasonably certain that I more or less finished a whole tray.
Then Director of Marketing for Porsche, Tony Nicholls made a speech
And then the curtains drew back with a fanfare and...
Porsche had 4 cars on display, so there was plenty to go around and not much crowding.
The interior seems to be a lot more luxe and a lot less plasticky than the 996/997 series. The biggest thing I noticed was the centre console, which was quite high, and had the same waterfall of buttons as the Panamera. Dials are the traditional 5 gauges, but one of them is now a nifty screen for presumably things like radio station and trip computer. At idle, there is a nice graphic of the 991 shape. The interior is much bigger than before, with the seat all the way back I couldn't even reach the pedals with my toes (which ain't sayin much btw)
And compared to the 964 anyway, the boot is HUGE....no spare wheel I notice tho.
One disappointing thing (to me anyway) was that if you lift the engine cover, all you see is a big rectangular hole for the air intake, and the filler caps for oil and water.
Two of these cooling fans, too. But the engine itself is totally out of sight.
Visually the bit I like most is the car's ***.
I didn't like it in the pictures, but in the flesh that ridge above the rear lights is much more subtle and works really well, and the haunches over the rear wheel are a riot of nice contours and intersecting lines.
The back, IMHO has a really nice flow and shape. Very sensuous.
Then in profile, I think the shape does a great job of disguising the enormous 20in wheels. 245s in the front and 295s at the back!
But then I think as you get to the front, the design seems to run out of gas a bit and the nose is a little plain. In contrast to the back, at the front it's the shape which seems subdued, and what catches the eye is the fussy detailing around the indicators and ducts.
Other nice touches I liked were the design of the Carrera S wheels, which are very 997 GT3esque
Then there was dessert Brownies, macarons, nougat and those chocolate truffle things were really good.
In addition to the cars outside, there were also a trio of silver cars inside: the 993, 996 and 997 which are the 3 generations leading up to the 991.
The 993 representative was a really lovely Carrera 2S widebody
All in all an awesome night with great food and atmosphere. But while I like the 991 very much, I was relieved to walk back outside and see my 964 again. The new 911s are great, but the old ones still have a certain something.
All the guests also got some swag, which included this really cool 991 paperweight.
And this is just half of the festivities too. The public launch is on Saturday at Porsche South Sydney, and I can't wait
Then Director of Marketing for Porsche, Tony Nicholls made a speech
And then the curtains drew back with a fanfare and...
Porsche had 4 cars on display, so there was plenty to go around and not much crowding.
The interior seems to be a lot more luxe and a lot less plasticky than the 996/997 series. The biggest thing I noticed was the centre console, which was quite high, and had the same waterfall of buttons as the Panamera. Dials are the traditional 5 gauges, but one of them is now a nifty screen for presumably things like radio station and trip computer. At idle, there is a nice graphic of the 991 shape. The interior is much bigger than before, with the seat all the way back I couldn't even reach the pedals with my toes (which ain't sayin much btw)
And compared to the 964 anyway, the boot is HUGE....no spare wheel I notice tho.
One disappointing thing (to me anyway) was that if you lift the engine cover, all you see is a big rectangular hole for the air intake, and the filler caps for oil and water.
Two of these cooling fans, too. But the engine itself is totally out of sight.
Visually the bit I like most is the car's ***.
I didn't like it in the pictures, but in the flesh that ridge above the rear lights is much more subtle and works really well, and the haunches over the rear wheel are a riot of nice contours and intersecting lines.
The back, IMHO has a really nice flow and shape. Very sensuous.
Then in profile, I think the shape does a great job of disguising the enormous 20in wheels. 245s in the front and 295s at the back!
But then I think as you get to the front, the design seems to run out of gas a bit and the nose is a little plain. In contrast to the back, at the front it's the shape which seems subdued, and what catches the eye is the fussy detailing around the indicators and ducts.
Other nice touches I liked were the design of the Carrera S wheels, which are very 997 GT3esque
Then there was dessert
Brownies, macarons, nougat and those chocolate truffle things were really good.In addition to the cars outside, there were also a trio of silver cars inside: the 993, 996 and 997 which are the 3 generations leading up to the 991.
The 993 representative was a really lovely Carrera 2S widebody
All in all an awesome night with great food and atmosphere. But while I like the 991 very much, I was relieved to walk back outside and see my 964 again. The new 911s are great, but the old ones still have a certain something.
All the guests also got some swag, which included this really cool 991 paperweight.
And this is just half of the festivities too. The public launch is on Saturday at Porsche South Sydney, and I can't wait
03-06-2012, 09:18 AM
#5
Racer
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Congrats Baba, what an honour - you and the car are now enshrined in Porsche history!
Also, I really always enjoy your storyboarding. You should have been a journo.
Your 964 looks fantastic in that line-up, and it makes me feel privileged to own one.
Your pics also reminded me that the 964 will always be the first "new" 911 to me -
I recall being about 15 years old flicking through a local newspaper article about the "New 911", and then chuckling to myself that it didn't really look any different to my eyes than what had come before, apart from the bumpers. But the article was full of praise about its performance and handling.
That article is my earliest Porsche recollection, and prob the reason why the 964 is what defines a Porsche 911 for me.
Also, I really always enjoy your storyboarding. You should have been a journo.
Your 964 looks fantastic in that line-up, and it makes me feel privileged to own one.
Your pics also reminded me that the 964 will always be the first "new" 911 to me -
I recall being about 15 years old flicking through a local newspaper article about the "New 911", and then chuckling to myself that it didn't really look any different to my eyes than what had come before, apart from the bumpers. But the article was full of praise about its performance and handling.
That article is my earliest Porsche recollection, and prob the reason why the 964 is what defines a Porsche 911 for me.
03-06-2012, 10:24 AM
#6
p.s. Serrano ham on cream and gruyere cheese???
Should you ever come to Italy, let me take you to a journey in the food wonderland...! 
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03-06-2012, 06:15 PM
#9
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
03-06-2012, 09:37 PM
#11
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
03-10-2012, 04:17 AM
#14
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Today was the public launch of the 991, which was at Porsche South Sydney's huge facility.
All the older 911s from the cocktail launch on Tuesday were lined up again around the showroom.
Porsche put on a pretty good day, there were all of the current range on display
There was also a tech discussion, where they put a 911 up on the hoist to point out some of the features.
A few of the factoids that came out of that, was that the 991 has auto focussing headlamps. So...kinda like a maglite...the faster you go, the more the lights focus on a point far away. The slower you go, the more it casts a broader beam focussed at a point closer to the nose of the car. And when you activate the rear foglight, the headlights go into foglamp mode and cast a really wide beam, really close to the nose. So traditional foglamps aren't needed, nor offered on the 991
Also a lot of the car is made of aluminium (when you rap your fingers on the doors and fenders it does sound different) but is still 45kg lighter yet 25% stiffer than 997.
They also put on a few activities for kids to do...Including handing out 911-shaped lollies
And they had a very talented lady doing face painting for the kids.
And of course, being Australia, there is a federal law mandating that in large social gatherings, sausages will be sacrificed over a ceremonial flame. This is a requirement, and fines are applicable if not observed. They also had cupcakes.
As for the 991, I think today was a better opportunity to have a proper look at it, without all the crowds.
First thing is the interesting new sunroof arrangement:
And I have changed my mind about the nose...when you can take a step back and look at it from further away, you notice how the windscreen really comes forward over the front wheel, and this makes the nose a lot stubbier than I initially thought, and it does balance out quite well against the well-endowed rear end
I think it's a magnificent design ...would love to have one.
But the eagle-eyed among you may spot some "treasures" in this pic...
First as an appetiser, there was a 911S
...and then...
Is the picture shaky? Because I'm reasonably certain that my hands were shaking at this point
...and all hail The King.
Rolling...in my four point oh
Many thanks to Porsche for putting on a great day for the public, everybody got a little bag of swag and the kids were kept happy for hours. I figured every Porsche owner in town must have dropped by, judging by all the Porsches parked on the street as far as a block away
All the older 911s from the cocktail launch on Tuesday were lined up again around the showroom.
Porsche put on a pretty good day, there were all of the current range on display
There was also a tech discussion, where they put a 911 up on the hoist to point out some of the features.
A few of the factoids that came out of that, was that the 991 has auto focussing headlamps. So...kinda like a maglite...the faster you go, the more the lights focus on a point far away. The slower you go, the more it casts a broader beam focussed at a point closer to the nose of the car. And when you activate the rear foglight, the headlights go into foglamp mode and cast a really wide beam, really close to the nose. So traditional foglamps aren't needed, nor offered on the 991
Also a lot of the car is made of aluminium (when you rap your fingers on the doors and fenders it does sound different) but is still 45kg lighter yet 25% stiffer than 997.
They also put on a few activities for kids to do...Including handing out 911-shaped lollies
And they had a very talented lady doing face painting for the kids.
And of course, being Australia, there is a federal law mandating that in large social gatherings, sausages will be sacrificed over a ceremonial flame. This is a requirement, and fines are applicable if not observed. They also had cupcakes.
As for the 991, I think today was a better opportunity to have a proper look at it, without all the crowds.
First thing is the interesting new sunroof arrangement:
And I have changed my mind about the nose...when you can take a step back and look at it from further away, you notice how the windscreen really comes forward over the front wheel, and this makes the nose a lot stubbier than I initially thought, and it does balance out quite well against the well-endowed rear end
I think it's a magnificent design
...would love to have one.But the eagle-eyed among you may spot some "treasures" in this pic...
First as an appetiser, there was a 911S
...and then...
Is the picture shaky? Because I'm reasonably certain that my hands were shaking at this point
...and all hail The King.
Rolling...in my four point oh
Many thanks to Porsche for putting on a great day for the public, everybody got a little bag of swag and the kids were kept happy for hours. I figured every Porsche owner in town must have dropped by, judging by all the Porsches parked on the street as far as a block away
