Semitone

I guess I have the opposite reaction. I read all the hate and headed to my dealer to see what the fuss was about. Car was great, ordered a 718 Cayman GTS.

Reminds me of all the whining I heard when I bought my 987S ( 05 model) Boxster in 2006. "Chick's Porsche", "Hairdresser's car"... whatever. I still have that car and it's been a great car. Never regretted a day of it. Still waiting for the IMS to explode ( knock on wood...). Actually it also reminds me of the air cooled water cooled nonsense.... I loved the air cooled Porsche sound, reminded me of a VW.

If all this hate knocks the price down of the 718, it'll just make me want to buy a second one. I love a good deal.. Fast, sporty, well put together car that is a good deal...what's not to love about that?

cobalt

Emotions run high amongst this group only proving better is subjective no doubt.

As far as making deals there are plenty to be had around me but nobody is bitting otherwise inventory wouldn't sit for months. It costs too much to carry and they would prefer to move it. I get offers for great lease deals all the time.

Not sure why such a pissing match considering the differences are not IMO significant enough to prove anything. I don't see the hate coming from the 981 side as much as anger from the 718 side because the 718 owners aren't getting the satisfaction that everyone doesn't bow down and pay homage to the 718. Its like HS all over.

I have seen the cobb work wonders first hand and I never believe in making adjustments without the use of a dyno. There are a lot of false claims by most every aftermarket tuner. I have even see some FVD and other products fall short. It is easy to spend money feel a difference and unknowingly loose more than gained. Moving a power curve up high or reshaping it might bump power in ways that we feel but not necessarily make the car faster. I haven't seen this particular FVD product on the dyno so I can't opine on its claims but I can assure you the Cobb does what it claims and have seen it first hand. I have no interest in modifying my 981BGTS it is more than enough car for my needs and if I want a beast to drive I have others that do more for me than a 981 or 718 can offer me. My base 981 was a fun car and in some ways for the street was more than enough car. You really had to drive that car to make it move but could do some amazing things for what it was.

Suicide Jockey

Hard not to feel the (unfortunate) hate here for the 718, which has had a rough go of it from the outset. Don't let the comments here, nor the possible reaction of other Boxster owners, dissuade you if you love the car. If you love the car, THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.

Wow. Not sure anyone could have that take if they've been around here since the 718's introduction. It's gotten so bad from the 981 folks that many 718 owners have resorted to prefacing their posts with, "Please don't flame me . . . . " when they should be welcomed with open arms as part of the Boxster community. I have no doubt there are many, many 718 owners that would love to participate and join in the conversations here, but choose not to do so because of the atmosphere. Pity.

To conclude the 718 guys have brought this on themselves is a pretty remarkable comment IMO. To those brave souls who have tested the waters here, I'm impressed by their remarkable restraint. Yeah, some have fired back, but overall they've just let all the criticism roll off their back.

lajoiedp

Archimedes

There are definitely people who strongly dislike the car, myself included, for purely personal reasons. But that's entirely different than saying it's a bad car, from an objective viewpoint, because it's not. It is a great car from a performance perspective and anyone who loves it has no explaining to do as to why. I wouldn't begrudge someone for loving the 718. It's personal preference, no different than which color to get. Which is another subject people have strong opinions about...

On a tangent, if the forum moderators would have done the smart thing and broken out a sub forum for the new Turbo cars, including the 991.2, Rennlist would have been a much more pleasant place for the last 18 months.

Noah Fect

For the nth time, it's not about "hating the 718," it's about hating the fact that Porsche no longer designs cars with the US market in mind.

I don't live in China, I've never been to the PRC, and as a US citizen, I shouldn't be subject to Chinese automotive taxes or regulations. While I have no beef with the Chinese (unless you count the Mongolian variety), my ethnic and cultural background is not Chinese. So excuse me for being less than enthusiastic and supportive when Porsche designs a car for the Chinese market and tells the rest of us to like it or lump it.

Semitone

Total BS. People are complaining about the car mostly, not about Porsche.

Noah Fect

(Shrug) Like you, I can speak only for myself.

I'm on record as saying I think the 718 would have been a great entry-level model, with a smaller, lighter chassis in the $50K range. At the same time, it could have served as a technology showcase, the first to get hybrid and EV tech that they're undoubtedly cooking up at the Weissach skunk works.

Instead we got a highly-refined platform with a warmed-over 951 engine, something literally nobody (in the US at least) was asking for.

But hey, the 911 and its margins are safe from cross-shoppers and the Chinese regulators are happy, so it's all good.

Semitone

I'm sure there are a bunch of people on here who are Porsche corporate groupies that can correct me if I am wrong.

I tried the 718 out, liked it, and bought one. Wasn't much more complicated for me than that. ( Sound never bothered me, Turbo didn't bother me. Did want my two other cylinders, on principle, but after the performance upgrade they didn't seem important either)

It is my understanding that Porsche wanted a lower price point car for China. I believe they offer a 4 cylinder 718 in China for less money that has 250 hp. China does have their lower price model but Porsche doesn't offer it in the US. We got a beefier version that performs very well. Personally, if the 4 cylinder really bothers people I think they should just buy a 911. I won't think any less of them for wasting their money.

K-A

MidEngineRules

Yeah well you keep omitting that you compared the base models which there is a bit of a difference. I would have made the same choice if I was after the most power of the two. That is a no brainer for that debate and has as little to do with this impasse as those who believe people choose the 981 solely for its sound.

I hope to read many more times you drove both and the choice was a no brainer.

Go Eagles!

GregWormald

Since the 718CS averaged over 165 Km/hour (102+ mph) on the 'Ring I'd agree with this. There are very few 'twisty' public roads where that average could be equalled. So even quite a few seconds are going to make no difference to me. I'm very happy with my base 718B.

JakiChan

That's...an interesting view point. Not what it looks like to me, but again, we all have opinions.

It's really fascinating. When the Golf R came out those of us in the R32 community were kinda bummed that VW was moving away from the 3.2L VR6, but we knew why. I don't "hate on" the Golf R at all - the ONLY thing it doesn't do better than my car is sound. It's better in every objective way. But I can also specialize with those who feel their car is special...but too many Boxsters and Caymans for that to be true. GT4 and Spyder, maybe.

Noah Fect

I remember when this debate was about the Apple II and Atari 800...

RRDnA

Interesting, there is a big difference between a journalist and a works driver. I think you'll find the 991.2 S was driven by Chris Gebhardt and the 991.1 S was driven by Timo Kluck who happens to be a Porsche works driver. As a rule of thumb you can add at least 1s per minute between a talented amateur and a pro.

So the 991.2 S with Chris Gebhardt at the wheel did a very quick 7:34.0 and the 991.1S with Timo Kluck at the wheel did 7:37.9 now correct for the very reasonable difference in abilities and you get ~ 7:46 for the 991.1 S. So the difference is significant.

In fact what you'll find is the 718S is pretty much on par with the 991.1S in spite of the difference in peak toque and peak HP favouring the 991.1S. Thus it is implicit that the chassis, brakes and engine are working in harmony in the 718S, more so than in the case of the 991.1S.

In fact the French magazine Motorsport noted the difference between the 718S and the 997 GT3 RS to be 0.1s.........in favour of the 718S.

This tells me and any reasonable observer that the 718S is a very fine, balanced and capable sports car. Moreover, I spent three days with a 718S in Sept 2016 (track/town/country). Its a gem and a very, very capable one at that.