K-A

R_Rated

This has much to do with design. Just like an open concept house "feels" bigger. the wheelbase on the 991 is actually shorter than the 981 I think. Also - vs the 997... its like an inch, again this has more to do with modern design and execution than actual size.

Bud Taylor

After a mishap on the pitch I'm forced to drive a friend's Kia Soul. Wow, what a great little package. Looks exactly like a storm troopers helmet from the back and just about of everything minimalist but oddly very high quality. Who knows maybe the Koreans will make my next daily driver. As below, a completely flawed shape but yet somehow it works.

QUOTE=stout;14816949]I was in Frankfurt for the 991's debut. I remember looking at it and thinking it was too big. Then I left all of then hullabaloo and ended up sitting with a very early 911 at the factory stand, wearing a front plate that said "ur-911." I looked at it for a long time, and came to the conclusion that the 991 was the right size for a 911 in this day and age (especially when you compare it to marketplace rivals like BMW's 6, etc)—but that there was space for another 901-sized or maybe 993-sized Porsche. I still think that's true.

My 914 is wonderfully sized, but I wouldn't want to live with it as a daily car for a lot of reasons—comfort, safety, and its archaic nature all being high on that list. Time has moved on.

The 997 is a bit better sized in my view than the 991, but the 991 has more space in back for my daughter and, in base form, presents strong value. But the car my mind keeps coming back to is our 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth. I replaced it with a GT4, then moved to a 991.2 to regain rear seats. To be honest, if the Abarth had more rear crumple zone, I would have another one. It was a flawed car, but also one of the most fun cars I have owned at any price. Maybe even the most fun in daily use. Just genius in its packaging and in the way it made you smile—and other people smile. It fit in places and parked in places where I'd think twice about squeezing a 991 into, or leaving a 991 in. It taught me that a tidy package can be its own luxury. I dearly wish Porsche would make a sports car the size of the Abarth (maybe a tad longer and obviously lower in terms of roof height!), or maybe a car the size of the Miata. To me, even the 718 is too big for a two-seater. Where the 996 was compromised because its size was dictated by the higher-volume 986 (which led to the 987/997 ratio), the compromise seems to have shifted the other way now...with the 991 sized right for its market sphere while the 981/982 is pretty big for a two-seat car.

"Bad for the brand," is a common refrain when it comes to the idea or a sport car under the Boxster/Cayman, which is funny given that there are now more four-door lines than sports-car lines. That and the fact that Porsche's previous entry-level sports cars, the 912, 914, 924, 944, 986, etc weren't bad for the brand. Some of them—if not all of them—arguably saved it, and certainly made a lot of converts who went on to buy more expensive Porsches later on.[/QUOTE]

stout

^ Yes. This is what I am talking about. A lot of enthusiasts do not pine for small cars because we only know them as old cars, which are archaic rather than modern, or cheap cars.

In the U.S., today's modern small cars are:
-Cheap/built to a (low) price
-Uninteresting dynamically
-Ugly or at least not beautiful in the way of a 356 or 901/911
-Or too impractical/not great for everyday life (Lotus Elise/Alfa 4C)

Today's GTI is not a small car. Heck, even a Soul is on the bigger side—though your experience is what I am talking about. There is something to be said for a small car as a package—and there aren't many for sale. What, the Fiat 500, Chevy Sonic, Ford Fiesta, and some random offerings from Asia. Mini got the idea right (small car, but premium), got close on the outside and the driving, but then dropped the ball. Despite its flaws, the Fiat 500 Abarth got it righter than Mini (imo), but Porsche could do it even better...and it would be worth every penny of twice the Abarth's price, if not more. When I had the Abarth, I found it strangely scratched my itch for an early 911 or 912 and an A1 GTI—at the same time. Now that wasn't something I was expecting.

CarreraFahrer

My 911 is tiny compared to my GT350.

stout

^ Nice cars!

But that isn't saying much, as modern Mustangs are HUGE. The first time I saw the 2005 Mustang next to a then-current pickup truck (or Explorer, or minivan), I simply couldn't believe how big the back end was. Now, don't get me wrong: Every time I see a current GT350 or GT350R go by, I swoon. The current body is simply gorgeous. Looks like a concept car...so well turned out. Had they made the GT350 available in dark green and no stripes with silver wheels (or even without the silver wheels), I might not be driving a Porsche as a daily. Seriously cool cars.

Wing Commander

HenryPcar

All cars have gotten bigger and heavier through the years.
I sure hope Porsches will stick to the sports car holy grail of smaller, lighter to enhance agility and handling. Part of the problem is the demand of the market that wants all the options and regardless of how Germans tout their over-engineering philosophy, they can't defy physics when you laden the car with all these options.

stout

Ahhhh, but herein lies a golden opportunity for Porsche to make two disparate groups quite happy:

Build a basic, sporting rear-engined or rear-motored coupe without much content for $$,$$$
Offer a boat load of options (which it does on every model anyway) that can add $$,$$$ to the price

The original 986 was a great example of the above, and debuted to year-long waiting lists.

StormRune

Don't forget that one of the things helping drive size and weight is also the physics of crash safety and all that is done to make these cars safer than they used to be.

I know that there are smaller cars than the 911 out there, but those are not designed to be survivable in track-speed crashes like the 911. It's one thing to build a car that can survive crashes at 70 mph and meet government standards for 40 mph crash tests, but it's another thing to have a strong enough structure, crumple space, and supporting tech to survive a crash at 150+ mph while still making the car attractive and convenient.

CarreraFahrer

Thanks, TRAK WPN was taken and is on a 991 GT3.

Yes the newest Mustangs are huge and weight too much. While every bit as fast as my C2S the driving dynamics are apples to oranges but both are fun to drive.

Ski Porsche

I don't understand the size complaint from 997 to 991 either. However the total width comparison is a little misleading. The wide rear hips of the 997 are the same as the 991 but the front track of the 991 is 2.2" wider (58.5 v 60.7) so the body shell from the rear fenders forward is at least that much wider. I think that's one of the reasons the interior has greater width as well. The overall volume of the 991 is noticeably greater than the 997 when seen from the front--not so much from behind. The shape of the 991 appears more rounded as well which, I think, adds to the visually larger appearance. But .7% longer overall and 3.7% wider from the rear hips forward is a very small increment. I don't view my 991 as a large vehicle by any stretch of the imagination, but given the tradition of bellyaching about any new 911 among P-car owners (and boosters) it's now wonder the size difference is brought up.
I wonder what deficiencies we will focus on with the 992 if it's the same size as our 991s?

Wing Commander