Jimmyk79

Long time lurker - first time poster - Hello all.

Trying to understand if I am the only one, is this simply comfort level, or my lack of experience.

I just moved from a 981 to 991.1.

I was close to picking up a 992 (until I test drove it) I was a surprised about the “non linear” acceleration of the turbos (at least compared to my 981).. then I asked to test drive a 718 and had the same experience (the turbo kicked in around 2800 and just felt squirrelly) . Probably, my inexperience or comfort with turboed vehicles that made the high torque in middle of the band feel uncomfortable. But the 981 seemed so easy to predict...

Finally I settled with a 991.1 needed rear seats...

Drove the 981 from 2015-2019 about 30K miles.

991.1 Guy

Turbo charged engines are fantastic for a variety of obvious reasons but the advantages do come with a "cost". More complexity, more heat, and more power early in the RPM range. It takes some getting used to, but I think in general the advantages outweigh the disadvatages.

desmotesta

I am in similar boat. After my car was totaled in an accident earlier this month, I had a chance to do over.
I had several opportunities to test drive a 991.2 base, 991.2T and a 991.2 GTS.

They were all good cars, had better steering feel than by 991.1S with S-PASM, had quicker steering (991.2 Base steering was too twitchy for my taste) but after driving them in all kinds of conditions, I was left wanting my old car back. I should have been blown away by Gobs of extra TQ on the .2 cars, but I wasn't..
The only car that came close was a 991.2 GTS and at $142K it wasn't twice the car my car was..
so I have decided to go with a 991.1GTS. I SO wanted the 991.2 cars to work out, I even tried to talk myself into one, just couldn't do it. They aren't for me.happy to stick with the Old and dated

garfunkle

I went from a 991.1 to a 991.1 and a 987.2... backwards is definitely more engaging. These are weekend cars for me and not that you couldn't daily drive one - each generation becomes increasingly more comfortable and more capable in performance and practicality. No disputing that.

Rich_Jenkins

I drove a '14 981 S for a year...pretty familiar with the NA 3.4. Since transitioned to a 991.2...

I don't have anything near your conclusions about NA vs. T motor? The "feel" of my Cayman vs. 911, for me at least, was more about the engine position and transition/weight transfer. The 981 felt much more "eager" to turn in, and on exit of corners the difference in the rear weight bias was very noticeable. On power, the NA engine took longer, it seemed to me, to spool up in terms of specific torque...the 991.2 is obviously faster and in a more immediate way (which would make sense given the power difference.)

As to between a 982 and a 981, I don't have any experience with the T Caymans. I looked for a representative graphic between them, and came up with this:




Not seeing anything on that graph which would suggest the T motor is "non-linear" or has "high torque in the middle of the band"? In fact, it looks like its the other way around, if anything, at least by this graph. It shows a pretty big progressive torque increase at the top end, which supports my recollection that I had to wind the nuts off my 981S in order to generate grunt. But maybe I'm missing something; I'm not a track guy, in the least, and would defer to those using these cars more to their potential than me puttering back and forth to work.

But your experience is your experience; nothing at all wrong with preferring a NA vs. T. They are both awesome engines.

garfunkle

Graphs only show the quantifiable part. The emotion can't be quantified. Everything is turbocharged now days and some people don't notice the lag to the point they would retort that it doesn't exist - it does. The reward for being patient while the turbos spool is a lot more power and thrust vs a linear pull and howl. Porsche does a pretty damn good job in the 911 of making it pretty linear for a boosted car but it will never be NA. The 718... I don't think it will be remembered fondly until it is.... It's basically the 996 of the Boxster line - until it's the 914 haha.

snake eyes

991.1 S owner that upgraded to 991.2 S... Whoever says there is NO turbo lag is a liar, there is turbo lag but man....the boost kicks in it is fun and hearing the waste gates off boost is music.
On the track, the 991.2 S pulls much harder out of tight corners and has more NA feel. (your high in the revs and the turbo's are spooled)

Overall, just a lot more torque, a lot more...

I would never go back to the 991.1S it feels slow... and doesn't sound as good as a GT3

Im not a fan of the 992.... The European particulate filter has TRASHED the exhaust note.
Car sounds horrible....

ducktails

I'm used to, and love, the naturally aspirated 9A1 Porsche motor - having owned and driven a 981S, 991.1S and GT4 on road and track. There are much more detailed (and also flame-y) threads on 9A1 NA vs 9A2 Turbo on here already, and I doubt I'm going to add any amazing new insight to that. However, I recently made the switch to a 991.2 (the base/T motor) and feel qualified to comment now

While it's definitely different, I'm not sensitive/good enough of a driver for any perception of lag to ruin my drive. No track work in the 991.2 yet though. Maybe I'm subconsciously modifying my driving style to minimize it (or giving myself too much credit), but the only way I could induce a perceptible lag and a 'turbo delivery' feel like my old WRX or GTI would be to lug in an inappropriately high gear and then just suddenly mash the throttle.

When I'm caning down a back road, lag never pops into my mind, I just notice the increased low-down grunt. Without rehashing all of the well-known arguments, the power delivery did feel a bit "synthetic" at first, based how well it pulls from down low; the NA required a bit more thought and had a bit more character in that regard, and I do miss some of the sound. As a total platform though, I ❤️ the 991.2!

Jimmyk79

Good feedback - thanks all



Ducktails - That was much more articulate than me saying "squirrely"....

inappropriately high gear and mashing the throttle? never... Cough GUILTY cough

Tlaloc75

On the track I didn’t notice any lag at all in either a manual T or a pdk gts. It’s always on boil and the turbo is spinning hard when doing track work. I was super impressed with both flavors of the engine, even compared to my old school na 993. Probably lag is more apparent on the street?

garfunkle

The point here is that lag isn't an issue if you are in the right gear/rev range. Ironically, the 991.1 isn't lacking for power when driven like this either; keeping the revs up and gears low. There is in fact lag but, like I said above - Porsche did a great job keeping up with the times while not taking away any more than necessary for the experience that Porsche is known for.

I think it does also depend on where you are in your car journey. The 991.1 feels exceptionally powerful, planted and modern after a 997. Not many (yes, a could outliers) go from a 991.2 to a 991.1 but many get a taste of the new and just can't go backwards. I think it speaks volumes that the newer boosted cars are so well accepted by previous 911 owners. No wrong answers and BLM; too.

911CSC

I had a blast with my 718 Boxster S

I picked the 718S over a 2015 GTS after test driving both of them, that's how good it was

With a few parts and a tune she was estimated to have 405 to 410 rear wheel hp.

I now have a 991.2 CS Cabriolet and can tell you both cars are completely different

Bob Z.

I honestly do not think anyone could detect any turbo lag on my .2 GTS (manual - cannot speak for the PDK as I have never driven one) with high flow cats and a Cobb tune, and I have had a 930 so I know what turbo lag is! But I will not knock anyone that wants a NA car like the .1 cars albeit they do not seem as fast to me and I would never entertain the thought of getting one, or another 930 for that matter!

Gonzalo38

I came from a 781 Boxster S which I loved. It was like racing in karting because the way it will go in the curve and stay planted. I did try the 718 Boxter and the car was better in every aspect with the exception of the engine sound...

From the 781 I moved to a 991.2 Base which I kept for almost 2 years..... very different car but I needed the extra seating arrangement. After that, I decided to buy a 991.2 Base Cabrio which I absolutely love..... especially after installing the APR tune.

My 991.2 Base Cabrio is my daily driver and I really enjoy driving it back from the office with the top down (doesn't matter if its summer or winter). You are right on the fact that there could be a little big of lag on the turbo engine, but if you like spirited driving, you will never notice it.

The nice thing about a Turbo engine is that you can easily modify it and now with several brands offering aftermarket tunes, it's really easy to do it. As mentioned earlier, I installed the APR tune and now I have a completely different car. I can still drive my car as a daily driver and enjoy a relaxing drive, but if I press the pedal it immediately transforms into a monster that even wags its tail because of all the torque and the tires not being able to handle all that power that its almost instantaneous. I drove a couple of 991.1's before and I was never able to feel that same sensation.

They say that the 992 is even better than the 991.2 but for me, I just don't like the interior looks (plus in my country they are charging way too much money for it...), so my current 991.2 Base Cabrio is the car I'm keeping for several more years (already a little over 2 years with me). I do miss sometimes the 981 Boxter S for the handling, but the 991.2 overall just kills it.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what any of us can say about our experience.... it's all about what you like and what makes you happy. For me, my 991.2 puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.

BSO

TBH, haven't driven a .1, however, when I go WOT in my 991.2 S, 1st gear to redline is a blur and 2nd isn't much slower. The 3.0 motors deliver max torque beginning at 1,700 rpm, 3.4 gets max torque at 5,600 rpms, 3.0 deliver more torque as well.

I don't detect any turbo lag, From a dead stop, the front lifts up and the engine pulls in a linear fashion.

Mine is a manual and if I want to accelerate, I'll drop down in gears and go, no lag. Even on the interstate in 6th gear, if you give it throttle, you're up to 100 in very short order. I can't imagine what the GT cars are like. I'll be driving some in two weeks at a road course, guess I'll find out.