Marine Blue

After reading that article I'm convinced that majority of the changes to the 991 are related to meeting the upcoming fuel efficiency requirements. Longer, less weight and room for hybrid.....

The new doors look great but the center console moves the car further away from being a pure sports car and gets it even closer to becoming a GT car. It will be interesting to see how sports car enthusiasts respond to the car.

rosenbergendo

Pretty depressing article on the 991! Currently in a 2010 GT3 and was really looking forward to the 991 (I am not a look back kinda guy). BUT...the car seems to be very digital and a real step forward (back) from what 911's are supposed to be. Originally the extended wheelbase was to make the car a more "mid engined" platform but now it seems it likely was to make the car more GT. It really is like a 2 door Panamera. Now hopefully for the GT cars, they will use that space to better balance the car (move engine forward) and use the supposed lightweight chassis from the Hybrid this article speculates. To get back to the original poster the GTS with 408hp seems like a keeper compared to the early specs on the 991.

Alan Smithee

Nothing surprising there, except that the 911 and Boxster will share the 3.4. Unless they de-tune it for the Boxster, it will break the long standing rule that performance of the 911 cannot be eclipsed.

Confirmation of the electronic parking brake, while expected after spy photos were leaked months ago, is truly disappointing. The new car may look great, may perform well, and may appeal to more buyers. But the 911, as a sports car, is dead.

ADias

That statement never made any sense by definition of an-all-in-the-rear design. If the engine is behind the rear axle, when the WB is increased the engine is farther from the front axle, note closer.

The only way to move the engine forward as you say, is to flip the position of the tranny and engine, making it a true mid-engine architecture. Now with the longer WB, PAG has the room to do that, but doing so, it's no longer a 911, it just looks like one.

ADias

I'm afraid it looks that way. But the 911 is not dead. For the true enthusiast, there are a ton of well preserved 911s up until the 997.2, available out there, now and for a long time in the future. Heck... British sports cars fans still find excellent copies of Austin Healeys, MGs, Jags and so on, much nicer than the current crop they produce.

Marine Blue

The Boxster and Cayman technically could replace the 911 as the main sports car in the Porsche line up but if they use the same center console it also strays away from being a pure sports car. Like I said, it will be interesting to see how the new cars are received by enthusiasts.

Mike in CA

I don't quite get the objection to the console. Is it that it looks something like the console in the Panamera/Cayenne or the fact that there is a console at all? If it's the latter, see the pic below. It's from my old Lotus Europa Special circa 1975. It had a console, although with fewer buttons to be sure, but a console nevertheless, and I'd argue it would be hard to find a more pure sportscar than a Europa.

Mspeedster

Come on, you guys are starting to sound like the air cooled bunch. While I do agree the 991 is leaning even more towards GT vs. pure sports car, my bet is within 3-4 years many 997 owners will have traded for a 991.

I'd argue that the 911 is already more GT than pure sports car, and it has been for several generations. The Boxster Spyder or GT3 RS (both without A/C or Stereo) are for those who really want a pure sports car.

chsu74

Both 996 GT3 MK I and MK II > 997 GT3

ADias

The 997 console is much more like the Europa console. The 991 console makes the car feel like a GT, or a Panamera. The feeling of an-all-business sports car is gone. The 997 interior is fine, although the 993 more spartan interior was better.

Purer sports car than Europa? Elan for sure.

ADias

Some will, some won't. Unless one is interested in pretty luxo-boxes, full of e-gadgets, the future of fun, unadorned, sports cars, defined as no-nonsense pure driver's cars, is not bright - take a look at this InnoDrive.

Alan Smithee

Which is why I ditched my 997 for a Spyder ordered without AC.

The promise of lighter weight and popularity of the GT3 models, along with the sales volume of the Cayenne and Panamera, plus potential for a 2-door Panamera/928 successor to fill the GT category, gave me hope that the standard 911 would lean back towards the sporting side of the GT category. However, the electronic parking brake kills it for me. From a design standpoint, the console and door panels look nice enough, but like the Cayenne and Panamera, the ethos appears to be luxury, not lithe.

It will be very interesting to see if the Boxster/Cayman follows the 991 design, or if it is further differentiated to be a more of a sports car. I can't believe Porsche would abandon the sub-$100k sports car category.

Mike in CA

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, Tony. The old Lotus console made a real divide between the driver and passenger, flowing up into the dashboard, like the 991 and unlike the 997. And the comment about how the 991 console makes the car "feel" seems a bit premature, since none of us has driven, sat in, seen in person, or even viewed a final pic of what the car will be like.

As to the Europa vs. Elan it's a matter of very small degree. I'll give you that the Elan is a roadster, but the Europa had the advantage of being mid-engine and had none of the creature comforts that would cause it to be mistaken for a GT. Anyway, my point was that nobody ever said the Europa wasn't a pure sports car just because it had a prominent center console.

Alan Smithee

The old Lotus was form following function. That is also what drove the design of the 911 for decades. The new interior is the opposite.

It is fair to assess how the cockpit will feel, especially if one has been in a Panamera. Great if a passenger; not so great if you are looking over the big dash and hood for an apex.

Mike in CA

The new interior is the opposite of form follows function how exactly? Are buttons and controls placed for style rather than ergonomics? Does the new design interfere with their functionality? That would be form not following function. BTW, I find the console buttons in my '11 Cayenne S both ergonomic and functional.

All due respect, but you're jumping to a conclusion about the cockpit feel of the 991 just because it has some interior design elements of a different kind of car (the Panamera) that you are familiar with. I'm fairly certain that while it may share some console bits, that it's not going to have the "big dash and hood" (or the extra 1000 lbs of mass) that might make finding apexes a problem. Speculation is fun but it's just that, speculation. I'd rather withhold judgement until I've seen and driven the new car.