Got My Chance Behind The Wheel Today
01-26-2012, 11:10 PM
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Got My Chance Behind The Wheel Today
Finally got my chance to experience the car first hand. Car had all the performance options checked except PCCB although I was surprised it didn't have the full leather. I drove it for about an hour on a combination of city streets, highway, and back roads.
First off, I really like the new interior. I love the homage to the CGT with the center console rising up to meet the dash. I haven't had a Porsche previously so I haven't married myself to any particular design. Ergonomics felt great to me. I love the additional display in the gauges too. The sport seats fit my 6'1" 210lb frame very nice with no pinch or pressure points. All day comfort won't be an issue. Okay, enough of that.
Started off with everything set to it's non sport mode. In this mode this was one fine GT car. I know the moment I say that, alarms go off, but give me a sec. With everything set to standard mode the 991S was extremely compliant. Over a railroad crossing that I had crossed in my A6 to get to the dealer, the 991S absorbed the impact far better than the A6.
It was actually very anti-climactic because having crossed that RR crossing numerous times in my current car I had subconsciously learned to brace for impact. I only realized that I was doing that when I did the same thing in 991 and nothing happened. Wow. On a coast to coast drive, this is no doubt the car I would pick and in fact, we have the mother of all road trips planned once we take delivery and it's not something I would want to do if I was going to have to listen to my wife complain for 6 weeks. She won't be complaining.
Now on to the fun stuff. First, I did a launch control start. All I can say is, "damn, that's freaking cool!" The acceleration feels turbine-like, it just keeps flowing uninterrupted. We actually had one previous dual clutch car, an Audi TT. I was impressed with the DSG then, but this is so superior it makes the Audi seem like a Model T. If you read my other posts, I have a motorsports background having worked for Skip Barber as an instructor, but I had a bad accident recently that I am still recovering from. I completely destroyed my right ankle and I won't be heel toeing anymore. I can honestly say I don't think I am going to miss it. In fact, in Sport Plus with the Motorsports Derived Strategy, there really isn't much of a reason to shift manually with a supernatural ability to always be in the right gear at the right time.
Then there's the dynamic chassis control system. Having been in formula cars that don't roll, I am somewhat used to it, but it's still a bit strange in a street car, but strange in a good way. Simply, the car stays flat and you don't get that inertia of a rolling body trying to unsettle the car as it compresses the suspension. This makes the car much quicker to respond to the helm and change direction. It's not the strange three step process it is in other cars where the chassis is always one step behind trying to catch up. This also has the added benefit of being able to run much more conservative alignments which gives you better tire wear and better ride.
Now on to the steering. To make sure I was up to speed on communicative steering, this past weekend I spent some time in a friend's Exige. Right to the point, the steering is what I would call "grown-up." From fast sweepers to medium speed off camber bends, to tight first & second gear bends, I always felt I was getting all the information I needed without it being screamed at me. The weight increased nicely as the load increased and as the limit of adhesion was reached the steering let me know with plenty of warning as it lightened in proportion. The only negative I have to report is a slight numbness on-center which is most likely a concession to the long-distance aspirations of the car so it's hard to even call it a negative. It simply allows the car to be a relaxed cruiser without the steering wearing you out even though you are just going in a straight line. In the Exige you are afraid to sneeze in a straight line for fear of ending up in the weeds. Once the going get's twisty, it's a non-issue, but if you are the type of person who wants to feel like a race car driver on a 500 mile highway trip, wait for the GT3.
So all in all Porsche has done it again. They have advanced the 911 to the next level. Is it more of a GT car? Absolutely! But it doesn't trade off anything sporting to do so. It's that rare product that gives you the best of all worlds with very little, if any, trade off. This car's sporting ability is the equal of today's GT3 variant, so I can't imagine how good the GT3 variant of this car is going to be. This is what Porsche does that no other car manufacturer seems to be able to do. In the immortal words of Tom Cruise, "Porsche, there is no substitute."
First off, I really like the new interior. I love the homage to the CGT with the center console rising up to meet the dash. I haven't had a Porsche previously so I haven't married myself to any particular design. Ergonomics felt great to me. I love the additional display in the gauges too. The sport seats fit my 6'1" 210lb frame very nice with no pinch or pressure points. All day comfort won't be an issue. Okay, enough of that.
Started off with everything set to it's non sport mode. In this mode this was one fine GT car. I know the moment I say that, alarms go off, but give me a sec. With everything set to standard mode the 991S was extremely compliant. Over a railroad crossing that I had crossed in my A6 to get to the dealer, the 991S absorbed the impact far better than the A6.
It was actually very anti-climactic because having crossed that RR crossing numerous times in my current car I had subconsciously learned to brace for impact. I only realized that I was doing that when I did the same thing in 991 and nothing happened. Wow. On a coast to coast drive, this is no doubt the car I would pick and in fact, we have the mother of all road trips planned once we take delivery and it's not something I would want to do if I was going to have to listen to my wife complain for 6 weeks. She won't be complaining.
Now on to the fun stuff. First, I did a launch control start. All I can say is, "damn, that's freaking cool!" The acceleration feels turbine-like, it just keeps flowing uninterrupted. We actually had one previous dual clutch car, an Audi TT. I was impressed with the DSG then, but this is so superior it makes the Audi seem like a Model T. If you read my other posts, I have a motorsports background having worked for Skip Barber as an instructor, but I had a bad accident recently that I am still recovering from. I completely destroyed my right ankle and I won't be heel toeing anymore. I can honestly say I don't think I am going to miss it. In fact, in Sport Plus with the Motorsports Derived Strategy, there really isn't much of a reason to shift manually with a supernatural ability to always be in the right gear at the right time.
Then there's the dynamic chassis control system. Having been in formula cars that don't roll, I am somewhat used to it, but it's still a bit strange in a street car, but strange in a good way. Simply, the car stays flat and you don't get that inertia of a rolling body trying to unsettle the car as it compresses the suspension. This makes the car much quicker to respond to the helm and change direction. It's not the strange three step process it is in other cars where the chassis is always one step behind trying to catch up. This also has the added benefit of being able to run much more conservative alignments which gives you better tire wear and better ride.
Now on to the steering. To make sure I was up to speed on communicative steering, this past weekend I spent some time in a friend's Exige. Right to the point, the steering is what I would call "grown-up." From fast sweepers to medium speed off camber bends, to tight first & second gear bends, I always felt I was getting all the information I needed without it being screamed at me. The weight increased nicely as the load increased and as the limit of adhesion was reached the steering let me know with plenty of warning as it lightened in proportion. The only negative I have to report is a slight numbness on-center which is most likely a concession to the long-distance aspirations of the car so it's hard to even call it a negative. It simply allows the car to be a relaxed cruiser without the steering wearing you out even though you are just going in a straight line. In the Exige you are afraid to sneeze in a straight line for fear of ending up in the weeds. Once the going get's twisty, it's a non-issue, but if you are the type of person who wants to feel like a race car driver on a 500 mile highway trip, wait for the GT3.
So all in all Porsche has done it again. They have advanced the 911 to the next level. Is it more of a GT car? Absolutely! But it doesn't trade off anything sporting to do so. It's that rare product that gives you the best of all worlds with very little, if any, trade off. This car's sporting ability is the equal of today's GT3 variant, so I can't imagine how good the GT3 variant of this car is going to be. This is what Porsche does that no other car manufacturer seems to be able to do. In the immortal words of Tom Cruise, "Porsche, there is no substitute."
01-26-2012, 11:33 PM
#3
Nordschleife Master
i also braced for impact and slowed down on test drive for a rail road track and it was very smooth... the suspension is great...
someone needs to develop some lowering springs for it however...
as far as Exige, i always felt like the steering was "iffy" at speed... but in all honesty it does a good job wanting to stay straight...
someone needs to develop some lowering springs for it however...
as far as Exige, i always felt like the steering was "iffy" at speed... but in all honesty it does a good job wanting to stay straight...
01-27-2012, 07:04 AM
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i also braced for impact and slowed down on test drive for a rail road track and it was very smooth... the suspension is great...
someone needs to develop some lowering springs for it however...
as far as Exige, i always felt like the steering was "iffy" at speed... but in all honesty it does a good job wanting to stay straight...
someone needs to develop some lowering springs for it however...
as far as Exige, i always felt like the steering was "iffy" at speed... but in all honesty it does a good job wanting to stay straight...
01-27-2012, 10:53 AM
#6
Finally got my chance to experience the car first hand. Car had all the performance options checked except PCCB although I was surprised it didn't have the full leather. I drove it for about an hour on a combination of city streets, highway, and back roads.
First off, I really like the new interior. I love the homage to the CGT with the center console rising up to meet the dash. I haven't had a Porsche previously so I haven't married myself to any particular design. Ergonomics felt great to me. I love the additional display in the gauges too. The sport seats fit my 6'1" 210lb frame very nice with no pinch or pressure points. All day comfort won't be an issue. Okay, enough of that.
Started off with everything set to it's non sport mode. In this mode this was one fine GT car. I know the moment I say that, alarms go off, but give me a sec. With everything set to standard mode the 991S was extremely compliant. Over a railroad crossing that I had crossed in my A6 to get to the dealer, the 991S absorbed the impact far better than the A6.
It was actually very anti-climactic because having crossed that RR crossing numerous times in my current car I had subconsciously learned to brace for impact. I only realized that I was doing that when I did the same thing in 991 and nothing happened. Wow. On a coast to coast drive, this is no doubt the car I would pick and in fact, we have the mother of all road trips planned once we take delivery and it's not something I would want to do if I was going to have to listen to my wife complain for 6 weeks. She won't be complaining.
Now on to the fun stuff. First, I did a launch control start. All I can say is, "damn, that's freaking cool!" The acceleration feels turbine-like, it just keeps flowing uninterrupted. We actually had one previous dual clutch car, an Audi TT. I was impressed with the DSG then, but this is so superior it makes the Audi seem like a Model T. If you read my other posts, I have a motorsports background having worked for Skip Barber as an instructor, but I had a bad accident recently that I am still recovering from. I completely destroyed my right ankle and I won't be heel toeing anymore. I can honestly say I don't think I am going to miss it. In fact, in Sport Plus with the Motorsports Derived Strategy, there really isn't much of a reason to shift manually with a supernatural ability to always be in the right gear at the right time.
Then there's the dynamic chassis control system. Having been in formula cars that don't roll, I am somewhat used to it, but it's still a bit strange in a street car, but strange in a good way. Simply, the car stays flat and you don't get that inertia of a rolling body trying to unsettle the car as it compresses the suspension. This makes the car much quicker to respond to the helm and change direction. It's not the strange three step process it is in other cars where the chassis is always one step behind trying to catch up. This also has the added benefit of being able to run much more conservative alignments which gives you better tire wear and better ride.
Now on to the steering. To make sure I was up to speed on communicative steering, this past weekend I spent some time in a friend's Exige. Right to the point, the steering is what I would call "grown-up." From fast sweepers to medium speed off camber bends, to tight first & second gear bends, I always felt I was getting all the information I needed without it being screamed at me. The weight increased nicely as the load increased and as the limit of adhesion was reached the steering let me know with plenty of warning as it lightened in proportion. The only negative I have to report is a slight numbness on-center which is most likely a concession to the long-distance aspirations of the car so it's hard to even call it a negative. It simply allows the car to be a relaxed cruiser without the steering wearing you out even though you are just going in a straight line. In the Exige you are afraid to sneeze in a straight line for fear of ending up in the weeds. Once the going get's twisty, it's a non-issue, but if you are the type of person who wants to feel like a race car driver on a 500 mile highway trip, wait for the GT3.
So all in all Porsche has done it again. They have advanced the 911 to the next level. Is it more of a GT car? Absolutely! But it doesn't trade off anything sporting to do so. It's that rare product that gives you the best of all worlds with very little, if any, trade off. This car's sporting ability is the equal of today's GT3 variant, so I can't imagine how good the GT3 variant of this car is going to be. This is what Porsche does that no other car manufacturer seems to be able to do. In the immortal words of Tom Cruise, "Porsche, there is no substitute."
First off, I really like the new interior. I love the homage to the CGT with the center console rising up to meet the dash. I haven't had a Porsche previously so I haven't married myself to any particular design. Ergonomics felt great to me. I love the additional display in the gauges too. The sport seats fit my 6'1" 210lb frame very nice with no pinch or pressure points. All day comfort won't be an issue. Okay, enough of that.
Started off with everything set to it's non sport mode. In this mode this was one fine GT car. I know the moment I say that, alarms go off, but give me a sec. With everything set to standard mode the 991S was extremely compliant. Over a railroad crossing that I had crossed in my A6 to get to the dealer, the 991S absorbed the impact far better than the A6.
It was actually very anti-climactic because having crossed that RR crossing numerous times in my current car I had subconsciously learned to brace for impact. I only realized that I was doing that when I did the same thing in 991 and nothing happened. Wow. On a coast to coast drive, this is no doubt the car I would pick and in fact, we have the mother of all road trips planned once we take delivery and it's not something I would want to do if I was going to have to listen to my wife complain for 6 weeks. She won't be complaining.
Now on to the fun stuff. First, I did a launch control start. All I can say is, "damn, that's freaking cool!" The acceleration feels turbine-like, it just keeps flowing uninterrupted. We actually had one previous dual clutch car, an Audi TT. I was impressed with the DSG then, but this is so superior it makes the Audi seem like a Model T. If you read my other posts, I have a motorsports background having worked for Skip Barber as an instructor, but I had a bad accident recently that I am still recovering from. I completely destroyed my right ankle and I won't be heel toeing anymore. I can honestly say I don't think I am going to miss it. In fact, in Sport Plus with the Motorsports Derived Strategy, there really isn't much of a reason to shift manually with a supernatural ability to always be in the right gear at the right time.
Then there's the dynamic chassis control system. Having been in formula cars that don't roll, I am somewhat used to it, but it's still a bit strange in a street car, but strange in a good way. Simply, the car stays flat and you don't get that inertia of a rolling body trying to unsettle the car as it compresses the suspension. This makes the car much quicker to respond to the helm and change direction. It's not the strange three step process it is in other cars where the chassis is always one step behind trying to catch up. This also has the added benefit of being able to run much more conservative alignments which gives you better tire wear and better ride.
Now on to the steering. To make sure I was up to speed on communicative steering, this past weekend I spent some time in a friend's Exige. Right to the point, the steering is what I would call "grown-up." From fast sweepers to medium speed off camber bends, to tight first & second gear bends, I always felt I was getting all the information I needed without it being screamed at me. The weight increased nicely as the load increased and as the limit of adhesion was reached the steering let me know with plenty of warning as it lightened in proportion. The only negative I have to report is a slight numbness on-center which is most likely a concession to the long-distance aspirations of the car so it's hard to even call it a negative. It simply allows the car to be a relaxed cruiser without the steering wearing you out even though you are just going in a straight line. In the Exige you are afraid to sneeze in a straight line for fear of ending up in the weeds. Once the going get's twisty, it's a non-issue, but if you are the type of person who wants to feel like a race car driver on a 500 mile highway trip, wait for the GT3.
So all in all Porsche has done it again. They have advanced the 911 to the next level. Is it more of a GT car? Absolutely! But it doesn't trade off anything sporting to do so. It's that rare product that gives you the best of all worlds with very little, if any, trade off. This car's sporting ability is the equal of today's GT3 variant, so I can't imagine how good the GT3 variant of this car is going to be. This is what Porsche does that no other car manufacturer seems to be able to do. In the immortal words of Tom Cruise, "Porsche, there is no substitute."
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01-27-2012, 01:44 PM
#8
Rennlist Member
Got behind the wheel last night. Though, it was not moving. Local RI Porsche dealer had an unveiling. Car looked great. It does have a much larger presence than a 997.
But for me, no real gripes. Looks good and will perform even better.
But for me, no real gripes. Looks good and will perform even better.
01-27-2012, 02:32 PM
#9
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Great write up! Making me think about trading in my Cayman S Cabriolet slushbox for a 991 slushbox.
What type of accident? Racing?
What type of accident? Racing?
01-27-2012, 07:38 PM
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01-27-2012, 07:59 PM
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My X-Game dreams were thwarted before they ever began! I'm pretty much not going to be able to heel-toe anymore, I already know that, so thank the Spaghetti Monster for PDK.
The worst part is that this happened pretty far from civilization with only my brother on another dirtbike. There was no way for me to ride out or for any 4 wheeled vehicle to get to me. It took nearly 2 hours for rescue to find us, then another half hour to wait for the airlift. Prior to that I have never had a major injury in my life besides breaking my little toe once and my nose twice in all my 40 years.
I actually wasn't supposed to get the 991 yet, but after my wife saw what I went through she told me to just go ahead and get it, but give up the motorcycles. So I agreed and everyone is happy.
The worst part is that this happened pretty far from civilization with only my brother on another dirtbike. There was no way for me to ride out or for any 4 wheeled vehicle to get to me. It took nearly 2 hours for rescue to find us, then another half hour to wait for the airlift. Prior to that I have never had a major injury in my life besides breaking my little toe once and my nose twice in all my 40 years.
I actually wasn't supposed to get the 991 yet, but after my wife saw what I went through she told me to just go ahead and get it, but give up the motorcycles. So I agreed and everyone is happy.
