Curious to see how many people ordered the car without it, and their thoughts?

I ordered my base 991 WITHOUT it after having owned 2 of the new 958 chassis Cayenne's w/ the option. On the cayenne's I appreciated the steering when parking (wasn't necessary but made it easy) but did not like it at all once the car was moving...

On the 991, I feel the steering without is still VERY easy to maneuver when parking, and still feels great when driving. I have test driven several other 991's (all dealer spec cars seem to have the power steering plus) and again feel the steering is too light while parking but even worse once the car is moving (feels like a lexus LS460 or similar) until you get above 40mph or so when you stop feeling it (not sure about fellow members but I dont take many corners on my daily commute over 40mph so the feeling is always there.)

 

rijo, I didn't vote as I'm still deciding if I llike it or not. Had I ordered the car (rather than purchase existing dealer inventory) I probably would not have gotten it. I'm leaning towards not liking it as anything that numbs the steering on a Porsche just isn't in the correct "spirit" of things:cool

PS I too noticed that most of the dealers inventory had this option...

 

I tested with and without out...as I do not plan to park in tight spots, didn't see the need.

 

First let me say: It is not important.
It only does anything at all at lower speeds where road surface feedback is, well, pretty pointless in my opinion. It has no effect at all at higher driving speeds.
It's a fairly inexpensive option. It does make steering at parking speeds incredibly light (a single finger affair), it's much lighter even than the power steering of my merc at similar speeds. I liked that, in fact I liked it quite a lot.

There is a rumour floating around that the normal mode steering has been stiffened a bit on currently built models - following early criticism - this makes the power steering plus perhaps a little more valuable.
Any Porsche techies on this forum to confirm this ?

Rainier

 

didn't find it at all necessary

 

i never understood the "ease while parking" stuff, with a rear engine vehicle.. steering it easy all the time.. my exige didn't even have power steering and had a teeny tiny steering wheel (no leverage) and I could park it in any spot... yeah the wheel doesnt move much while at standstill but roll it one inch and you can turn it wherever you please.

 

+1

Never fully understood the need for this feature. Having parallel parked numerous 20-30 year old cars, I've gotten used to having to strong arm them sometimes, and even then, while this feature sounds cool it just doesn't feel good to me... Except when it makes parking lighter on the arms. But still, I never felt it was necessary (or even helpful enough to sacrifice steering stiffness at speeds higher than parking speeds).

 

Without the PS+ the car is just normal (and right IMO) with power steering - like a modern sports car, as opposed to non-power steering cars of old (way old I guess with some exceptions). The car is perfectly fine and with 6,000 miles on it I have never given a thought to the steering needing any additional assistance. Living in NYC with this kind of traffic I've had my opportunities to use the steering requiring many low speed quick changes.

I suppose then that the PS+ is really for the 991 owner looking for an additional 'ultra-convenience', to 'one-finger' the parallel park. In this case then it's purely a matter of opinion and perception. I'm sure it might provide me with more 'convenience' as well but I am not suffering the least without it. I feel it's just perfect as it is. And again IMHO, and I'm no authority, I think that a more solid (not hard, but less assisted) steering feel at low speeds is to me more characteristic of a sports car feel.

 

When I have had both Porsches and Ferraris at the same time in the past, the Ferraris always had much lighter steering than the Porsches. I passed these off as differences, with no preference given to which was better. But I will say one thing: It is a lot easier to move from a hard-steering car to an easy-steering car. Going in the other direction, the difficult-to-steer car feels surprisingly heavy.

My 991 has power steering plus; I don't currently own a Ferrari; and I don't miss the heavy steering of my last 997. I could get used to it again if I had to, but I don't want to. I'm distracted by the heavy steering on other cars I occasionally drive because I'm used to the lighter steering in my 991.

 

Interesting results so far. Does using the Sport or Sport+ button affect the steering feel at all?

 

I don't have power steering plus and don't find the steering heavy at parking speeds- it seems about right all the time. I do have PASM Sport (stiffer shorter springs and heavier sway bars than standard) and spacers and it steering feel is as good as any Porsche I have ever driven (despite it being rock steady rather than dancing in the hand).

 

I just received my new 991S Cab w/o the PS+ and I am VERY HAPPY to not have it. Steering is so light when parking but so precise at low speed, that any additional assistance will ruined. IMO.