rusty22039

My build locks 5/5, and I've been going back and forth on colors. Major color candidates in order of preference:
-Carmine Red- A relatively rare, exclusive color for a P car. Looks great when clean and shiny. If you like red, it puts GR to shame.
-GT Silver- Love this on the 991. But look around at how many Silver cars are out there...
-Agate- Love this too. Hides dirt too.
-Metallic White- This car looks stunning in white, (any color does) although otherwise it looks kinda bland and it has to be super clean to look it's best. The same might be said for the CR.

Base trim will be CF with CF MFW regardless of color choice, plus or minus white gauges.

I really like the Black over Garnet Red interior. It would be nice to have deviated stitching with a 2 tone interior, but it will not work with the CR. With any of the other colors it's a no brainer. Since there are no deviating options for the GTS outside of the configurator, these are the options I see:

-GTS Interior Pkg: I'm not really sold on Alcantara with the solo CR tach and am leaning towards leather. I worry about Alcantara's long-term durability on a DD. Plus it's spendy as you are locked into the 18 way seats as you end up spending $1800 to cover the seat back. I'm finding that the 18 way seats are a $3000 option over the 14 ways on the GTS. As good as the 18 ways may be, I've been pretty happy with my 14 ways on my '13 C4S.

-All Black with CF trim, ? white Gauges? Guards Red Belts here would probably be a mistake on CR. No deviated stitching possible... Is there any other way to spice up the interior? I see plenty of Turbos with just the black interior and they look OK.

-Espresso/Cognac: Looks pretty good, but I have my doubts about browns in a sports car. This is not a Panamera. and worry about the light Cognac carpet. I like the idea of the natural leather however.

-Solid Espresso? with CF and White gauges? Kinda monotone but natural leather. I'd consider it in silver or agate exterior, but CR? Anything else?
-Black/Platinum Grey? Never really considered this and I don't think I've ever seen it. Doesn't look bad on the configurator.

Due to these issues I keep looking at the GT Silver with Black over Garnet Red.

Any suggestions are most welcome.

Rusty

rusty22039

Sorry, I'm having trouble embedding a picture. the link I wanted is: http://www.hrewheels.com/gallery/por...hed-dark-clear

pap2828

I chose GTSilver with alcantara interior and deviated stitching and it is simply divine! I think gets interiors package is a must on GTS as it sets it apart.

I do like carmine red as a colour and black!

eddtiff

When I was in the market for a GTS, Carmine Red was on top of my list by far. In person it is very nice although it does attract some attention. It does look better than white IMO.

Interior in Alcantara is very subjective. It feels good but I'm not really sure how it'll hold up in the long term. The GTS interior package does look good though with the red stitching. I would go GTS package + leather wheel. That way, you get the exclusive GTS package plus the trustworthy leather wheel.

Don't go guards red tach on a Carmine Red exterior cos the 2 reds are different. I almost did that on my White Metallic TT order as I have the Black/Garnet Red interior and backed away in the end because the 2 reds were different.

cutolo91

the gts is a sport car and as the opposite of the normal 911, it looks more agressiv. Not only for this reason it was a must for me to keeping the sport/agressiv look choosing the alcantara interior. I could never ever immagine, for ex, a GT3 with full leather interior. You? ...this is quite the same for the GTS. And please, if you go for alcantara, keep the steering wheel as well in alcantara as i saw a few car with alcantara interior and leather steering. In my eye it looks like a porshce build from the cheap shop....... however it will be YOUR car therefore not easy with feedback. I did the same and finally distance from almost the recommendation and build my own .....but it seems as weel to be a very hugh difference of "living" the car btw the US and the EU

enjoy your GTS

NoGaBiker

Good morning, Rusty. You are where I was 2.5 months ago. Placed an order Saturday, 2/14. Went home and stared compulsively all weekend at internet photos of it and lost my nerve. Had to go back Monday and sit in one again to get back to my Zen place.

Anyway, the choice was GT/black-garnet. Back to that in a minute. I was torn and considered many of the same options as you, and ultimately rejected them for the following reasons. These reasons are completely, 100% correct. For me, at any rate. So here goes:

GT/Espresso. I knew I loved GT, having owned a 2004 Boxster 550 SE in GT/Cocoa. But ultimately, I'd already done the silver/brown thing. It is a beautiful option, no doubt. Gorgeous. See photos in the "GT Silver/Brown Top Cab" thread currently on page one.

Second reason for saying no is, Brown Steering Wheel. Okay, maybe just me, but I believe all wheels, everywhere, under all circumstances, in all countries, in all decades, at all times should be black. (unless they are old thin-rimmed 15" wooden Nardis in vintage sportscars.) My brown one in the Boxster was beautifully turned out, and being dark it wasn't a big deal. But I like black wheels.

I hear people saying "I don't want brown in an uber-sportscar; it's for luxury cars." I get that and can see where they're coming from. But I wouldn't dismiss it for that reason. Historically, both within Porsche and without, Silver/Brown has a rich tradition among great sportscars.

GTS Comm Pack/Carmine contrast. Great look, no doubt. Just realized, sitting extensively in one set up like this on the showroom floor, that

a) I just don't much like the velour interior look. Totally personal. Fake suede is fine, and it has its place in high-end cars, often being the standard interior in the raciest models within a line. I'd like it on a track car. But I would be just a tiny bit self-conscious taking a business associate out to lunch in the GTS interior. Just kinda boy-racer feeling to me.
b) Will it hold up over long haul??? Didn't want to chance it.
c) Like you, I love the 14s and specifically don't like the wings on the 4-way and 18-way seats. They roll my shoulders forward. Plus, all the bolster adjustments in the 18 are wasted on me, so paying more for something I don't need. But GTS Comm only available with 18s or 4s.

Carmine Red exterior. Wow, tough one to fault. A beautiful shade of red. Absolutely nails it. I always thought Arena was too maroon, but Carmine manages to be purely red (unlike the orangey tint of GR), while still being intensely sporty.

So why didn't I get it? I love red cars. I love 911s. I'd love to have an older (89 or earlier) 911 in red. But for me, right now, the current 911 line is quite arresting in its own right. Often seen as excessive, over the top, flaunting, etc. I just feel that putting bright paint on that shape compounds the problem. For me. Note: I LOVE seeing somebody else's CR 911 or GR 991 on the street (a pretty rare occurance, frankly.) But I don't want to be the guy climbing out of one at the restaurant.

Took delivery of my car yesterday evening. When I saw it out front and walked over to it... All was right with the world. All the hand wringing was laid to rest. It was -- it IS -- stunning. Perfect. A visual feast. I heard several people in the dealership (a large Premier dealer) talking about it inside. "Did you see the silver/red GTS? Best looking one I've seen." A small crown kept forming around it of customers while I was inside doing the paperwork.

I wish I could give you photos, but I drove till well after dark, and it's a busy day today. Alas, you will all just have to wait.

CSK 911 C4S

May we all have your troubles.

I vote for agate w/ black/red interior.

rusty22039

Thanks for the post NoGaBiker. It was very helpful and echoed many of my sentiments. I know in my heart of hearts that GT Silver is the logical choice. It works with everything. I just have a very hard time passing on the arrest me CR. It is beautiful, but perhaps best on someone else's car.

Glad to see that someone else thinks the 18 way seats are over the top. I'm shying away from the GTS Interior on this basis alone, although it does define what the package is all about. It is also hard to pass up all that deviated stitching too, but you do get a lot back with Black/Garnet Red. What did you do with your gauges in your interior? Did you leave them black, or deviate them?

There's a 997.2 GT3 for sale with 19K miles down at the dealer. Someone tried to clean up the Alcantara wheel. It looks like a **** carpet and would need to be replaced. The rest of the Alcantara looks OK though.

Enjoy your car in good health.

rusty22039

"I vote for agate w/ black/red interior." I wish I had the options you did with the TTS. Don't know why Porsche decided to limit the GTS builds, but I find it very restrictive. The Agate also is stunning with Espresso/Cognac. But then, there's that brown thing again.

chuck911

Actually, a GT3 with full leather I could imagine. In that case you'd be buying a car with superior performance and making it look more civilized than it is. But you keep the performance, which is the whole point of the car. With a GTS though the whole point of the car is the look. As someone recently pointed out its no faster than an S, depending on options slower maybe even. But they dressed it up to look fast. So you are definitely right about the wheel. The last thing you would ever want to do is lose the Alcantara wheel with its cool little red thingy on it. Its the whole point of the car.

rusty22039

Does the stock Alcantara wheel in the GTS Pkg come with the cool Red stripe at 12 o'clock?

rusty22039

I had the option of going for a nicely optioned base TT over my current GTS build and turned it down. If I wanted more power in a road car, I'd be shopping elsewhere. I think the GTS hits the sweet spot of the 991 line, albeit for a price.

jcsv

I'm very biased, but I couldn't be happier with my Carmine and Espresso/Cognac combo. A few pictures in the thread here. I also went with carbon trim and white gauges. Cognac will get blue jean stains, but so far the detailer has done a good job getting them off when I take the car in.

shaytun

OP, I feel your pain. My build started as plain white with black/garnet interior, then I changed to CWM, then I was smitten with Carmine, but never changed to it. On the interior front, I decided to change to all black....my current order is plain white on the GTS/Carmine interior.
The only way you'll answer your question is to walk into any nearby dealer that may have the color you want. First off, Carmine is a gorgeous red. It looks amazing with the black accents. In my opinion the two best interior options are the Carmine GTS package if you want Alcantara or all black leather (even without deviated stitching). I think these two are in tune with the sporty intentions of the GTS.
GT Silver or any white with black/garnet looks beautiful. I sat in a Turbo with that interior and it's lovely. So why did I choose the GTS interior package even though it will be a daily drive with high mileage? Ultimately, it matches the character of the car. I know it's not as durable as leather but I couldn't resist. Will the steering wheel wear? Probably. But I'll try to take care of it more. Worst case, in 4 or 5 years, I'll maybe spend the $1k to replace it if it's that bad and assuming I'll want to keep the car.
Don't hold me to any of this...I may change my order tomorrow to another combo

Jcsv, that is a beautiful interior. Whenever, I see a Red/brown or tan combo, I think of Ferrari.

Chuck, I'm pretty sure the 12 o'clock marker doesn't come on the GTS steering wheel. Doubt it's available even with Porsche Exclusive, but worth asking.

NoGaBiker

Actually, on mine the marker is there, it's just black. In other words there's a half inch wide band at 12 o'clock, but it's not red.

And Chuck hit the nail on the head -- that band is the whole reason I bought the car.