This is exactly right. Customer orders have not been strong (yet?) at all.

 

Just want you guys to get a fair deal

 

I am not trying to be argumentative, because I suspect you are correct, but do you have the data to support this claim? Or is it just the perceived wisdom?

 

anecdotal evidence from speaking to a few dealers.

 

I agree with LCW. Demand is soft.


It's really hard to beat the 991.1. The 991.2 doesn't bring much to the table. Carplay, increased MPG, anemic exhaust note with lower emissions isn't going to do it for many. The HP and increased low end torque is awesome though.


The 718 is even worse since they also went to 4 cylinders in addition to switching to the turbo. This car will suffer the same fate as the 912 and wont last 3 years. I promise. The change from the 993 to the 996 was made before social media was around. The 718 is going to get crushed by the free market place.


I want Porsche to succeed because I want to buy many more of these awesome cars before I kick the bucket. They just need to listen to the folks who buy their cars. No one asked for turbos.......only the regulators.


People can't get enough of the GT4 and 991R.

 

I don't entirely agree with subshooter. I have one on order and it will be here in 6 weeks time, which is why I started this thread. I believe this will be great car in many respects. True, I did not ask for a turbo and agree that the NA engine was a classic. But I believe the new car will be awesome in many other ways. All I am saying is that I get the distinct feeling from talking to dealers and my own experience that, so far, they collected fewer customer orders than they perhaps anticipated. All this means is that it might be possible to carve out a couple extra % points in discounts and that cars are arriving to customers faster than previously anticipated. Obviously, I do not think this model will be a flop. Perhaps, once people have the chance to drive one at the end of this month, more customer orders will be coming in.... or maybe not...
Again, I don't mean for this to be an argument over NA or turbo and how the new model sucks.... I just wanted to have a forum for folks who have placed orders or thinking of placing one to share information and excitement.

 

I debated back and forth between ordering a 991.2 or looking for a 991.1 Targa 4S; ultimately I wanted it specced a certain way and went that route with the order of a 991.2. My dealer has a 2016 Targa 4 GTS black/black sitting in the showroom, as well as a Lava Orange Targa 4S. I could get very good deals on either.

There is nothing inherently wrong with technological improvement; Carplay and increased MPG are not BAD things. Exhaust notes are subjective. I have owned many a car with loud exhausts (355 Spider with Tubi, a 430 Spider, 360 Modena, 599, and the loudest of all a Jaguar F-Type V8S Roadster.) At my age, I find that noise fatiguing. While I like the exhaust notes of the naturally aspirated Porsches it's only one part of the driving experience. I'd rather have the torque available at lower revs than continuously having to flog the car; isn't that also part of the driving experience? I am sure the new engines will be different in character (my last Porsche was a 996 Turbo; last naturally aspirated one was a 996 C4 Cab) as has been already extensively documented. Technology marches on. Ferrari is now turbo charging its mid-engine V8s.

YMMV. I hope I'm not making a mistake, but who knows?

 

What he said

 

I think that's very respectful and and great idea. It's an exciting time with a painful wait.

Back when the first GTS's were delivered, they held them at port as to count them on the books for the new sales year or whatever. Same time of the year as now. I predict the same will happen with the .2's and in conjunction with the "official launch".

 

I don't agree either. Demand for the 991.2 seems pretty much the same. Indeed, there are still a bunch of unsold 991.1s sitting in showrooms across the country while the 991.2 are moving out the door.

And I definitely don't agree that the 718 will fail. Quite to the contrary, I think it is going to be a great success. It finally has a chance to forge its own very distinct personality within the Porsche line-up.

Previously whenever I considered adding a 981 to my garage, I just ended up concluding that it was too close in character to my 991. It sounded the same, engine characteristics were the same, etc, etc. And I think a lot of 991 owners came to the same conclusion. That's possibly why sales of the 981 never quite lived up to Porsche's expectations .

But now, precisely because it promises to be a very different Porsche, I am very seriously considering adding a 718 Cayman to my garage when they finally appear.

 

Keep in mind we are a few months behind in the US. 991.2s have not hit showrooms yet. They are arriving in a couple of weeks with launch sometime in the third week of March.

 

I suspect that you have never driven a 991 and 981 back to back on a track. I agree with you that much is the same including the exhaust note, front end looks, interior etc. But on the track or even "angry" country road driving, these cars are TOTALLY different. The 991 plants its heavy rear end on the pavement and powers out of a turn like nothing else and then leaves the 981 in the rear view mirror on the straight. In the turns, the 911S becomes a road block to the mid-engine 981 with a good driver. You can feel the rear weight bias in the 911 big time. Both cars are awesome but totally different. They complement each other. I'm sorry, but these are not the same cars.


On the 718: if you believe the recent R&T article, the 718 has fake exhaust sound piped through the speakers similar to the new BMWs. That is just embarrassing. A poser car. You can keep it in your garage, not mine. I say that affectionately. .


To get back on topic: The 991.2 has a lot to offer and the folks waiting for one are right to be excited. I'm going to attend two dealer rollouts in a couple of weeks. I want one and will get a GTS unless the rumors are true that the 992 has a much wider butt with fender flares - then I will wait. Hopefully, one of them will have a NA engine or they fixed the PSE exhaust note.

 

IMHO the 991.2s will do OK once people start test-driving them, and/or once Porsche gets a year or two of production under their belt. There's a lot to be said in favor of not being the first on the block for a change this radical. The early 996s were not kind to their first owners. That's what people remember, even though the 991.2 is no 996. Turbocharged 911s were always going to be necessary anyway, regardless of regulatory pressures, just to keep up in the horsepower wars.

The 718 is probably dead meat. You can't lop off two cylinders and jack up the price, and expect to turn a car that was already a slow seller into a sudden success.

 

I have indeed driven a 991 and 981 back to back multiple times including running a salmon course at the Porsche track on Leipzig. And sure they handle quite differently but from an engine perspective, it's quite a predictable experience. Oh, and they do not pipe fake sound into the 718 cabin via the speakers like BMW. If R&T are saying that, then they are wrong.

 

Perhaps you know more than R&T and that is good to hear on the 718. But here is the quote:


"In Sport mode, an electromagnet amplifies the nicer frequencies from the engine and transmits them to the cabin". That is a speaker.


http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars...er-first-ride/


If the 718 has this I wouldn't be surprised if they did this in the 991.2.