GordyRay

Wow, this is really lousy news. I was hoping for a surge of Torque and hoping for a decent sound from the PSE. Based on this information, I am going to hold on to my 991.1 C4S. Wow, this is really bad news. Oh well, I just may be buying a GTS sitting on the lot somewhere now. My car is still thrilling to drive every day and it is my 16th Porsche. This just sucks. With no decent sound or crescendo of sound matched by acceleration you don't have a sports car feel. What a huge report of lousy news. Oh well, I appreciate the honesty and accurate reporting. Thanks guys.

Chris3963

I don't want people to mis-interpret my review. I went in with big expectations, maybe too big, that weren't met. So let's be clear, it is a better car in almost very single aspect....it rides better, it handles better, it steers a bit better and it's faster.

So it is definitely not a dud. The only aspect where it really fails is sound. To first time 911 buyers, that possibly won't matter....and I suspect to buyers coming from older 911s, it may not matter as much either. Why?

We should not forget that what makes the biggest different to the drive experience inside a 991 is the Sound Symposer. While the 991.2 has two Sound Symposers, they are nowhere near as effective due to the muffled effect of the turbos and the smaller engine capacity. Some of you have even been so annoyed by the sound from the Symposer that you have blocked it off. If so, you may not notice as much of difference.

However, when it comes to me, the first thing I do when I hop in the car is switch on the exhaust. I like the sound.

And just to be clear, the new 991.2 still sounds quite good outside the car....it's just that the inside sound is the problem. That was the biggest disappointment for me....it changed the way I felt about the car by a surprising amount. It made me realise how "emotional" a simple sound can make you feel.

Now, this is just how I reacted. Others will react differently. So please do not discount the car from your future calculations until you drive it. I haven't discounted it...yet.

MagicRat

Re sound, I spoke to the UK distributor for Akrapovic exhausts yesterday and he says he anticipates a lot of business from the 991.2. If you go to the Akra website and listen to the sound clips from the 991 TTS with and without their exhaust, it's massively improved with, and I think no-one's saying the .2 doesn't already sound better out of the box than the TT.

Sure, Akra is expensive, but if you're spending £100k/$150k+ on a car, and the only problem with that car is the sound, then I'd say it's worth it. If I do end up with a .2, it would make a good first birthday present for it...

Jabs1542

As much as people are beating on the 991.2 you have to admit that there will be a huge surge of aftermarket tweaks, sound tweaks, performance tweaks (who knows what kind of insane hp they will squeeze out of a 3.0 L turbo charged engine). This has the potential to be a fun ride - and don't split the threads, I don't want to miss any of this.

Chris3963

As I mentioned above, the sound outside the car is not that bad. The main problem is the sound you can (or can't) hear inside the car. Thats where most of the emotion comes from when driving.

So while 3rd party exhausts may improve the sound outside the car, I don't know that they will improve the sound inside the car that much because the induction noise piped thru the Sound Symposer will not change.

simbal

Good points guys. Question is how much time do you spend outside the car versus inside the car?!

STG

Look to the current "real" Turbo and Turbo S as examples. Fine cars in their own right, but nothing like the 3.4/3.8 NA Carrera experience. No exhaust guys have been able to replicate it. It's impossible. A different engine technology. Those who hold that part of the experience will be disappointed.

I bought a 991.1 C2S and paid a premium because it was an experience and car that BMW or Mercedes couldn't offer. It would have been a compromise. Moving forward with the 991.2 and beyond that line gets gets a bit closer to the other guys in my opinion.

There are guys that complain about the 3.8 S HP and torque compared to other cars. That's something very high in their priority list which I can respect. To me, the whole package and experience is what I'm looking for. The reason I'm not a Viper or Vette dude.

I like a few things about the 991.2 of course. As a package deal, not for me ... I can't wait for more great write ups and the chance to take a test drive myself early next year. I'm done for now! Will watch from the sidelines and read what's posted from the real RL automotive journalists.

GSIRM3

There's a reason Porsche didn't switch from NA engines to turbos until they were forced to.

Mlbraptor

^^^
Exactly...

dethred

I have a 991 C4S and a 2014 Viper GTS, and yes the two cars are polar opposites in almost every way. The refinement on the Viper is minimal, but it can be somewhat comfortable on the highway. I was half expecting my 911 to relegate my Viper to the rare cruise, but the difference in power is more than tangible.

I am more than willing to sacrifice the refinement of the 911 to take the Viper out and experience the significant performance gap between the two. That 240 horsepower difference (throw an S2000 motor into the 911 along with it's flat 6, and that's what you'd feel) is insane.

I think Porsche might begin to realize that if they're going to ask customers to sacrifice things like engine character, exhaust note, induction noise, etc. for the long term, they're going to need to put more on the table than a measly 20 horsepower. If my Viper was in the same performance ballpark as my 911, I'd almost certainly have sold the Viper already. There's no way in hell I'll give up one of the defining characteristics of the 911, for 20 horsepower and a few tiny refinement upgrades.

Penn4S

I am a former owner of 4 Porsche turbos the last a 997 turbo, wish i still had it. All had Europipe exhausts and the sound was amazing. If this new car turns out to be a stunner in performance and the only real issue is sound that is a fixable problem.
sal

Archimedes

At least it doesn't sound as bad as the new 718 Boxster/Cayman 4 cylinder. The first sound clip of that floating around out there sounds awful.

GordyRay

I spoke to my Porsche Salesman today, I have been buying Porsches from him since the 80's. He told me that the European PSE is still muted compared to the U.S. version because of noise restrictions. The Porsche Sport Exhaust (PSE) that he checked out down in Atlanta sounded good to him. That was good news to hear. I am waiting to see what Shark Werks comes up with for an exhaust for the 991.2. The sound is critical to enjoying the thrill of driving a 911.

coxswain

Haha. . . We 991.1 owners are a crazy bunch. We are so obsessed with the exhaust sound; much much more so than Ferrari 458 owners, as it seems. People and even 458 owners will think we are all crazy. Kudos to us!!

(Sorry that I had to quote all these concerns about the sound.)

Chris3963

Not sure what your your sales rep is smoking but there is no difference to the PSE exhaust in the various markets. The noise restriction is addressed by fact that you can close off the PSE via a button.

The sound from the PSE, when open, in Europe is LOUD. Almost,WTF illegally loud.