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At last, I have officially joined the T club!
I picked up from dealer tonight. Snapped this driveway pic just before it began to rain on my newly ceramic coating. Was too eager to post, so please ignore the orange markers up front as I have since installed clear side markers tonight in the garage.
Working myself on a new 992 T. Had contact with my dealer today and he already had an allocation I could get. So production week 2 of November already. Now we just need to work on a nice deal. The new T is €10k more expensive so I will not lose much on mine. So I will leave some options on the new one saving that money difference. But I also need to add some options like the exterior color. Could opt for white though. No more sunroof as explained before since I will skip all the alcantara options. No more 18 ways. But adding the LED+ and the Bose. So all in all it would be more expensive. But I am willing to pay something of course.
Any suggestions and advice? Although speccing a car is really my thing already, but wondering what you think or maybe I forgot something:
Don’t want to add the other leather options. Want to keep it clean. Just like my current T. But it’s hard for a leather and deviated stitching lover. But the T ethos remains less luxury to me and so I tend to leave out the extra leather options. Back seat leather with blue inlay however will probably be the only food for thought. Also thinking about the sport design. But I don’t like the SD front on a T and €4650 is not exactly very cheap. My point was to safe money and not lose any money on my current one. So left this option out.
Please go white. I know you have seen all the colors so you are able to chose yourself. But saw yesterday a sharkblue gts (with aeropackage...) here in the neighborhood. But the blue is to blend. Too much. No popping or what so ever. White will come out better with all the details giving some contrast.
After postponing it for months, I finally was able to make and appointment and have my PEC Day at Hockenheim, this week. There were no other Ts present (PEC or privately owned).
The drive to Hockenheim went as usual these days: the autobahn full, lots of road work going on, mostly limited to 130 km/h, with a few derestricted sections now and then. The T purrs happily in 7th gear, Burmester can drown the road noise, if I want to and the Goodyears are perfect for road trips. Without hypermiling (actually, there were only 2 cars that overtook me and only because they were going way over the limit), I managed, as average: 110 km/h and 9.2 l/100 km.
The PEC Hockenheim is newly built, inside the “Stadium” infield area of the track. It has a skid pad, two rectangular pads for slalom and avoidance maneuvers and one that can be made wet and also has a sliding plate. It also has a nice 2.5 km handling track, nice S-eses, an uphill section, even a 3:5 scale Karussell.
The building is in this new “Industrial design” style, with partially exposed concrete walls, etc. A Carrera GT and a 918 are on the ground floor. First floor has a nice restaurant, with a view to the track.
We were greeted, then shown an instruction video and got split into smaller groups. Mine was made out of three drivers plus instructor.
My first drive was in a Boxster GTS 4.0 PDK
First impression: very snug, two 6+ft adults would be a tight fit. Had the 2-way seat Sport Plus, Alcantara and shiny carbon fiber trim. The PCM/center console is from the 991 era and it feels outdated. The seating position is higher than in my 4-way, I was constantly reaching on the left side, for the lever to try and lower the seat more.
The sound it makes is nice, a little “cleaner” (can’t find a better term for it) than my T (but based on volume and alacrity, the T’s sound still wins) and also, it feels like it comes from closer to you than in the T (where it comes from where the trunk would be, normally). Upshifts under full throttle, in sport plus, sound like gun shots. Riot. Nice linear response, a little low on torque compared to the T, it gains speed slower too.
Responsive steering, rotates nicely, you can feel it’s mid-engine and under braking, very nice and pointy nose. Too eager with the throttle on turn exit and it will understeer forever. Trying to break traction with warm tires on the grippy surface has no chance to succeed due to how the torque builds up, so you need to lift/short brake in order to bring the nose back in line. Managed to find a workaround and braked extremely late, until I felt the car was “on its nose”, rotated nicely with a hint of oversteer, punched the throttle and counter steered the smidge of slip until I was on the right trajectory, existing the turn at full throttle.
Braked not quite like a 911 and after three-four full braking maneuvers it kind of started to overheat a little, but still offered almost full braking power.
On the 2.5 km handling track, it had no issues keeping up with a Taycan and a S Cabrio. Turning in is nice, but nowhere near 911 with RWS nice. Honest but somehow muted steering feel and response compared to the T with RWS. Good chassis that inspire confidence, in contrast with the T or the S, I could very early feel where the limit was and this give you confidence. Aka…you can drive quickly earlier.
Second was a Carrera S PDK, with Sport Design package, PDK, Michelin PS4S, RWS and PDCC
We repeated almost everything we have done during the first “run”: accelerating up to 80 km/h, avoidance maneuver and changing on the low grip surface, trying to catch the rear. After, a slalom, 180° turn, followed again by a slalom and finishing with a small sprint, full braking and another “avoidance” maneuver. And many laps of the handling track.
Our instructor mentioned my car control and that my “track experience” can be seen in the lines, braking, etc. Felt nice and said thank you.
Weirdly, the car felt less eager to turn compared to the Boxster and a lot less then my T. The Michelins have a higher grip limit than my Goodyears, but the threshold is smaller at the limit. The Goodyears will start slowly sliding and you have ages to react. The Michelins will inform you firmly that you are nearing the grip limit and have less than 1 seconds to unwind/open the steering or lift a little. The car settles back in an instant after that. My theory regarding the heaviness when rotating…the PDCC might get in the way with its wizardry of active roll bars and dampers. It feels like a GT car, but only when going straight. The T turns and rotates a lot better.
It had the 18-way seats – very nice, they are hugging you better than the 4-way (without playing with the bolsters). BUT, with one huge problem which makes me happy that I went with the 4 ways – you sit higher. Some 2-3 cm higher…A LOT. Also, despite having the sport exhaust, the noise it made was muted compared to the T. And, under acceleration, I could not say there was much over the T. And there is definitely turbo lag present. We did 2-3 launch control starts…not impressed. Even my ancient C63 felt quicker. Not to mention how the CS goes.
Also present, the carbon fiber trim. Lol…It looked a lot better in the Boxster and there is no comparison with how it looks in the GT3/RS. And the carbon trim on the steering wheel looked and felt like it was just a sticker. Was actually sad that I could not option it in my T, now I am more than glad that I was able to have the trim painted in GT silver.
Yeah, having the PDK makes you lazy and you can just concentrate on nailing the perfect braking, the perfect line and opening the throttle at the exact moment. So, if you plan to track your car a lot, take the PDK. If you want a nice T for the back roads, manual is the way to go.
After a nice dinner with the kind of “you ate but you are still hungry when leaving, Michelin star level of cooking and presenting” food, I finally got back to my T, for the road home.
Immediately, while maneuvering to exit the parking lot, the RWS made felt its presence and accelerating to get out, the linear and almost NA feel of the base engine also. And the nice sound, plus the involvement of rowing the manual gearbox. Sublime. The way home went quicker by, the autobahn was almost empty in the evening/night. Near home, on a de-restricted and empty section, I went for the 300 km/h which it did reach in 6th and there was some room for more. The matrix LEDs are nice, but constantly blinding the incoming traffic if left in “auto”.
In conclusion, after this day, I am glad that I optioned my car the way I did and there is ONE single option I would not take – the matrix LED. The “swiveling LED”, the ones without the silver bit on top (@Macboy, I know you like it every time someone is mentioning this silver bit…it comes back to your mind and can’t shake it anymore) are more than enough.
Everything else, I would take the same. Ok, maybe Bose instead of Burmester also. And, I will never get a 911 without the RWS anymore, once you experience it, you can never go back, without it, the car will feel sluggish and resistant to turn, almost like it has a huge wheelbase or chronic understeer.
So, if you have the chance, do the PEC, it’s fun and you can learn a lot, especially about car behavior at the limit and honing your car control skills. I am glad I have done it, cleared some things regarding the GTS 4.0 and brought me closer to the limit in the 911, without risking my T or doing stupid stuff on public roads.
Plenty of parking space, still glowing under the Zandvoort patina and sand (need to wash it!)
Waiting for our turn, in the lobby.
The view from the lobby
On the way to PEC, infield area
Outside, a smal section of the 2.5 km handling track, the Karussell
a nice GT in the lobby, we share the same color
In the "briefing" room, 918
Imagine the same car, without the EV ballast, just a higher revving V8.
My second car of the day, Carrera S
Funnily, my T feels more upscale inside. Also, don't like this design and hello to my fans
Boy racer
A toy for grownups
A friend couldn't believe that this was standard and legal
DRS detail
Extracting everything, not just money for the ADM.
At last, I have officially joined the T club!
I picked up from dealer tonight. Snapped this driveway pic just before it began to rain on my newly ceramic coating. Was too eager to post, so please ignore the orange markers up front as I have since installed clear side markers tonight in the garage.
Working myself on a new 992 T. Had contact with my dealer today and he already had an allocation I could get. So production week 2 of November already. Now we just need to work on a nice deal. The new T is €10k more expensive so I will not lose much on mine. So I will leave some options on the new one saving that money difference. But I also need to add some options like the exterior color. Could opt for white though. No more sunroof as explained before since I will skip all the alcantara options. No more 18 ways. But adding the LED+ and the Bose. So all in all it would be more expensive. But I am willing to pay something of course.
Any suggestions and advice? Although speccing a car is really my thing already, but wondering what you think or maybe I forgot something:
Don’t want to add the other leather options. Want to keep it clean. Just like my current T. But it’s hard for a leather and deviated stitching lover. But the T ethos remains less luxury to me and so I tend to leave out the extra leather options. Back seat leather with blue inlay however will probably be the only food for thought. Also thinking about the sport design. But I don’t like the SD front on a T and €4650 is not exactly very cheap. My point was to safe money and not lose any money on my current one. So left this option out.
Go for white! And change the interior's "yellow" details to green, including the stitching. Sharkblue looks nice when clean and it's sunny outside. During dark days is kinda fade. And you save on not having to option the exclusive rear lights.
Good choice in going without sunroof anymore (mine is also used very little...) Stay on standard, no SD.
Otherwise, looks like we like the same options
After postponing it for months, I finally was able to make and appointment and have my PEC Day at Hockenheim, this week. There were no other Ts present (PEC or privately owned).
It had the 18-way seats – very nice, they are hugging you better than the 4-way (without playing with the bolsters). BUT, with one huge problem which makes me happy that I went with the 4 ways – you sit higher. Some 2-3 cm higher…A LOT.
Yeah, having the PDK makes you lazy and you can just concentrate on nailing the perfect braking, the perfect line and opening the throttle at the exact moment. So, if you plan to track your car a lot, take the PDK. If you want a nice T for the back roads, manual is the way to go.
Two points:
During my PEC day I drove both a manual T and a PDK S, and if I tracked my car a lot I would def choose a MT every time!
Yes it was more challenging to get the coordination and gear change timing right etc but when you do get it right the satisfaction level is greater than with PDK.
Regarding the 18 ways, was your comment about sitting 3cm higher than 4 ways just a theory or were you able to actually measure it somehow?
Wrestling with the standard with ventilated, standard with T interior (slate grey) or T-interior leather (slate grey).
My thoughts: skip the T package. You pay a lot, but you get a little. Unless you go for green. But slate grey seems the most waste of money. The cloth is the same. The stripes are not very visible. On the green one they are. You don’t get the stitching on the steering wheel and manual boot. If you order deviated stichting you do get those. Don’t skip on the leather. Standard interior only if you really don’t care or went for the T ethos. Than it’s fine. Ventilated seats means you don’t get the checkered flag but full leather and the 911 logo on the headrest is gone. Be aware of that. Just my 2 cents.
Originally Posted by Uhu
Go for white!
Thank you for that crazy review with pictures. What a comeback to this topic! Read it like a book and enjoyed it until you brought those headlights up again lol. But serious. Super piece of material and pictures. You are the second one about mentioning white. Might consider this. But yellow was always my favorite although I like the green.
Originally Posted by shane_b
A few additions to mine yesterday including a co-driver!
The following 6 users liked this post by tourenwagen:
ECNJ (08-26-2023),HerrDr (08-25-2023),Macboy (08-28-2023),Uhu (08-25-2023),Vernin (08-28-2023),Wilder (08-25-2023) and 1 others liked this post. (Show less...)
hope everyone is well and enjoying their cars. I just took mine for my first night drive and had some questions for those experienced with 992
I noticed there is a small light in the center dome area where the reading lights and SOS button are above the mirror. This light stayed on the whole time I was driving, and it seemed excessively bright! But I couldnt find any way to shut it off.
Thanks T army friends!
In the Radar install thread there's a post by someone who took off that trim piece and cut a yellow - colored piece of plastic to insert between the light and the cover to dim it down a bit. Check it out. There is no control to dim that light AFAIK
in before someone quotes @Uhu 's post with all the pics
Haha. At least in his case, it would merit it. @Uhu always delivers. I think @Macboy and @Uhu should collaborate and put together a 992 Carrera T coffee table book, full of their lovely photography and interesting stories. Limited to 992, of course. I reserve copy #911/992. Starting the petition here—who else is in?
The following 6 users liked this post by Dream in PTS:
Cartod (08-27-2023),HerrDr (08-25-2023),Macboy (08-28-2023),tourenwagen (08-25-2023),Vernin (08-28-2023),Wilder (08-25-2023) and 1 others liked this post. (Show less...)
@Uhu thanks for the great write up. The T is indeed the only Carrera to have. Zero interest in the S or GTS. It's the one that has the most lineage from its predecessors and the one you can more properly wring out. I completely agree about the Goodyears. I've been such a Michelin fan for so long that I'm glad I was forced to try the GY. Dare I say I like them better? I guess the only point where we diverge is in RAS. I still prefer the old school feel and sorry but I don't feel the car understeer at all without it. I would contemplate RAS on a mostly-track focused car but love its absence on my mostly canyon use car.
@Macboy if I get a second T, it'll be white. It's like a canvas that you can add color to. I have a thing for 73 RSs and would do a tribute.
08-24-2023, 11:21 PM
And change the interior's "yellow" details to green, including the stitching. Sharkblue looks nice when clean and it's sunny outside. During dark days is kinda fade. And you save on not having to option the exclusive rear lights.
