Drew46

I took delivery of my car Friday afternoon and only had the chance to put about 200 miles on it before dropping it off for the ALP/Radenso install. But here are some initial impressions from a first time Porsche owner:

• Sound: The car sounds great to me. I smiled ear to ear when I turned that key for the first time. I also notice a significant difference between Normal and Sport. Tons of burbles and crackles on Sport. Frankly, anything louder that Normal for long rides would be matrimonially challenging.
• I really like the GT steering wheel and how it fits my hands - particularly the thumb notches at 3:00 and 9:00. it does block a lot of the dash, but I find myself already automatically adapting by shifting my head when I want to see a blocked area.
• Many people commented that the Targa does not really feel like a top down convertible but much more like a large sunroof. I have to strongly disagree. I love it!
• Wind Buffeting: the diffuser does a good job of, well, diffusing most of this. But it is there with the top down and the windows all the way up. Keeping the windows down about an inch makes it almost entirely go away.
• I bought the AWE foilers but have not had a chance to install them. I have not had any issue with wind noise at speed (other than as described above). If I had not already bought these, i probably would not see the need - yet.
• Having come from 2 M5s, it is definitely taking a bit of time to really adjust to the lower seating position.
• I assigned the steering wheel diamond button to Homelink but haven't needed it. So far, the over-complicated Porsche implementation of Homelink works fine. Granted, I have changed my routine of closing the door while I back out of the driveway to closing it after I back out and I am no longer using the back up camera. But I actually like that as it eliminates the lag of the camera turning off even after I have started forward. So, no harm, no foul for me on this, but I still don't see how this is better than a physical button on the rear view.
• I installed the SmartTop. Other than a bit of a challenge to unplug the existing harness from the box (see my post in that link), it works great and is a must-add IMHO.
• I hate the (lack of) interface with the radio. I mostly listen to XM and have about 6 or so favorites but primarily listen to 3 station. The lack of any physical quick access button to just go to a designated station is annoying. If I am on Fav 2 and want to go to Fav !, I need to scroll through them all. Just a poorly thought-out function. I may re-program the diamond button for station back, but that still is a poor solution.
• I am still looking for a good place for a MagSafe phone mount/charger. I put the one in the center console and that works great, but I would love a place to just stick the phone when I hoping in and out for short rides. I ordered a suction cup mount from Amazon and will see if that will hold on the ledge above the light switches/key to the left of the wheel.

And a couple of questions that I have not been able to answer with search or the manual:

• Is there any way to program the 2 outermost dials on the instrument cluster? I have found the toggle between digital and analog clock for the left one, but I don't really need another clock and outside temp gauge and it would be nice to use those for other "gauges".
• I found the menu to specify what readouts you get on the dial to the right of the tach and I am able to display the radio station name there. Is it possible for that to show artist/song as well. I like to have that and often have Waze on the center screen.
• I like that the center screen displays CarPlay in full screen. Is there an option to screen split ApplePlay and something else (like the audio screen) if I prefer that?

Lowdown

Thanks for the update and the feedback. I am so excited to get mine.

The right most can be a compass as well but I think that is all right most cluster can be. You should be able to control what is in right most cluster with your thumb wheel on the right side.

Sadly I think only the older ones can accomdate the split screen feature but I could be wrong.

3rdpedal

I have a 21 so the prior PCM. So I don't get CarPlay full screen
And I don't like the widgets that take up those squares. Someone here once said you can program which widgets, but I have never seen how. oh well.

As to the diamond button. I use the steering wheel one for back track and the dash one for homelink but like you back out, close the camera and hit the onscreen and if it isn't there, hit the toggle to get it to come up. The GPS function works great and it comes up when I get close.

As to the dials, I don't know about the outermost, however, my usage is the one to the right of the tach I set for vehicle info or whatever it is called, and I selected Customized from their list. This gives me: Oil Temp, Water Temp, Oil Pressure, and Turbo Boost. I use the two temps because I usually keep the car under 4000 rpm until it warms up, especially in colder weather.

dhirm5

Have you tried the SiriusXM carplay app? I've been told the streaming quality is better than the ridiculous level of compression they use on many stations. The UI might be better - I haven't seen it, but worth a shot.

Go Bruins

I use the SiriusXM app in Apple CarPlay. Works great, and I don't have to toggle between PCM and CarPlay. The advantage is not having to pay for a Sirius car subscription when the trial period expires.

hankinjax

Is the Sirius/XM CarPlay sound that much better than regular XM? I have had several cars with XM and no matter how good the sound system the XM always sounds bad.

Drew46

I will try the app within CarPlay. Thanks for the suggestions!

dhirm5

Drew - curious - which seats did you spec in your Targa and how do you like them?

Asking cause others have said larger upper torsos may not find the 18 ways comfortable. You have a large muscular build from one of the photos you shared.

Drew46

I went with the 14 ways for that very reason. Sat in both. 18 ways were comfortable as well but only with the bolsters all the way out, so the 14 ways made more sense.