Have a GTS on order, lock date a couple of weeks out. Appreciate the customization of these cars is really personal preference and there aren't really any bad choices. In my case I seem to have somewhat inadvertently built a turbo/turbo S light, leaning away from GTS race-tex and lightweight package. Noting that, curious if anyone thinks the individual, or a collection of weight adding options really makes any difference to daily spirited street driving, and beyond that, the occasional amateur jaunt on a track. Read threads on most of these options individually, but curious on driving impressions of the collective:

• Extended range fuel tank - +6.8 gallons, or ~40lbs excluding extra plastic weight from the extended tank
• Sunroof - ~35lbs, worst point for extra weight
• FAL - ~15lbs
• RAS - hard to discern, but net effect from steering weight less lighter lithium battery ~25lbs
• 18 way seats - 25lbs?
• Ventilated seats - no idea, assume ~15lbs

All the above is +150lbs on a car that with PDK weights 3430lbs, so roughly +4%. I'm going to assume leather over racetex, or extended door/dash leather over plastic is immaterial. So, while adding weight is never ideal, the benefit of adding comfort/desired features likely exceeds any discernable driving impact, and believe with street driving it makes almost no difference. Said another way, the fuel tank itself as >100lb weight swing with us. The lowest weight one can get a GTS from factory to appears to be ~3300 lbs, spec'ing manual and light weight with buckets. That is roughly 260lbs, or 8% lower than GTS with above options. I suspect driving back-to-back this may be somewhat noticeable.

Anyway, welcome thoughts as just debating the real world impact, and also somewhat keen to have even more insulation removed with light weight package (with 18 ways, so not really getting weight out). Thanks.

 

IME 5% is at about the threshold of what you’d actually be able to notice with the butt dyno. In non-track applications I’d say don’t worry about any of them - I have 18 ways, RAS and glass sunroof and IMHO the ‘benefits’ of those options far exceed any perceptible performance decrease. Only you can decide… but for a daily non-track build I tend to lean towards some comfort options - you’d need to be an excellent driver at the limit to feel 100lbs.

 

Back to back and driven hard, I can feel the difference of a passenger and I can feel the difference between a full tank and a near empty tank. Weight is about increments and it all boils down to your priorities. My priority was weight so the only options that add (marginal) weight to my car are large tank and leather. Good starting point to build a lightish 992. I already lost 20lbs of unsprung weight (~100lbs equivalent) with wheels and expect to get to ~3,100. When I'm done, my car will feel very different from the average 3,500 lb. 992.

 

Depends what your goal is. I wanted a reasonably lightweight car.

Manual, 2s, no sunroof, 4 way seats, forged wheels.

Splurged on ras and full leather.

I think you would feel the difference if you drove back to back vs say 4s, pdk, sunroof, 18 way, etc.

 

For the extended range fuel tank, I would think the benefits of having it for the convenience outweighs the weight penalty when one can just put 7 fewer gallons of fuel in unless there are some competition regulations that one would participate in with a street 911 requiring the tank to be completely full at start. Is there? I honestly don't know.

 

+1 The weight from the extended range gas tank is varied and can be controlled by the driver.

 

These aren’t lightweight cars. Fretting over this stuff is truly silly. The average 992 Carrera build is right around 3500lbs.

If your concern is maximum performance, driver education and track days are going to have a far greater impact than whether or not you specify a full leather interior. You will also realize that a sunroof, an entirely useful thing that opens up the interior of the car, is not going to ruin your handling.

You want to focus on weight that really impacts your performance? Get to the gym.

 

For what it’s worth I went to the Porsche Atlanta driving experience

the car I drove was a carrera S with sunroof, steel brakes, and I think 18 ways though it may have been 14 way seats. Either way it had electrically adjustable seats

it was still incredibly fast and quick around the track. Unless you plan to track the car and are capable of driving the car at its limits I would say you should just configure the car as you wish

i walked away feeling silly for worrying about weight when the car is already way more capable than I am

 

Only fill up that extended range tank 1/4 each time unless you're taking a super long trip.

Take the rear seats out and that should make up for the 150lbs of the other goodies adding up to that amount.

Are you tracking the car? Running 1/4 mile drag strip runs?

There is a happy medium with all this and only you can determine that. I say load it up with your optional items and have a blast with it.

 

Rear seats are more like 25lb. Maybe 30lb if you also take out the seat belts.

 

Lol. You drive a Targa. Weight and performance are clearly not your priorities.

You have a point with people who are overweight and don't know how to drive but that's not the case for many of us. For people in shape who know how to drive, a 200, 300, 400 lb difference feels like a completely different car.

 

Go for the steel sunroof instead of the glass - to me it looks better in the paint color of the car anyway, rather than black. The extended range tank was always off my list anyway because of the rattle issues with it, the standard tank is fine unless you routinely take very long trips.

 

Of course there's an impact; every ounce removed improves performance. I think F1 cars improve by 0.1 seconds a lap for fuel burned. That said, I think you could have the ultimate lightweight 911 in a given series (base, S, GTS, et al) and would not notice the difference with your butt dyno versus the luxury equipped variation of the car. On the track or the drag strip, knocking down your best performance and generating lap times and timing strips? Sure, the lightweight will show its superiority. The real question is, does it matter to you?

My GTS is configured pure Gran Turismo: raised suspension, glass sunroof, PDK, ventilated 14 ways (fit me better than 18's), full leather, extended range tank, RAS, FAL. Its performance exceeds anything I can remotely explore on public roads. I'd certainly lose the race with a lightweight GTS ... by a tenth or two. I don't care.

 

>> The real question is, does it matter to you?
Exactly. Experience drivers may notice differences at the limit in the right setting, but day to day the gains are 'in the noise'. Build what makes you happy and avoid the 'weight weenies' discussions.

 

Until you can get the weight down to something below 2,500 lbs (preferably 2,000 lbs, or less) it's not a competitive car on a real track in the "real" world. Getting to this weight, along with all the other compromises that must be made to be competitive, will render a car absolutely intolerable on the street. So for a car that is used for "street" transportation . . . make yourself comfortable, in a high performance "street" car. Don't loose any sleep about a few hundred pounds one way or another.