ipse dixit

Yes.

But is that really news.

If you've been inside a Rivian or driven a Lucid you will realize the Taycan is a generation behind, if not two.

CodyBigdog

Exactly why I’m not going down this rabbit hole…

To the people in the market for a new 911 (everybody else doesn’t matter to Porsche): Buy it, or don’t, It’s here now, and there’s no going back. Deal with it.

Haros

“Old ****s shake fist in anger against change”
-Rennlist

inthesticks

You're taking my comment out of context.

I'm talking about in comparing sports cars. Things that actually differentiate them. And yes, top speed does matter for a sports car. And last I checked, the hypercars include it in their specs.

But keep doing 0-60 and barely beating a Tesla Model Y.

slc4s

Yep that hybrid system is crazy heavy. Basically 1000lb weight gain which is insane. I actually feel bad for the braking system. Power/weight ratio is worse than the last 2 generations of M5. Really bums me out. I'm sure it'll feel fast and having up to 40 miles of range on EV only mode will be enticing for some, but to me the M5 is the absolute wrong car to do this with.

Only good thing about the new M5 is that the priced it well below the Panamera and Mercedes E class equivalents.

Edit: just to add.... it weighs almost as much as my Cadillac Escalade, lol.

DrKarlB

Have you ever achieved top speed in ANY modern car?
Where do you do 120mph let alone 200mph ?
The road ? Thats just stupid
The track ? At least in NorCal none of the tracks have anything like a long straight to get much above 120-130mph
AutoBahn ? Not an option for me in the US
Private Airstrip ? Automakers Test Ring ? Nascar loops ?

I'd 1000% rather have good acceleration that can be felt than a "bragging number" for a top speed ill never achieve
0-60, 1/4mile ... whatever way you measure it

Ring times also show how capable the car is in a track with bumpy surface, turns, straights etc... both cornering and speed

ipse dixit

You can without too much effort after Turn 11 at Laguna Seca.

And there are probably more opportunities at Thunderhill.

DrKarlB

Laguna Seca Max speed record is 155mph in a MclarenP1... still not close to top speed
... but top speed of a base Carrera is 190mph, not 120-130mph
F1 cars only get above 200mph of certain tracks
I will never hit top speed in my T at any track ive been to

Hunky

So many valid points made here.
Who cares about "top speed"? Bragging rights indeed. Only a total *** clown is going to chest beat about his performance car's top speed. Jeeeezuuus, that is for morons.

CodyBigdog

IMO, the only speed metrics that are relatable, while driving on the street, are 0-50/60mph (to a degree) and merging/passing speeds (e.g., 30-70 mph, etc). On the track, it’s a different story, although I’ve never reached top speed on any car that’ve tracked.. .Saab Turbo, M4 and the 992.1S. I would guess that the vast majority, of even Porsche owners, rarely, if ever, get to the track. Slalom might be more likely….so handling/agility.

GLS

Not trying to be a smart*** but has anyone heard of the Texas mile? www.theusmileracing.com. Don’t know if you could reach top speed in a mile though.

DrKarlB

The link shows a bunch of highly tuned cars and bikes for the most part (240mph Mustangs)
Looks like a more stock R8 hit 156mph.... again far from its top speed.

Perhaps for the one guy who wants to enter his new 911 in the Texas Mile, then the top speed specs might be important to him ??

For the other 99.999% of owners, its pretty meaningless

yrralis1

My car was built for that event in 2007 to 2009. At the time while they were doing the project I saw a few crashes take place. When you are taking the car that far out of Porsche parameters, you basically are becoming the test driver. One guy had his sunroof collapse at about 230 miles an hour. The Porsches were going in the 230s . At the time, the American tuners were the best in the world and people from other countries were bringing their cars here and then taking them back and posting videos of their races on YouTube.

When the 991 came out another tuner from Turkey called ES tuning Came along and blew everyone away. They are the ones making the fastest cars now at that time the active forum for this event was. 6speedonline . it’s much more quiet now, but they have kept this thread up-to-date all these years. https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...le-thread.html

When he came down to my 992 GTS and my 997 modified turbo and I was planning on getting the new car. One of them had to go and I chose the 992. That is how intense these purpose built cars can be. Right now the record holder at this event is a Ford GT who did the mile in 300 mph. There are videos of it on YouTube. It’s quite a sight and very impressive. Recognize a few names on this forum that have done the event. They don’t post often . as you can see there are some 996s that was smoking 1992 turbo S. The modified car at this level even on stock internals drives totally different. Most of the OEM cars let off at the top of each gear to some degree. These modified cars slam into the next gear then pick up and keep going. The top of that list have changed the internals and have gone up and beyond, it’s a very serious event and I have not totally written off doing it forever.

Edit ... here is the Ford Gt and current record holder ,

GLS

Thank you for your insights.

forbiddenbeat

I've found it refreshing to stop caring about straight line speed. There is always someone faster. You can just put more money into a car and make it go faster in a straight line, and for the most part the newer car will always be faster in that regard.

I've also realized how important straight line speed is depends on where you live. I live in California, where we have miles and miles of beautiful curvy driving roads and not a lot of super straight, super long roads. A 1300hp Turbo here would feel constrained (let alone some of these Texas mile winner builds), and probably be a great way to kill yourself on a curvy road. Modern cars have been too fast for these kinds of roads for over a decade. But if you live in Texas, straight line acceleration is probably the best way to have fun.

Point is, we all have different preferences. It's totally okay for some to care about 0-60, 0-100, standing mile, etc., and others to care about track times, and others to care most about enjoying the sound and manual input of a lower-hp car in curvy roads.