rijowysock

"porsche has officially pushed new model development of the 998 ahead 1 full year and according to 911 editor Steve bennett its now officially 2011! not 2012 as previously hinted."

Woah!

OldGuy

I believe the 997.2 PDK is a bigger change than the 998 is going to be. I think the important changes in the 998 will be in the TT and the GT cars getting the 9A1 motor and PDK.

DRJMK

that was exactly my question on the turbo board. So, we really have a 991 without the body style changes... good! Maybe the 997.2 values won't go down when the new style comes out!

djcxxx

Of course if this information is true it implies that the changes will not be radical, i.e. the 911 will not morph into an up market Cayman. The 998/991 is more than likely to be evolutionary than revolutionary and the sooner we see it the more of the former and less of the latter. Ergo, those who are satisfied with their current 911 will see no need to upgrade, and those who want to upgrade or haven't yet purchased will state the new car is the best yet, surpassing all that went before.

yemenmocha

Honestly the 997.2 with PDK and new engine is pretty much a new/separate model in my mind. I can't help but wonder if they intended to have these changes in the 998 in 2011 but decided to implement some of them earlier because of the competition out there (M3 isn't far behind the 997.1, plus others).

So does this mean late next year, 2010, we'll see the 2011 model? Or will we see the car in 2011 as a 2012?

Eric - Plug Guy

Changes have usually be evolutionary, not revolutionary, through the years.

Only time testing will prove out the new block.

But yet, the style on the .2 TT is really not significantly different from the intro 997 turbo. Was hoping to see some additional styling changes.

Bottom line though: if PAG did not hedge currency, a 225k price tag will keep these beasts on the dealer lots.

For me, I've bought at the end of the model cycle before. Not sure I'd jump now, though these are enticing models. I might wait it out.

Time will tell.....

(my notes refer to the new turbo, sorry for any confusion....)

mdrums

I am pretty much with Eric. It will take a lot for me to jump out of my 09 997S. If the deal was right and the economy improves a little and the new GT3 comes out with PDK that is about the only way for me to jump.
Now that the Turbo has PDK I can;t wait to drive one but I still wonder how the Turbo would be on the track. I'm sure it is awesome!

997CS4

The 998 was always planned for fall 2011

vigilante architect

Couple of ways to interpret this info, launch in 2011 or launch in fall of 2010 (around 12 months) as a MY11 car?

FriedEgg

Right now, Porsche is getting pressed from all sides. Cars like the GT-R - billed as a better performer for half the price, and cars from Ferrari and AM becoming more reliable...where a 911 is no longer the only "everyday supercar". Not counting competitions from R8, BMW M's etc, it's not hard to see why they need to continue to push ahead.

It's obvious that the 911 models evolve over time, but that's more on design. Contrary to some opinions on this thread however, I'd anticipate that Porsche will come up with a 998 that would be a bigger jump from a 997.2 dynamically, than the shift from 996 to 997.

I was looking back on some old issues of evo where at the launch of the 997, they compared the base Carrera to BMW's 645Ci, Noble, and a 996 3.4. Competitions are much stiffer these days.

djcxxx

If the 911 is to remain recognizably a 911 there is very little room left to go in terms of design and even technology if the relative price points are to remain where they are. A much lighter 911 could be built but not at the current pricing. Porsche is a far more price sensitive manufacturer than people suspect. Customers for 911s and Turbos are affluent but the vast majority are not "blank check" customers. The guy who can buy a new Ferrari isn't shopping price the way Porsche customers do. Porsche has also overproduced cars which has taken its toll on the marque's intrinsic market value (i.e. depreciation). That's the type of analysis that drives Porsche's decision to incrementally evolve the 911 and stay w/ a formula that has worked for 40+ years.

ltc

In the 997TT and 996TT, there is already discussion/pictures/links for the 2010 997 Turbo having the 9A1 motor.

It will take a long time for this engine to live up to the history of the M64 proper dry sump lump. It was the last legacy link back to the aircooled 963/993 days, gone along with wooden floorboards.

The PDK in the higher HP cars has always been (and still is) a warranty liability issue for PAG...now VAG. It has had a short introduction in the lower HP cars...and soon the Panamera, but those warranty claims have been very closely watched.

yemenmocha

I think those are good points. I'm not trying to start a class warfare debate here, but arguably most Porsche buyers are "upper middle class" whereas I don't think the same is true for new Ferraris.

rijowysock

MY11 car, so out a year from now.

ADias

The 997.2 1st year has been very uneventful from a reliability perspective - a HPFP glitch and little else. PDK had no statistically meaningful issues.