Originally Posted by Palmbeacher

To "the world at large" a viscous mixture of water, high-fructose corn syrup, guar gum, carageenan, vegetable oils, artificial flavour and colour is a milk-shake. Despite what you may believe, just because "the world at large" is more easily duped than the average dog doesn't make it a virtue to submit to being dumbed-down.

Originally Posted by Palmbeacher

That could easily be said of every generation since the original, but if you take a look at today's prices of the 993 vs 996 it's clear that for the cognoscenti, a new generation merely being recognisible as a Porsche isn't a very impressive credential.

Originally Posted by Palmbeacher

Actually I happen to agree with you, but ironically it makes matters worse for me. If Porsche had bodged the 991 to the bone it would be a simple matter to write it off as another casualty to the times. But the 991 is so brilliant in most ways, that a handful of egregious gaffes distracts mightily from the execution. Many of them can, and hopefully will be rectified in the next generation, or perhaps even in the next model year. Or perhaps by aftermarket cottage industry with better sight for aesthetics and ergonomics than the MBA suits in-charge at Porsche. A redesigned console, elegant and simple, which repositions the MT gear lever in keeping with human anatomy. A rheostatic switch for the e-brake so that it could be released in modulation whilst starting up-hill. A roll of dental floss and some polishing compound to sort the tacky rear-deck badging. I'm certain some aftermarket firm can engineer a proper steering rack to replace the electric servo. I've no quarrel with the changes to the body. I quite understand the need for differentiating new from old when one is speaking of an automobile which is for many nothing more than a status-symbol.

Originally Posted by Palmbeacher

Actually I happen to agree with you, but ironically it makes matters worse for me. If Porsche had bodged the 991 to the bone it would be a simple matter to write it off as another casualty to the times. But the 991 is so brilliant in most ways, that a handful of egregious gaffes distracts mightily from the execution. Many of them can, and hopefully will be rectified in the next generation, or perhaps even in the next model year. Or perhaps by aftermarket cottage industry with better sight for aesthetics and ergonomics than the MBA suits in-charge at Porsche. A redesigned console, elegant and simple, which repositions the MT gear lever in keeping with human anatomy. A rheostatic switch for the e-brake so that it could be released in modulation whilst starting up-hill. A roll of dental floss and some polishing compound to sort the tacky rear-deck badging. I'm certain some aftermarket firm can engineer a proper steering rack to replace the electric servo. I've no quarrel with the changes to the body. I quite understand the need for differentiating new from old when one is speaking of an automobile which is for many nothing more than a status-symbol.

Originally Posted by rodsky

Don't need handbrake for 997.2 or 991 hill starts, as they both have hill assist.

Originally Posted by perfectlap:9694428

There was a letter to the editor in Excellence from a guy in San Francisco complaining about the hills and lack of e-brake in the 991.
The editor told him to brush up on his heel and toe.

Originally Posted by boolala

I assume the e-brake on the 911 is the same as the one the Benz. If you forget to release it, it automatically does so when the accelerator pedal is pressed.

Originally Posted by Philip396

Good, honest review and refreshingly free of the bull**** "it's too big, it's too luxurious, there are too many letters on the rear deckild" nonsense.

Thanks for providing an objective, balanced, worthwhile appraisal of these cars amidst the sea of idiocy we have been treated to up to now.

Originally Posted by Mike in CA

Yes. That's how the Cayenne e-brake works and the 991's is the same. Which is also why the earlier suggestion about an adjustable e-brake switch is unnecessary. Even without hill assist, if you wanted to you could set the e-brake on a hill and when the accelerator is pressed the brake releases and off you go.

Originally Posted by Palmbeacher

Yes...off you go, backwards down the hill if you happen to touch the accelerator before the clutch begins to engage.

I'm sure most of us could learn to adapt. I've driven standard-shift American cars that had a foot-operated parking brake with an instant-release pull-lever and I managed to start uphill without rolling backward. But then, Americans make rubbish cars. I simply see no logical technical reason why Porsche did away with a proper handbrake. I suspect it's a casualty of the relegation of MT to afterthought status, as Porsche segues to a point where the automatic will be the only gearbox they offer.

Originally Posted by Palmbeacher

And what if one actually needs to use it to stop the car...will a press of the button cause a full-on application of the rear brakes, or would it use some computer algorithm to apply them properly for the extant conditions?

And suppose the the car needs to be towed and the battery is dead. Is there a manual fail-safe release, or would the rear wheels need to be jacked-up onto a dolly?

Is there anything to prevent an electronic glitch from self-applying the e-brake?

There's no shortage of mind-boggling new technology in the field of medicine and surgery, and I am as enthralled and impressed by it as you'll find. But that technology is used by professionals to augment and enhance their already-developed expertise...not to substitute it in unskilled, ignorant hands.

Originally Posted by SharpMan

I doubt you could stop a Carrera from highway speed with the parking brake in the 997. That tiny drum inside the rotor hat wouldn't likely have a hope in hell of transferring enough energy and would just roast.