my first 911

I've had it on every one of my Porsches…..of course, this is my first

Tcc1999

Just a jaded guess but I'd say PDK cars came with or w/o SC based on profitability estimates. I do not know if a lot of sales were lost, some for sure, but majority of Porsche's (in the the U.S. and ROW) are not purchased by enthusiasts so these buyers may not know of or care about the benefits of SC. In a way, it would be like giving you a "free" toaster when you buy a car - "Gee, thanks for something I'll never use"; ("free" because it's not really, somewhere along the line you are paying for it). PAG knows that SC costs them money so why add it (and up the price of the car which may have little price elasticity for many people, again particularly in the ROW where the cars are much more expensive). Now, if PAG did their homework they would have an idea just how many people might be interested in SC and their profit margin is a lot higher on options.

I guess the short answer is "follow the money"; there is a reason that PAG is (or was, it's hard to keep up) the most profitable car company (and now probably division of VAG).

chris.hanle

Profit margins a lot higher on options? I would say near 100% on some things, i.e. crest in the seats, colored center caps, different wheels, and how much is the "wart" and a couple buttons really, the list can go on. Everyone wants to make a profit. I am not sure PAG builds a car a la carte to bring in fringe customers. But to agree with the above that they have a profit margin, but what is that profit margin relative to other successful car companies? Or is VW taking our 911 money and building the new Jetta? Big questions but fact of the matter they will continue to build a la carte 911's and overcharging for "options" even if it should be "standard" (read SC/PDK) as long as we keep paying for them. Enthusiast or not.

ogun228

Well I have PDK and use Sport and S+ when advisable but IMHO launch control is a waste, novelty that fades quickly.

petee1997

Launch control is the only way to crack 4.0 on a 0-60 run. That is what makes these low HP cars compete against much more powerful brands.

Of course, I am referring to the 991S.

sjfehr

It still doesn't seem to be very useful for anything but bragging rights. It's only any use for the handful of competitions that use a standing start (dragracing & autocross). Very very few 911s will ever see a dragstrip, and autocross performance clearly wasn't was a concern of Porsche either, given the gearing, suspension and alignment choices.

Thus, it seems the only reason for launch control to exist is so that testers can use it and Porsche can claim 0-60 times a few tenths quicker despite a huge hp deficiency vs the competition.

Minok

I think they are mainly comfort settings you could also get set via the dealer like light auto off delay interval, maybe DRL settings, maybe reference light intensity, that sort of stuff. Its the - set it once to the way I like it and never think about it again - sort of settings so likely not worth it just for that if your dealer can tweak the things otherwise. The manual for some of the features in the car may say that they can be set if you have SC.

I also do like the sharper mapping to throttle on those few occasions... less foot work to get up and go and it switches on the sporty mode from PASM at the same time.