atomic80

A couple of months ago, I came across a post on Rennteam.com mentioning a special event hosted by the Porsche Travel Club here in St. Wolfgang, Austria. I immediately signed up along with my dad.

It took us several lengthly layover stops to get to Salzburg a day early. We settled in a hotel in downtown and went exploring for the day. The fun wouldn't start until the following day. We were picked up by a nice fellow in a Cayenne S and whisked off to St. Wolfgang where we stayed for one night. It was pouring rain and windy overnight but things cleared up a bit by morning. We had awesome driving conditions throughout the day until close to the end when it started raining again. I took a ton of pictures and videos but only have a chance to upload a few pictures.

One nice surprise that I found outside was 8 Turbos in the parking lot. 3 red, 2 basalt black, 1 lapis blue and 3 GT silver. I was told that they brought 20 Turbos here for the event!

Lots of Turbos!


GT Silver


Me driving the Lapis blue w/ natural brown Tiptronic


These were beautiful brakes! They worked really well too!


I posted a few pictures on my website:

http://jasontang.virtuality.org/opus911

A few observations about the differences between Tip vs 6 speed. I definitely liked driving the car with the 6 speed manual much more than the tiptronic. For some reason, the 6 speed felt faster to me even though the specs say that the Tip is faster. I always felt like I could keep the car in the powerband easier with the manual than the Tip. There was always a "lag" between the time I pressed the gas and the time that the car would actually move. This happened especially when I was pulling out of a tight turn. Sometimes the car would hold a gear although not by much. Overall, I enjoyed the 6 speed manual a lot more than the Tip.

Also, after seeing GT silver in person, I decided to order mine in Cobalt Blue instead!

I'll definitely write more later on. I'm exhausted from the day's event and there's still one more day to go!

I've seen GT silver before in the sunlight on an older 996TTS and a Carrera GT. For some reason, it never really struck my fancy. I originally wanted Seal Grey but then when they discontinued that color I changed to GT silver but then I kept seeing Cobalt blue everywhere, the dealership, online, in magazines, posters, etc. I was definitely convinced that I had to get Cobalt blue over natural grey and so I made the big switch yesterday!

I'm REALLY happy that I had the opportunity to test drive the 997TT yesterday (and today in a bit too) because I was finally convinced that I wanted to get the sport steering wheel with the thicker spokes. I wasn't entirely sold on the "circular" look vs the "V" type with the skinnier spokes. However, after having driven both especially in the twisties, there was no question that the thicker spoke plus the circular look of the sport steering wheel was the perfect choice for me.

A bit trivial but I also noticed that the standard sun visor looked and felt "cheap" when not covered by leather with either the standard Alcantara or leather headliner. The leather sun visors made a noticable difference too.

Comparing the 993TT, 996TT and now the 997TT, there is definitely a noticable difference between all three. If I had to sum things up in a couple of sentences, I'd probably start by saying that in person, the 997TT combines the best of both the 993TT and the 996TT into one single cohesive look (except for those wheels though but they actually look pretty good in person). The 997TT truly is a stunning piece of machinery to look at, drive in, and follow in. After having driven all three, I find myself wanting the 997TT badly. It's really amazing what those engineers at Porsche has managed to do with the 997TT. The power just delivers in an endless stream of nothing but power! The 993TT felt like a slingshot especially when the boost came rushing on. The 996TT felt a bit more like a combination of a slingshot and a cannon. The 997TT felt more like a cannon than a slingshot especially when kept in the "powerband" which I found to be easier to do because of the wider powerband range.

One thing I'm still not sure about is when exactly does the Sport Chrono give me 1.2 bars of turbo boost. I know that it comes in 10 second stretches but how often does that happen? Does it happen every 10 minutes after I've used it once, does it need to be reset, etc. I haven't figured that one out yet. All I can say is, better prepare yourself for a heckuva wallop when the power does come on! I found myself grinning from ear to ear every time I poured it on which happened pretty often. And oh, the handling! Simply sublime! I was amazed how connected I felt to the road no matter the road conditions, the weather, it simply didn't matter, I could just GO, really fast!

Oh, and of course I have to compare the Turbo to my old M5. They're just simply in different leagues. It's like comparing apples and oranges. The E39 M5 was an amazing piece of machinery but the 997TT just beats it in every performance category especially in overall asthetics and feel.

I plan to take a couple more pictures today. Hopefully I'll be able to post them when I get back to the states and of course the videos too! Gotta have those!

The second day was as thrilling as the first mostly because of the roads and wet weather conditions. The first day was mostly adrenline inducing because it was such a new experience for me. The second day, I stuck with the same car with the 6 speed manual, PCCB, Sport Chrono, CF trim, Basalt black, etc. I could have switched to a different car but I liked the 6 spd manual so much! Some folks who had a Tip with the Sport Chrono kept raving about how fast the car was especially when the overboost hit! I didn't care, I loved the viscereal feel of being able to manually shift the car especially when the roads got tighter and tighter. I had a few close call instances! Many of the country roads that we took were so narrow that we'd have "pucker" moments whenever a car/truck/van/etc would come by in the opposite direction while we were going at high speeds! This was in the wet and the AWD 997TT system definitely shines here. The car was very surefooted at all times. We also had the opportunity to drive on some tight hairpin corners. I'd downshift to 2nd gear just before turning, BRAKE, BRAKE, and then pour on the power as I went through the corner inducing massive 4 wheel grinning drifts all the way up and over! I had FUN with this car! Whoo hoo! I really can't wait until I pick up mine! I never had this much fun with my old M5! I'm also amazed at the precision of the steering feel/action. I always felt like I knew exactly what was going on when turning. There isn't much of a kickback but I could feel the roads throughout the day. Amazing car is all I can say!

I didn't take nearly as many pictures nor videos on the 2nd day as the first but believe me, none of you folks will be disappointed once I manage to edit/post these.

I also had the opportunity to go to a Porsche "Exslusiv" party last night where they brought in a 997TT in Guards Red into the room. The hallways were SERIOUSLY narrow barely wide enough for the car! I took a bunch of pictures of the CEO carefully backing the car out. He commented to me afterwards that if this car had been a manual, it would've been impossible to get it out! Now that was scary!

Now I'm heading to the airport folks! What a fun trip this was. I really wanted to take one of these amazing cars back home with me!

mastiffdog

Jason, nice post. Absolutely outstanding! The Basalt black looks awesome!!! Keep up the great work, I loved it...

Bluehinder

Just a wonderful review, please continue to post. Love the photos.

eclou

Could you post more pics of a clean guards red car? Thanks

drbf

Jason, thanks for the great pics and evaluation. I think I am going with Cobalt Blue as well.

atomic80

I think that they cleaned up the cars for us on some days.

I posted more pictures in my album.

http://jasontang.virtuality.org/opus911_day1

eclou

Lapis looks really nice. I may have to reconsider guards red

atomic80

As it turns out, that might actually be Midnight blue, not Lapis blue.

yemenmocha

Jason,

Since the introduction of the 997 I've had my heart set on a GT Silver/Cocoa combination. It looks good in the picture but I realise that in person it can be very different. Did you change to Cobalt because you were so impressed with Cobalt, or was it because the GT Silver wasn't as inspiring as you thought it would be?

Also, did you see cocoa with any other exterior colors?

Thanks
Aaron

atomic80

Ok guys, I've finally uploaded the videos to Google Videos and submitted things so hopefully they should all be approved for viewing soon! I'll definitely post them here once that's been done. 10 videos in all. I think you'll enjoy them.

I wasn't too sure about the CF trim prior to seeing it in person but now I've ordered the basic package! Looks really sharp! The other CF package is bloody expensive at $2700 USD! Hardly worth it IMHO. I think that the car that I drove had both packages. Looked really good!

I'm glad that all of you guys are enjoying the many pictures that I uploaded! I enjoyed taking them!

Aaron, as it turns out, I changed my order AFTER I saw GT silver in person. I just felt that GT silver was a bit too plain for my tastes especially with the Turbo's profile. After I saw pictures of the 997TT in cobalt blue, I was convinced that I had to make the switch. And also, I didn't think that cocoa brown was a good fit for the car but that's just my personal preference. On the other hand, I did think that cocoa brown was a better fit than natural brown.

Guess what? There STILL more to come! So definitely keep checking the site!

drbf

Jason, After the evaluation what color interior did you pick to go with your Cobalt Blue? I am having a rough time with this choice!!

atomic80

drbf,

I went with Natural Grey. Personally, I think you can't go wrong with that choice! I liked the feel of the natural grey texture best. The standard leather is a bit too rough for my tastes but if you had to choose that one then I'd suggest black or grey. The lighter colors such as natural brown, cocoa, terracotta, etc doesn't fit Cobalt blue but that's IMHO.

atomic80

The videos are finally ready!

Chasing a red 997TT through the Austrian Alps in the wet
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...49325475451725

Stuck behind traffic in the Austrian Alps
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...62188770381433

Close up of 997TT LED turn signals flashing
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...46437244113495

997TT going really fast through a narrow winding road in the wet
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...11185384366190

997TT Sport Chrono stopwatch in action.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...60070263516624

Following two 997TT in the wet.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...51395423934675

997TT driving leisurely through the Alps.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...57778870258264

Driving the 997TT FAST on the Autobahn in Germany.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...27180209215661

Close up of 997TT gauges while driving on the Autobahn in Germany.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...90995755861828

Chasing a 997TT through the tunnel.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...25730346553630

drbf

Jason, I will take a look at the gray. BTW, thanks for the great vid's

Cytoboy

Is that black basalt or non-metallic? Thanks for the great documentary!!