A little premature, but thought I would give some early impressions on my car.

To all those that have complained about turbo lag, I do not feel it has any more than a stock 996tt. I think its just a matter of most people (including myself) remembering the turbo response of our cars after they have been tuned with an aftermarket ECU. I remember when I first got mine "chipped", the difference was night and day. Boost came on lower and felt much less lag and much more mid-range punch. Even a stock GT2 that I drove many times had a more perormance-oriented ECU and thus the better response and higher mid range and high end power.

In this car, I experience lag under 2800 rpm at low load. To me, that is acceptable for a 3.6L 6-cylinder car making 480hp before overboost. With "sport" selected and above 2800 rpm, in second or third gear, the car pulls very hard. Above 3500 rpm with 1/2 to 3/4 throttle, the car just takes off and is scary. It feels like an X50 with more power and less lag, and this is in a car that has a total of 42 miles on the clock and without full throttle ever used and thus no overboost. (My opinion is that the VTG technology helps more in producing more power than the 996tt and helps less in reducing turbo lag.) I am sure as I break-in the car and drive it like it was engineered to do so (rev to 6000 rpm and full throttle to activate overboost), it will totally blow away my previous experience with my Stage 2 996tt's. Imagine what this car will do with a performance ECU and an exhaust. I was getting nearly 100 hp gain in my 996tt with simple bolt-ons. I am sure this car will easily achieve over 600 hp with similar products. I can't wait!!!

Aside from engine performance, the new AWD is awesome. You just cannot break traction. Its AWD activates quicker and earlier than the previous system. This car just makes anybody a super driver because it is so good. I have no doubt that an average or good driver (not race or semi-professional) can take this car and beat a similar ability driver driving any current production car on any surface.

The PCCB is awesome. I was driving Amir's car on PCH (after he just got it) and slowed down to enter the center neutral section to make a U turn, only to discover that I had slowed down so quickly that I was "honked" by traffic behind me which 2 secs ago was way back! These brakes are solight that I feel the steering response and better and reide is better than non-PCCB cars.

Interior is same as any 997 with full leather, although I ordered the natural Grey leather which is extra soft and smooth. The steering wheel feels like nappa leather.

The exhaust is a little deeper but a little less volume than my Carrera S. I don't mind it as this will be my daily driver and I prefer my daily drivers to be relatively quiet.

I think the car look awesome in person, especially in dark colors. I am so happy to have chosen black, as it contrasts nicely with the wheels and yellow calipers.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with my purchase, and anyone that get one and spends a few days would appreciate its ability as a daliy-driving supercar. It is less so a car you want to take out on weekends or night just for the hell of driving (that would be a F430 or even a Gallardo) but more a car you use as daily transportation that happens to destroy any current production car driven by any average or good driver on any road under any condition.

That's good enough for me.

 

Hey Terrance,

Thanks for the write up.. I am still on the fence about the PCCB brakes, again my car will definately see the track. I think I am going to finalize my order for the car today based on when the dealer thinks he may be able to delvier.

Hopfully I will get mine real soon so we can drive the canyon's together.

B

 

Thanks for the review, it seems that this is a slightly more "gentle" forum than some of the others. There have been some fairly sharp and harsh criticisms of the 997TT elsewhere, so it's was refreshing to read your write up. Thanks again.

 

i will love to add to this and i will next week! i have had the 930, 951, 997 gt3 now this . i have all of them on the track and i will be taking the TT to the track next week .


no it is not a gt3 but i have ordered one and have one.... the TT is so far fantastic but i will give an honest opinion next week

 

Thanks for the great review,my car is ordered and I am still not sure about PCCB.
Oh well I still have time to decide...............

 

Terrence,

Thanks for the encouraging report. Your real life impressions seem to mirror my own expectations (I've never driven the 997TT) based on all the info available. I am coming from a modified 930 with (relatively) lots of turbo lag so I don't know what the 996TT experience is.

I will be getting the PCCB and praying that the rotors last for a long time. I just replaced the steel rotors on my car after 78k miles and 17 years, so if the PCCB last longer as I expect they will, I'll be happy.

As far as aftermarket ECU's, that's going to be a touchy matter for me. With all the new tech integrated into this car (and therefore the chance for unforseen failures) I don't want to jeopardize the factory warranty by screwing with the ECU. I guess by the time tuners figure out how to chip this thing reliably, it'll be close to the end of warranty.

Enjoy your car. I can only wait.

 

Just put in 1/3 tank of 100 octane tonight. Throttle response seems to be crisper afterwards. At least now I am running what the car is supposed to get. Here in California, if you don't mix some 100 octane, then you are only running 91 which is lower than required by any modern Porsche.

Friend drove mine tonight and is impressed. He thought it pulled harder than my 2006 Z06, which was insanely fast.

Glad to have provided some informative insights.

 

Any chance you could post some pictures of the natural grey interior?

 

I look forward to that post. This is the GREATEST forum on the planet... well, renntech.org, too.