outofmoney

I,like many on this board have a desire to test drive the 997 Turbo only to hear from the dealers that there are none. The dealer here in San Antonio that I put my deposit down with even said he did not know of any that did since they are all presold. I have been reading everyones posts and have noted many of you discussing your test drive experience. I believe a few have test driven multiple 997Turbos. I would like to hear from this great group who had the opportunity to test drive the Turbo and who purchased without a test drive. If you could let the group know which dealers have them to test drive that would be great. I will be checking other Texas dealers. Austin and San Antonio are a no.
Thanks again. Love the forum.

2k7997tt

I also live in San Antonio. Spoke to Greg Pancake in San Antonio (Great Guy) and Tad Cole in Austin (Great Guy). There are only pre-sold cars available and no test drives available....perhaps in a year or so when the 997tt are on the floors they will be tempted to let them out for a spin out of motivation to move the car.

1AS

The same was true when the 996tt came out. At that time, the only way to drive one was to find a dealer who had a used one for sale. Some of the bigger dealers in south Florida seem to find cars to flip at a premium, so you can combine vacation with test driving. AS

TT Gasman

Right now there is no hope for a test drive, no dealer is gonna let a presold car out on a drive. Best bet, find somebody close to you on this board with a 997TT and maybe they will let you drive it.

lager99

I haven't even seen one in person but mine should show up next week.

docjackson1

it's going to be very tough to get a test drive. i would think that you would have to find a dealership that knows you very well, and that has an unsold turbo in stock. i guess a comprimise would be to test drive a used 996tt, and imagine a tighter handling and quicker example. i have a 997tt coming in for november delivery, and i have never driven a 997tt. i am sure that i won't be disappointed.

bravocharlie

I did exactly that. I had a friend who got his a month or so ago. Mine is on order with a February build date. It was nice to actually drive the car before you see it sitting in the dealer's showroom.

Brief observations:

1. There is not much happening below 1950 rpm as indicated by the engine graph in the specs.

2. The car is phenominal on potholled bumpy roads.

3. In the power band, hold on because this thing has serious kahunas.

4. Get the sport shifter. The one I drove did not, and I thought the throws felt long and sloppy.

5. It will take some time to get use to the clutch. Very light and most of the action is at the top end.

6. For 480 hp, the car is incredibly quiet.

Finally, a recommendation. If you're buying one and have never been to a high performance driving school such as Porsche Driver Experience (PDE) or done some track days with PCA DE, you need to do that to fully understand and take advantage of the performance and dynamics of this car. It would be like buying an airplane and not having any formal training before taking it up for a spin (excuse the pun).

outofmoney

Appreciate the posts. I have at least seen one in person in the parking lot where I work. I love it. Maybe I need to get to know the owner so I could take it for a spin or at least a ride in the passenger seat. A test drive in a C4S may be as close as I can get. I agree on the Porsche Driving experience comment. I may plan a trip to Birmingham AL prior to the arrival of my "baby". I am sure the two day course would be 3K well spent. Thanks.

atomic80

Me and my friend are both buying Turbos. Mine is scheduled to arrive at the end of this month. I'm also scheduled to take the 2 day high performance driving school in March with my friend also. If any of you folks are signed up, let me know so maybe we could meet out there.

As for my experience driving the Turbo. I wrote about it in the Opus 911 thread back in June. I had the chance to drive in all sorts of weather conditions and this car never ceased to amaze me with it's capabilties especially in the wet.

TT Gasman

Definitely do the 2 day PDE, it's worth every penny. You learn car control and high performance driving from real factory race drivers. While the PCA DEs are good in their own rite, there is a level of magnitude (or more) difference in the instructon.

Sunshine

I drove one today and also got the white knuckle demo. It wasn't a dealers car though. The 997 Turbo is wicked fast and the breaks are excellent. In person the car looks very elegant.

allegretto

Dont misunderstand what I'm about to say, but...

This is exactly why building a mutual relationship with a dealer is a great thing. if it's always all about price and you have no loyalty, don't expect the dealer to act otherwise. But if you throw them a bone, they'll usually throw you one too.

if you actually believe all TT's are presold, then either you are in an unusual part of the country or you believe in the Easter Bunny too. It's one of the oldest dealer tricks in the book.

If you've bought a car or two from a dealer and treat them with respect, they call you for a test drive when an orphan shows up, and in every area I know of except OC, they show up.

My first test drive was impressive but the car was not equiped the way I wanted and I passed. He sold it the next day, but I told him what I wanted. he called me two to three months later with what I wanted and the deal was done. He also let me drive his C-GT but I think that car is about useless unless you live in very special areas.

Bottom line, treat your dealer as you want to be treated. I don't mean bend over, protect your wallet, but a little respect goes a long way.

TT Surgeon

Agree with Agretto, I test drove one as soon as they came out( a launch car, unsold but too much carbon and assorted fluff for my tastes), my dealer always takes care of me. In the same vein, they even offered me a launch GT3, already speced, I passed it to the next guy, what am I gonna do with two 997s'.
I'd also recommend letting your dealer do the scheduled maintenance as well, throw them a bone and if you have a warranty issue in the future, they'll hook you up. Ask me how I know.

jchop

A Dallas dealer has an '07 997 Turbo that can be test driven as it was traded in with 600 or so miles on it. The buyer had ordered the car with tiptronic and after 600 miles felt like the tiptronic ruined the character of the car (his opinion)
and traded it on an Aston Martin V8 Vantage with a manual trans.
The previous AM owner traded that car when his 07 997 Turbo tiptronic came in because he could'nt live with the manual in the Aston......It goes round and round.