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I drive mine like an old man, will never upgrade the exhaust nor drive it crazy fast!
One year later after buying...I'm probably not the average 997 Turbo here I guess. I read so many posts about the slippery slope in terms of upgrades, yet I have no interest in doing any, probably ever. I love my wheels just they way they came from the factory and think they're perfect.
I drive my car pretty modestly and rarely put it into sport or sport plus mode. I suits me well to just drive it in the regular mode as I just don't care in a way. I put it in the sport mode tonight just to try it again and liked the sound, the faster shifts, and seemingly tighter handling (though that could have been an illusion), but it's not necessary at all for me to enjoy my car.
I have no interest in driving it using the paddle shifters but I exclusively drive it in automatic/slushbox mode. After 33 years of shifting Porsches, Nissan 240Z's, BMW 2002's, 535is's, M5's, VW Beetles, Volvos, I am loving not shifting through the miserable bumper to bumper Washington DC traffic we have in this area. Maybe if I take it to the Shenandoah Mountains one day I'll try the shifters, but it's just necessary to me.
I don't use it to race anyone, nor do I do crazy fast starts at traffic lights (unless a friend is in the car and he wants to feel the acceleration at it's max).
I run out of room to speed on most any road in this area super fast, even I-95 or I-270 at night, so I couldn't drive it 110-150+ mph anywhere safely anyway. People always ask "how fast have you taken that thing"? I just laugh to myself, smile and say, "I'm not really sure, probably about 95 mph". They think I'm kidding. I'm not. I get nervous driving it super fast as there's cops everywhere around here and I don't trust the built in aftermarket radar that came with the car so I have never put it on.
I love the quiet, subtle sound of the exhaust. I don't need to magnify it in any way to make it louder nor would I want to. I was behind a 991 S the other day and it sounded amazing. Amazingly loud! It might be fun for a day for me, but I live in a quiet neighborhood practically on top of neighbors in zero lot line/urbanist dwellings. I'm sure they appreciate the fact that I don't have a super loud exhaust. I like the stealthiness of the quieter stock set up. Boring for some of you, but preferred by me.
I don't know how to use that sport chrono (is that what it's called?) on the car, and don't really care that it's there other than to me, it looks pretty bad a**. I'm sure if I studied the manual I'd figure out what it's for and I think a couple times I did actually activate it, by accident while blindly trying new features while bored, driving on a long trip.
Even with all the above, I love this car to death. I may not be much like any of you, but I enjoy the heck out of this rarified machine. And for the few times where I want to/need to punch it, it's crazy, sick, nutty fast. Scary fast. Too fast.
I'll never go to the track, I tried it once 20 years ago with my 88 911 Carrera. I was going 120 on the straightaway, and was sure my car was going to blow up, and the instructor said I should be taking it 130 instead. Yeeeesh. I was totally freaked.
I love the comfort of my car, the way the A/C works so effortless and amazingly compared to my 88 and 96 911's I've had. I love the gadgets that I actually do know how to use. The nav is excellent as is the stereo, compared to my last 2 Porsches. The way it looks. Oh... the way it looks. I am infatuated with every angle of it. I get goose bumps when I walk up to it after it's been parked for a while. All my hard work at my job, was worth it. To buy this car for cash last year... it's like a dream come true. No payments, an extended long term warranty for many years - it's a 55 year old single guy's dream.
I was on a 1rst date with a new lady tonight and she drove me back to my car at the end of our Starbucks date. She took one look at my car and laughed, saying "my dad used to have a 911 back in the day and he also parked at the VERY EDGE of a parking garage totally far away from all the other cars too". I don't usually let a first date see the car, but I'm at the point in my life where I'm starting to not care about stuff like this anymore.
My ex girlfriend that I dated for 6 months up to a few months ago told me after 2 months of dating that ladies in her law office kind of laugh at an older guy driving a sports car. They intimated they're just looking to show off a bit and look silly in these cars. I said to her "What? I've had 911's for the past 20 years. I'm not driving it to show off. I love the Porsche heritage, the lines of the car, the way it drives, handles, sounds, smells".
She said she still felt that way about my car and wasn't really comfortable riding in it that much, preferred to take her Range Rover Evoque or my family sedan when we went out. It really bugged me that she couldn't get on board with the fact that I simply loved the car, and wasn't trying to find any "golddigger younger woman", as she implied. Yeeesh. Some women just don't get us and our love for these little, cute, fast cars.
I'm about to hit 13k miles in mine. This is the best car I've ever owned though there are many close seconds. I'm so glad I stepped up to the plate and got what I really wanted this time around, and didn't accept second best. I wanted what I wanted in terms of color and options.
The exact car came around 4 months after looking 3/4 of the way across the country. Thanks to many of you that I privately messaged about this car and other ones that I let go of, you helped me beyond compare. For the first time in my life, I'm not looking for what car will come next. This is it. The 991 Turbo S is pretty wicked but the looks of my car and it's smaller size fit my style and taste just fine.
Steve
Last edited by Steve 96C4S; 10-11-2016 at 09:43 AM.
Sir,
Loved your post... We share the same model car, thoughts on mods & wheels and maybe experiences with women.
By the way, your Beast needs little in terms of mods should you decide to run someone stop-light to stop-light in Sports Plus Mode with Launch Control.. Your car as is, will destroy, I mean punish 99.9% of the cars out there...then as you said "quietly" take you to a local tavern...
My two dogs are great friends, who could care less what their peers think... They love rides in the Porsche!
Thank you for sharing,
You're not alone...JB
Hey Steve, I totally get why you're intrigued with this car and all its unique features. But come on, your post reads like an overly long 1064-word obituary! In fact, I think we could go to any graveyard, exhume any old dead guy, and he would show more enthusiasm driving that turbo than you!
If you want your lady friends to “get” this car, just hand her the keys and have her do the driving. Works for me.
Ultimately you have to enjoy the car in the manner in which you want to enjoy it, and it's not for me or anyone else to scrutinize your perspective on things. It's your car, it's your money, and it's your time behind the wheel. It's refreshing as can be knowing you've got the right vehicle in the driveway that's tailored specifically to everything you could ask out of it. Happy driving from here on
Mods, kindly delete the quoted part of my original message below -- it's not worth the ongoing argument or belittlement.
I too love my 997 turbo.
It is such a great all round car right out of the box.
Is is an everyday supercar without the superficial supercar image.
I have a closet full of aftermarket crap (Software tune, Werks1 carbon parts etc) for the car that i never bothered to put on because the car has been satisfying as is.
That being said, i do have some subtle additions.
I have wheel spacers to make the factory wheels sit "right" within the fenders.
The car also has lowering springs to correct the gaps of the wheel wells.
The single best improvement however was the Europipe muffler.
It is not the loud model. it is their basic model. It sounds like OEM should sound.
It makes the car sound the way it should have come from the factory.
It is subtle, but excellent. It pronounces the flat six sound and you get to hear the turbo whistle!
My car appears 100% stock until you park it next to a true stock 997TT and begin to see and hear the subtle improvements.
I drive like a baby as well, I only do quick pulls but rarely break any laws that would put me at risk. I did sign up for UMW, so still struggling to find a place/time to do a good ECU read/log to tune the car appropriately. Just want the car running optimally. I had a C63 play with me this weekend, but I just kept driving normal, he was the idiot that went 2x the speedlimit on a road that could be considered local.
Steve enjoy your car how you see fit. Half the fun is just looking at it and sitting in it. The other half is the torque.
I love the Porsche heritage, the lines of the car, the way it drives, handles, sounds, smells".
She said she still felt that way about my car and wasn't really comfortable riding in it that much, preferred to take her Range Rover Evoque or my family sedan when we went out. It really bugged me that she couldn't get on board with the fact that I simply loved the car, and wasn't trying to find any "golddigger younger woman", as she implied. Yeeesh. Some women just don't get us and our love for these little, cute, fast cars.
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good on you for driving what you want the way you want to.
Even better, congrat's on freeing yourself from the "dame" that thinks the Evoque (the must have fashion accessory from 2014) is a more appropriate choice of transpo.
Mine is fairly modified and I drive like a grandma, I'm not scared to admit it either. I enjoy it while I'm in it, I like to look at it, I like to work on it, and I like to own it. I will likely never track it, as that's just not my style. I'm more of the mechanic in the pits type.
Steve, not that you were offering an apology, because you shouldn't. There's lots of us right there with you.
...because I always drive like that in copious amounts of traffic around Mothers with their children, and usually in school zones, too. *rolls eyes*
Leave the lecture elsewhere.
No, I'll leave the lecture here because you seem to need it.
Doing 186mph on the street anywhere at any time, and racing other high hp cars on the street is insanely idiotic. God knows where you push the limits of cornering grip, but I'm sure there may be another car around.
hopefully no one else is injured when it all goes wrong.
10-10-2016, 11:35 PM
I drive mine like an old man, will never upgrade the exhaust nor drive it crazy fast!
As long as you enjoy your car, it really doesn't matter what the so-called purists may think...T
