[scottc]

Hi all as promised I thought I would give a write up on my week has been with the new 911 (991)

As some of you may have seen my initial thoughts have been rather mixed but after a week I have to admit it's a pretty special car, is it for me?? Sadly no but I will come on to that.

The Car:

2012 Porsche 911 (991) Carrera 2 S PDK

The Exterior:

Porsche are known for making small changes to their cars and I think the same is true with the 991. Yes it is completely new, bigger (you can feel that driving it)and there are hints of the Panamera but it still looks like a 911 and over the week I have grown to really love the look of it.. Some of the lines are stunning, I really love the rear end. The rear lights looks like they should be on a Aston Martin and the spoiler looks great when it’s up, I really hate the rear badging but that can be removed so no issue there.

The interesting bit for me is what other people say about the car, my wife will tell you that it looks the same from almost every angle but the rear, she also says the lights look very Aston Martin. Some people that I work with have said it doesn’t look that different at all and I do know where they are coming from, I had to look twice the other day when a 61 went past to see if it was the new model or a gen II 997. There are some angles that makes the 991 look really new and fresh but something’s just don’t change, one of those things that hasn’t is when you look in the wing mirror and see a nice bulged rear arch








The Interior:

This has to be the biggest change in the car, it's taken from the Panamera and trust me it's very different. Even after 5 or so days with the car and around 300 odd miles I still find it hard to find the button I need, there are so many buttons it's actually a PITA when trying to change the fan speed or find the rear heated window button. Now don’t get me wrong I love gadgets/toys but it's just so cluttered with buttons you just struggle to find anything.. The center console is much higher and does take quite a while to get used to, I personally find it a bit to high especially when using the PDK selector which btw will get in the way on the controls when in reverse or park, ok I know that won’t be an issue most of the time but it bothered me. The dials are great and I love the built in screen to the pods, it is great when driving to have a map, phone menu or music settings right at eye level and it looks really cool.

The car I was driving had the electric memory seat option which was really nice (although pricey), when you got out of the car the steering wheel would move up and the seat would move back and vice versa when you got back in. One of my biggest complaints from the old car was the standard seats, you just had to have the sports seats as the standard seats were so bad. In this car I would have the standard seats, they are just so nice to sit in plus hold you in really well, don’t spend the money on sports seats…

The biggest change for me was how GT the car felt, driving a 100 mile round trip in my car was fine but you knew you had done it.. In the 991 it's very different, it's one of the best cars I have driven for having the mix between comfortable and sporty, you really have no idea you are in a 400 odd BHP sports car.. The tire and wind noise is almost nonexistent and the whole cruising experience is fantastic but this does have a knock on effect when you do want to drive a little more spirited You have to hit the sport button to active the “sound enhancer” this basically sends the induction roar into the cabin which is great and very loud, this also sharpens the throttle etc and remaps the PDK box. Now it’s at this point would really wish the car was a bit noisier and felt a bit sportier like the 997, I will come onto the handling in a bit but you feel a little bit away from the action if that makes sense and I think this comes from making it more “GT” like and it’s a little disappointing.

















The Engine and Gearbox:

The 3.8 in this car is without doubt awesome, it revs so smoothly and very quickly when you are pushing on yet stick it in to drive and it will be as easy to drive as normal every day car, it even has a nice amount of low down torque which is not something you would expect from a NA 400 BHP car. It is very very fast, the 0-60 and 0-100 times are very similar to mine (Low 4’s and 9’s) but it’s the new settings for the PDK gearbox that make it feel like it’s quicker, it really never feels like the power is going to stop and no matter what gear you are in if you need to go you just squeeze the trigger and she shoots off like a rocket. The gearbox is the same unit but the changes Porsche have made are very noticeable, the way it blips the throttle to the way it acts around town are all improved, the only issue I had was this car had the silly buttons and not the paddles and they are rubbish never buy PDK without the paddles. Another change is the exhaust, it really does sound good especially when you have the roof open and you can hear it popping and banging with the PDK gear changes something that doesn t happen in mine. This car didn’t have the sports exhaust option so god knows what that is like and it would have to be very good to make it worthwhile spending the extra £££

The Handling:

This is the part of the car that I am sure will get the most attention when it comes to reviews, the new 991 is an amazing bit of kit when you get it on a good bit of road. The damping is exceptional and the grip mind boggling, what you can do in this car compared to the old one really is night and day and it’s only in the last couple of days that I really have noticed it. You find yourself driving quicker and quicker around corners as it just seems to soak up everything that you throw at it, there is a bit of road near me that I use all the time and in this you just feel like you could drive it a lot quicker than the 997 even though you don’t actually feel like you are going that fast. The new power steering is now electrical and is not something that I particularly like, it feels a little artificial or numb when compared with the 997.. It’s a shame as I really like the steering in the 997, you could feel everything which made the car feel alive, if there was slight variation or bump in the road you would know about it which is why the electric version is so disappointing..

It’s the way this car drives that brings me back to my previous post where someone mentioned that the newer car is improved in every way which is why the limits are raised but it’s this that leaves me with mixed thoughts. The 991C2S is very very quick in a straight line and around the twists, the figures speak for themselves, this car equals the 997 GT3 around the ring and the GT3 is seen as one of the best 997’s. But this is the reason I wouldn’t buy one, you don’t get the excitement that you do in the 997 and this has to down to the limits of the car, you really have to drive the 991 quicker to get to those limits something that in the 997C2S will show much sooner (not that I can get it to that point but you see where I am coming from)

Summary

The new 991 is without doubt a fantastic car, it does everything better when you compare it to the 997 but’s it’s for this reason I am glad I went with the 997. I love the fact that the 997 still feels like a 911, a car that has always had a reputation of being a little bit scary to drive or could stick you in the ditch by giving it too much of the right foot and this is something you just don’t get in the 991. I really think this is the start of things to come with Porsche and many other manufactures as they strive to make the cars quicker yet still comply with all of the EU regulations (CO2, MPG etc) because by doing this they are taking more and more of that “feeling” of being connected to the car further and further away and pushing the limits further and further away

I hope you enjoyed reading this, sorry if it was a bit long..

[rogerxp]

Originally Posted by scottc

The new 991 is without doubt a fantastic car, it does everything better when you compare it to the 997 but’s it’s for this reason I am glad I went with the 997

...and the amazing deal you got on one .

Great write-up Scott, the 991 does look an amazing bit of kit, like you say, but can completely see where you're coming from. Thankfully you've just saved me about £40k .

From the front it is pretty hard to tell the difference but I do like the back-end. I saw a very shiny 61 plate the other day (a lady going very slowly so obviously a test drive) and I did have to take a moment to realise it was the 997 - I suppose the lack of story on the back is the biggest clue.

[Baby Dave]

Very nice

[creepy coupe]

Great write-up Scott. The car looks so much like a Cayman in your second photo.

I see Porsche still havn't got their head around decent interior colours

[PhilL]

Thanks for the review, very interesting reading.

Personally I think the next Cayman will be a more appealing proposition, and from the spy shots so far it looks like it'll have a more 911-esque rear.

[zltm089]

Excellent review! love the pics!!!

[Palmnuts]

Very, very good write up Scott

Interesting what you say about the steering as one of the best things about my Turbo was the steering feel but like you say, I think these electronic steering systems are the way it's all going so we can probably say goodbye to the kind of feel the 997 gives.

I do like the look of the new 911 and I do like the interior but that centre console looks very high - I wondered if it would feel like that or be perfectly natural and you have clearly confirmed it is a bit of a PITA. It also looks like the gear lever is a bit of a stretch away?

I love the full colour nav map in the instruments and I reckon I;d love the engine too....indeed, when I had my Turbo, on the various times it went wrong I'd be given a 997 S PDK as a courtesy car and in many ways I found that much more satisfying than the Turbo for the way the engine would rev and the gearbox allowed seamless acceleration.

What I don't like is the standard seats...whilst you say they feel a lot better than the 997's standard seats (and they need to), they do look almost identical so, for aesthetics alone, it would have to be the sports seats for me!

[peterg1965]

Great write up Scott, and stunning car. My only criticism would be the grey leather, I don't like it, but then again Porsche are not good at leather colours apart from black!

[rogerxp]

Yes, that interior colour is shite, I'd hate it, would show up the dirt like a bugger - give me a boring black interior over that. You not tempted Pete

[scottc]

Roger,

Yes that does make a difference, the fact that my car was around £20k cheaper does make it harder to justify. I really struggle to see the difference at first glance but it's when you look close up that you can see the small changes

Phil,

If the Cayman looks anything that I would really think about having another one but it would have to be a S and would have to have a similar spec to my C2S which is an issue. It would make the Cayman around £60K and that’s not a massive amount away from my 911

Creepy

Yes the colour is shite, I actually said to the guy when handing it back that the person that spec'd it should be shot. It's really not nice and makes it feel quite cheap..

Palmnuts

You are right and I think that was my point on the 991, there is something about the steering feel that is really missing and I think more and more cars wil be using it

I got back in my 997 last night and I was shocked at how different it feels. There is slow corner that I have been going round all week in the 991, I would give it some beans but I couldn’t get it to step out. The only way you could get it to step a little was to be proper knob head with the throttle and I don’t want to be a knob head :-) In the 997 I did the same thing last night and the back stepped out in quite a large way.

This is what I love about the 911, it's the fact it can step out or have that on the edge handling that makes it a 911 which is something that the 991 lacks. I know that the 991 has just had the limits raised and it would break but you have to really really push something you cannot do on our roads...

The dash is strange, it's so well built and it is a step up from the 997 but it is high and to get to the PDK when driving your elbow is floating around it that makes sense.. There are way to many buttons that it gets annoying and with the PDK in park you cannot get to them anyway

The C2S is the bestselling 911 and I think you summed it up perfectly, it has an amazing engine that loves to be revved and with PDK you get very very quick changes with a nice thump in your back. The turbo is another level, don’t get me wrong I would have one in a heartbeat but I would lose my license..

Pete,

Good job you have the 640d, I could see you in a new 911 Yes the colour is really bad and I did tell them, the best colour they do is in the Turbo S. You can have the light leather with black carpets and dash, it looks stunning..