991 C2S Cab - Drive
Discussion
Stonking. A few years ago that is not a word I would have associated with the softest of all 911s, a tiptronic Cab. But after a long drive today in the latest generation 991 C2S Cab with the modern equivalent of tiptronic - i.e. PDK - I think it is an apt epithet!
Porsche Guildford generously loaned me a car because my Boxster S has taken longer to clear customs than hoped, and given the lovely weather this weekend they took pity and gave me a chance to drive a 991.
It's the first 991 I've driven and I've been looking forward to forming my own views after the varied write ups.
So, first impressions. I've never thought the Cab looks do the 911 shape any favours, with too much rump in evidence. But the 991 is the most handsome version I've seen and the interior is a marked step up.
After a few miles I confess to some mild disappointment, mainly due to the relative lack of mid range torque. Full throttle at 3,000 rpm just does not propel the car forward with much urgency - my 997 Gen 2 GT3 (with a similar capacity engine, albeit of different design of course) is far, far more urgent. But those early miles confirm that the ride comfort is fantastic, no doubt helped by the long wheelbase, and this despite the 20 inch rims. The PDK box is excellent. I also drive a GT-R, until now my benchmark for double clutch transmissions. This 991 is better - just as fast at the top end, but far more refined at low speeds than the GT-R. The engine appears to have almost no inertia as upshift blips are dispatched in a blink of an eye.
The steering is, as expected from all the press reviews, just a little less alive than I am used to. Super accurate though, and there is no understeer prevalent. No sense of needing to coax the nose in, 911 style. Even a 997 GT3 Gen 2 RS with its wider track does not feel quite so enormously planted at the front end. So, very planted, but there is less information about the way the tyres are gripping the road - in every previous generation 911 you get that sense of tyre grip building, and you can feel the loads increasing. In this 991 it is more remote. On the public road I am not going to push it so will have to wait for a chance on track to see if ultimately there is some feedback at the limit of grip.
I'm now on some good roads and I'm letting the engine sing at the upper end. The lack of low down torque is a distant memory as this engine zings its way to the redline with wonderful urgency - just as a good, normally aspirated engine should. Used this way the portly Cab shows a real turn of speed, aided by lightning fast gearshifts. The sports exhaust sounds a bit manufactured (it's all you hear - there is no induction noise which is what makes the GT3 engines so special), but, with the roof down and engine howling, right now I don't care.
The upshifts are accompanised by a staccato rapport, very much like a V8 Ferrari. It is a bit ostentatious, but fun nontheless. Downshifts at very high revs are superbly matched.
The chassis is remarkable. For the first time I found PASM better in Sport than in Comfort - Comfort felt a tad underdamped for sporty driving, and Sport was still remarkably compliant. In this regard, the wider track and longer wheelbase make themselves felt. It makes me wonder just how extraordinary the new GT3 chassis will be. (Let's hope the engine will match up.)
All told, a great car. No, strike that, a stonking car.
Cheers
Porsche Guildford generously loaned me a car because my Boxster S has taken longer to clear customs than hoped, and given the lovely weather this weekend they took pity and gave me a chance to drive a 991.
It's the first 991 I've driven and I've been looking forward to forming my own views after the varied write ups.
So, first impressions. I've never thought the Cab looks do the 911 shape any favours, with too much rump in evidence. But the 991 is the most handsome version I've seen and the interior is a marked step up.
After a few miles I confess to some mild disappointment, mainly due to the relative lack of mid range torque. Full throttle at 3,000 rpm just does not propel the car forward with much urgency - my 997 Gen 2 GT3 (with a similar capacity engine, albeit of different design of course) is far, far more urgent. But those early miles confirm that the ride comfort is fantastic, no doubt helped by the long wheelbase, and this despite the 20 inch rims. The PDK box is excellent. I also drive a GT-R, until now my benchmark for double clutch transmissions. This 991 is better - just as fast at the top end, but far more refined at low speeds than the GT-R. The engine appears to have almost no inertia as upshift blips are dispatched in a blink of an eye.
The steering is, as expected from all the press reviews, just a little less alive than I am used to. Super accurate though, and there is no understeer prevalent. No sense of needing to coax the nose in, 911 style. Even a 997 GT3 Gen 2 RS with its wider track does not feel quite so enormously planted at the front end. So, very planted, but there is less information about the way the tyres are gripping the road - in every previous generation 911 you get that sense of tyre grip building, and you can feel the loads increasing. In this 991 it is more remote. On the public road I am not going to push it so will have to wait for a chance on track to see if ultimately there is some feedback at the limit of grip.
I'm now on some good roads and I'm letting the engine sing at the upper end. The lack of low down torque is a distant memory as this engine zings its way to the redline with wonderful urgency - just as a good, normally aspirated engine should. Used this way the portly Cab shows a real turn of speed, aided by lightning fast gearshifts. The sports exhaust sounds a bit manufactured (it's all you hear - there is no induction noise which is what makes the GT3 engines so special), but, with the roof down and engine howling, right now I don't care.
The upshifts are accompanised by a staccato rapport, very much like a V8 Ferrari. It is a bit ostentatious, but fun nontheless. Downshifts at very high revs are superbly matched.
The chassis is remarkable. For the first time I found PASM better in Sport than in Comfort - Comfort felt a tad underdamped for sporty driving, and Sport was still remarkably compliant. In this regard, the wider track and longer wheelbase make themselves felt. It makes me wonder just how extraordinary the new GT3 chassis will be. (Let's hope the engine will match up.)
All told, a great car. No, strike that, a stonking car.
Cheers
Nice write up.
Got to play with two 991s yesterday at the Porsche Experience Centre.
This also included a demonstration drive of the handling circuit by a driving god. He took the car beyond its limits (somewhat to my surprise and enjoyment) and used old fashioned trail braking to go even faster. You really don't need to worry how this car handles on track, it was unbelievable.
The car was "decommissioned" after our run due to the state of the tyres!
I agree with you about the lack of low down torque, floor it in 3rd gear from, say, 40mph and even my Spyder would leave it behind (for a while at least). Far more noticeable in the manual car as PDK just drops a gear or 3!
Got to play with two 991s yesterday at the Porsche Experience Centre.
This also included a demonstration drive of the handling circuit by a driving god. He took the car beyond its limits (somewhat to my surprise and enjoyment) and used old fashioned trail braking to go even faster. You really don't need to worry how this car handles on track, it was unbelievable.
The car was "decommissioned" after our run due to the state of the tyres!
I agree with you about the lack of low down torque, floor it in 3rd gear from, say, 40mph and even my Spyder would leave it behind (for a while at least). Far more noticeable in the manual car as PDK just drops a gear or 3!
stefan1 said:
Stonking. A few years ago that is not a word I would have associated with the softest of all 911s, a tiptronic Cab. But after a long drive today in the latest generation 991 C2S Cab with the modern equivalent of tiptronic - i.e. PDK - I think it is an apt epithet!
The chassis is remarkable. For the first time I found PASM better in Sport than in Comfort - Comfort felt a tad underdamped for sporty driving, and Sport was still remarkably compliant. In this regard, the wider track and longer wheelbase make themselves felt. It makes me wonder just how extraordinary the new GT3 chassis will be. (Let's hope the engine will match up.)
All told, a great car. No, strike that, a stonking car.
Cheers
Great review. Would love to hear more about the handling. Thoughts?The chassis is remarkable. For the first time I found PASM better in Sport than in Comfort - Comfort felt a tad underdamped for sporty driving, and Sport was still remarkably compliant. In this regard, the wider track and longer wheelbase make themselves felt. It makes me wonder just how extraordinary the new GT3 chassis will be. (Let's hope the engine will match up.)
All told, a great car. No, strike that, a stonking car.
Cheers
betternotbigger said:
Great review. Would love to hear more about the handling. Thoughts?
Very neutral, would be my summary. There is much less nose bobbing evident (and this was in 2-wheel drive car). The front just went where I pointed it, and there was just a hint of that classic rear weight bias as the car settled mid corner. Traction is phenomenal, as usual, and so even with DSC off the rear stayed completely planted at road speeds.I also own a 911 Carrera Club Sport (1989 vintage). If you have that in mind as a classic handling 911, then the new 991 is a world apart. I think the core 911 handling traits - e.g. need to keep weight on the nose to turn in without understeer; lift-off oversteer; unsettled over transverse ridges - would only become apparent in this car at max attack track speeds. At roads speeds, they just aren't there.
Cheers
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