New 992.2 - some initial thoughts
Discussion
I am about six weeks / 2,500 miles into a new C2, and have notes which might be of use to other prospective purchasers. For context, my last 911 was a 991 GTS, and I've had a variety of models over the years, but this is my first 992 so I am simultaneously a new and old hand at it.
The good
- all the broad 911 characteristics are intact. You sink into the driver's seat with a reassuring air of familiarity and the view over the peaks of the front wings.
- the extra weight and width are not noticeable to me versus the 991. It's a long time since my 997 and previous, but I suspect you'd really feel it coming direct from that era.
- despite the lard the road handling and acceleration is still fabulous. I haven't been on track with it.
- it is all extremely well screwed together, and it feels it. The balance with the interior materials between 'opulence because we're charging you a lot', and 'perfectly engineered surface' is just right (except the stalks, below).
- I went for the 18 way seats and they are possibly the most comfortable I've had in any car
- the digital screens are crisp and (mostly) well done. I thought it was going to be a version of the VAG standard software but it seems like Porsche managed to get their own developers. Full Android/Carplay support.
The odd
- there's no run in period or 1000 mile oil change required; first service is at 2 years unless the on-board says otherwise
- it has a now-obligatory driver monitor camera, which I confidently expected to be bonging at me every time I sipped a coffee, but nothing so far
- Hankook tyres all round. Apparently these are now OEM for the base wheels.
- no paper owner's manual of course. You have to download it inside the Porsche app, with its own not-very-good search function. The manual doesn't seem to be available as a separate PDF.
The bad
- the road noise is really bad. I know this is a common complaint, and it's at least partly down to poor UK surfaces, but it really is poor and especially when more basic cars can make a better job of it. If you are a prospective buyer and are sensitive to noise, you must do an extended test drive.
- the 'safety' feature settings are a mess. The three dangerous ones (lane keep, speed bonging, stop/start) are turned off in different places using different methods. I understand they are constrained by EU regs (though are they strictly applicable to UK spec cars ?) to not have them on a button, but they could at least all be under one menu. I had a Peugeot hire car over the summer and it had a home screen icon which opened up one menu with all the ADAS items to click off.
- the column stalks are really quite tinny plastic. Maybe it's a crash safety thing, but those highly used touchpoints could be improved proportionally much higher than the cost, by using aluminium or titanium
The good
- all the broad 911 characteristics are intact. You sink into the driver's seat with a reassuring air of familiarity and the view over the peaks of the front wings.
- the extra weight and width are not noticeable to me versus the 991. It's a long time since my 997 and previous, but I suspect you'd really feel it coming direct from that era.
- despite the lard the road handling and acceleration is still fabulous. I haven't been on track with it.
- it is all extremely well screwed together, and it feels it. The balance with the interior materials between 'opulence because we're charging you a lot', and 'perfectly engineered surface' is just right (except the stalks, below).
- I went for the 18 way seats and they are possibly the most comfortable I've had in any car
- the digital screens are crisp and (mostly) well done. I thought it was going to be a version of the VAG standard software but it seems like Porsche managed to get their own developers. Full Android/Carplay support.
The odd
- there's no run in period or 1000 mile oil change required; first service is at 2 years unless the on-board says otherwise
- it has a now-obligatory driver monitor camera, which I confidently expected to be bonging at me every time I sipped a coffee, but nothing so far
- Hankook tyres all round. Apparently these are now OEM for the base wheels.
- no paper owner's manual of course. You have to download it inside the Porsche app, with its own not-very-good search function. The manual doesn't seem to be available as a separate PDF.
The bad
- the road noise is really bad. I know this is a common complaint, and it's at least partly down to poor UK surfaces, but it really is poor and especially when more basic cars can make a better job of it. If you are a prospective buyer and are sensitive to noise, you must do an extended test drive.
- the 'safety' feature settings are a mess. The three dangerous ones (lane keep, speed bonging, stop/start) are turned off in different places using different methods. I understand they are constrained by EU regs (though are they strictly applicable to UK spec cars ?) to not have them on a button, but they could at least all be under one menu. I had a Peugeot hire car over the summer and it had a home screen icon which opened up one menu with all the ADAS items to click off.
- the column stalks are really quite tinny plastic. Maybe it's a crash safety thing, but those highly used touchpoints could be improved proportionally much higher than the cost, by using aluminium or titanium
"now-obligatory driver monitor camera" more EU nonsense that no one asked for. I have the speed bings and bongs + lane warning that yanks the steering, both can be turned off with 2 button presses^ so not the end of the world. Camera looking at your face is the line for me and I'll have to pass on new cars.
^not Porsche
TX.
^not Porsche
TX.
Newc said:
I
- there's no run in period or 1000 mile oil change required; first service is at 2 years unless the on-board says otherwise
Interesting... I know US model cars (the same cars) have 10,000 annual service schedules rather than the EU's 20,000 two year cycle. I assume this is to do with emissions and associated regulations.- there's no run in period or 1000 mile oil change required; first service is at 2 years unless the on-board says otherwise
I enjoyed your review. I have a 991.1 and enjoy the lack of the 'assist' features that nobody ever asked for.
Good observations. The point that you make about the high noise level is the biggest weakness of the 992 platform in my opinion. It really does get quite tedious, especially for longer journeys when you just want to sit back and relax on a cruise. A shame as the rest of the car is so cruise capable.
Newc said:
The odd
- there's no run in period or 1000 mile oil change required; first service is at 2 years unless the on-board says otherwise
Porsche puts all new built engines through a run-in program on a test bench at the end of the engine production line and does the first oil change then and there on the test bench. Of course brakes and tyres still need running in but that is a process over the first hundred miles or so.- there's no run in period or 1000 mile oil change required; first service is at 2 years unless the on-board says otherwise
Newc said:
- Hankook tyres all round. Apparently these are now OEM for the base wheels.
Wow. That is pretty awful penny pinching. Porsche really deserve some blow back on this. I don't really want them to get used to having premium tyres as yet another upsell on the configurator. It is bad enough to have to pay £700 or so to change brake calipers back to black or stupid stuff like that when various models "upgrade" the calipers to red.I do enjoy good reviews like this.
My 992 is coming up to 4 years old and the dealer is desperately trying to get me to change, I don't say upgrade because to me it is the opposite.
The "safety" features are one of the main inhibits, on a recent road trip the anti collision kicked in twice and the second time I could not even figure out what had triggered it.
My 992 is coming up to 4 years old and the dealer is desperately trying to get me to change, I don't say upgrade because to me it is the opposite.
The "safety" features are one of the main inhibits, on a recent road trip the anti collision kicked in twice and the second time I could not even figure out what had triggered it.
Dixy said:
I do enjoy good reviews like this.
My 992 is coming up to 4 years old and the dealer is desperately trying to get me to change, I don't say upgrade because to me it is the opposite.
The "safety" features are one of the main inhibits, on a recent road trip the anti collision kicked in twice and the second time I could not even figure out what had triggered it.
My car sometimes picks up on a shadow cast across a road by a tree and freaks out. Rarely, but does it once in a while.My 992 is coming up to 4 years old and the dealer is desperately trying to get me to change, I don't say upgrade because to me it is the opposite.
The "safety" features are one of the main inhibits, on a recent road trip the anti collision kicked in twice and the second time I could not even figure out what had triggered it.
XMA Simon said:
Porsche puts all new built engines through a run-in program on a test bench at the end of the engine production line and does the first oil change then and there on the test bench.
No they don't. I've done factory tours at Stuttgart going back decades and whilst there was a point in time that they did dyno test a lot, if not all of the 911 engines, but that ended decades ago.Only a small handful of cars get hot run testing and I recall generally only from the higher models (GT etc). This was explained to us on my last tour.
Porsche build about 200 911s per day and from memory have only 3-4 dyno rooms at the main factory. To mount, attach, prepare and run an engine properly on an engine dyno takes many hours and they simply could never have the time to test anything other than a tiny fraction of them.
Edited by Guyr on Sunday 16th August 15:04
Terminator X said:
"now-obligatory driver monitor camera" more EU nonsense that no one asked for. I have the speed bings and bongs + lane warning that yanks the steering, both can be turned off with 2 button presses^ so not the end of the world. Camera looking at your face is the line for me and I'll have to pass on new cars.
^not Porsche
TX.
Surely a competent guy with a laptop could disable any of these nanny state b^not Porsche
TX.
ks permanently. I wouldnt have it either.I've owned my 992.2 C2S for nine months and six thousand mixed miles.
I was aware of the reputation for road / tyre noise, but don't find it generally worse than my G82 M4C I ran for four years before.
It is however MUCH worse on really bad surfaces - M25 north sector with that ridged concrete surface for an example.
Of course it's never going to be normal car quiet because you sit so close to 305/30-21 tyres, and noise is subjective anyway, so perception will vary between people.
And my car came with Pirelli P Zero as OEM fitment which the internet says are noisier that Michelin P4S, so that maybe a factor
I was aware of the reputation for road / tyre noise, but don't find it generally worse than my G82 M4C I ran for four years before.
It is however MUCH worse on really bad surfaces - M25 north sector with that ridged concrete surface for an example.
Of course it's never going to be normal car quiet because you sit so close to 305/30-21 tyres, and noise is subjective anyway, so perception will vary between people.
And my car came with Pirelli P Zero as OEM fitment which the internet says are noisier that Michelin P4S, so that maybe a factor
Thanks for the interesting thoughts on the amount of contribution of the tyres to the noise. I know nothing about Hankooks or their general noise and performance reputation, but at £400 or so a corner to try alternatives it's not a easy choice.
Lots of videos/reviews about people installing sound deadening in the wheel arches, and intuitively you'd think that is the most effective approach, but then you're immediately into warranty arguments if something goes wrong.
It is still a surprise to me that in a business which makes all the margin on the extras, there isn't a huge list of dealer-fit options to handle what must be common complaints, without them needing to be factory homologated. Eg some sound insulation ('ah, sir will be requiring the Metge Tourer package, £1,200 plus VAT'), wire grilles for the front rads, tyre upgrades, etc.
On the monitor camera, as I understand it they are obligatory on all new cars and will throw up a dash light if covered up. Re-programming is becoming ever harder with the also obligatory encrypted comms and ECUs. As I said, nothing off the camera so far but if it does start to intrude I will be getting out the gaffer tape.
Lots of videos/reviews about people installing sound deadening in the wheel arches, and intuitively you'd think that is the most effective approach, but then you're immediately into warranty arguments if something goes wrong.
It is still a surprise to me that in a business which makes all the margin on the extras, there isn't a huge list of dealer-fit options to handle what must be common complaints, without them needing to be factory homologated. Eg some sound insulation ('ah, sir will be requiring the Metge Tourer package, £1,200 plus VAT'), wire grilles for the front rads, tyre upgrades, etc.
On the monitor camera, as I understand it they are obligatory on all new cars and will throw up a dash light if covered up. Re-programming is becoming ever harder with the also obligatory encrypted comms and ECUs. As I said, nothing off the camera so far but if it does start to intrude I will be getting out the gaffer tape.
As you may be aware, there seems to be a shortage of new porsche tyres at the moment, due to the knock on effect of the Iran war situation. I recently had to wait 4 weeks for replacement rear tyres for my 992.1 4 GTS due to shortage of stock and last week, I managed to purchase 2 front tyres for my wife’s 2024 Hybrid Cayenne and the OPC told me that there were only 4 Pirelli’s of that size in the UK. So, this might be why Hankook are being fitted, possibly as a stop gap. On the subject of noise, these are sports cars, not Grand Tourers, so, isn’t that to be expected? I am on my 4th GTS with the next on the way, and have never been concerned about the noise from the tyres.
My 992T is noisy, but I think that is part of the deal and to be frank it doesn't bother me but having just put a set of Michelins on after the Goodyears I have noticed less rumble. I had heard that Hankooks are a result of supply problems, not sure I'd be happy to have them on a new 911.
Had my 992.2 C2 for nearly a year. Regarding the tyre noise I find it significantly quieter then my previous F80 M4, even running on the Goodyear F1's. I will change these for Michelin's when I need to. Mine is a May 2025 car and it's in for it's first service on Friday with my local OPC, the cost of which is another discussion.
Newc said:
- Hankook tyres all round. Apparently these are now OEM for the base wheels.
- no paper owner's manual of course. You have to download it inside the Porsche app, with its own not-very-good search function. The manual doesn't seem to be available as a separate PDF.
I also took delivery of a new 992 about 10 days ago. I've been using this:- no paper owner's manual of course. You have to download it inside the Porsche app, with its own not-very-good search function. The manual doesn't seem to be available as a separate PDF.
https://manual.porsche.com/#/wpi/992-2026-20251124...
on my desktop to help with the familiarisation.
My car is a base Carrera (standard wheels) and came on P Zeros. I'm also really hopeful that the app is right, and the first service is 2 years away.
Edited by Steven944 on Tuesday 18th August 21:56
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