My 991 Test Drive last weekend

[TomE]

I thought I'd post a little overview of my 991S test drive last weekend. Got to spend about 1/2 hr in the car, with my wife. Our current 997.2 PDK is my frame of reference here. Had a spirited drive. Sport mode. Lots of twists. No freeway. Nothing idiotic. Many thanks to Eddie for his hospitality at the dealership. Overall, the new car is a terrific drive. Fast. Subtle. Precise. I don't like everything about it. But I think it is largely a continuation of the evolutionary trail one would expect here. Bigger, amazingly capable. But Ariel Atom it ain't. Not by a country mile. I said in another review that comparisons to the 997 are inevitable. As a starting point those might be instructive. However, the 991 is a different car. I think it's very different from the 997. It has a different feel throughout. More modern. More refined. More fluid. You know, a little like Joel Osteen vs Jimmy Swaggert. Osteen's going to smile and coo and try to 'help you along the path'. Swaggert might just bite through your kneecap. You never know. Starting from the outside, the 991 is not exactly the design disaster some had predicted. It's a lot darn homelier then the 997 though. The designers have done a great job disguising the size of the new car. The thing is BIG. (More on that later.) But it's visually well balanced. The lower profile looks nice, not squashed. Ingress and egress seems improved somehow, even though it sits marginally lower. Very nice. And the unbalanced elements - the long chin and the grafted-on Panamera butt - aren't as horrible as say the slant nose 930, or any TVR. Granted that's faint praise, but WTH. The 20" wheels look ok - probably the only way you're going to get rimz like that past the country club security gate. Once inside, things either go to hell or really perk up, depending on what you want. If you like a fighter-c*ckpit view and a big fancy console with lots of designer buttons, you will love it. If not, well hold your breath. The new windscreen is long, low and big. It takes some getting used to. RainX available by the gallon? Might be good to know. The dash is familiar. Very functional, as we are used to. No surprise. One new feature is the ability to toggle the console display up to the 'gauge' just to the right of the tach. The seats have an extendable bolster in the front. Very nice. The door cards are clunky, moderately horrible. My real beef here is that damn Panamera console in the middle of everything. I hate it. It adds SO much to the isolated / compartmentalized feeling in the cabin. It adds to the video game impression too. Yes it's convenient. But it's too tall. It's too big and it's stupid. It's perfect for some barely post-adolescent fan-boi tuner to use as a platform so he can glue up his entire collection of lucky troll dolls there, just as soon as his lottery ticket hits. That's all. A considerably more subtle, but very powerful condition inside, is of volume. It's big. Shoulder room. Elbow room. Let's make it official - this is a Grande Touring machine. And all that room takes away a little bit of immediacy, of connection. Behind the wheel.....well there's just no way I wanted this thing to be as fun to drive as it is. It's just really good. Forget the extra furniture you're lugging around. Forget that you might be entirely too comfortable. Right from take-off it is amazing. Power seems to move immediately, to exactly the right place, in exactly the right proportion. The 'new' PDK is some sort of alchemy. Sheesh. Instant shifts. Smoother than you thought possible. The power seems always on, no slack. What the heck did Scotty know when he said 'Capt'n, we can't change the laws of physics'. They sure as heck did. Tracking on the straights is perfect. Lumpy pavement or not. Perfect. No big deal. But tracking in the corners is stunning. Not at all like the car is on rails. That's just too, too coarse. The 991 is subtle. It goes where you point it, true. But the harmony of the chassis and the wheels is just beautiful. It's smooth in a way the the 997 is not. It bucks less. It twists less. The steering just light enough, just dynamic enough. It's like living your whole life after exactly 1/2 of a glass of good wine. Just the slightest amount of worrisome edge gets knocked off of everything. Then you can concentrate on the things that really matter. It's got some sort of fairy-dust in there somewhere. Then again it might be the wider track and less sprung weight hanging off the back end. Who knows. The sound is pretty cool too. The 'pumped in' engine noise is very entertaining. Until it ceases to be. Then it's just in the way. Now do not get me wrong, the 997.2 is a stunner. I think it's precise. It's as potent as you need it to be. The steering is lively and immediate. I love it. But driving the 991 is better. Noticeably better. So just how anxious am I to put in a deposit? Not very. Not yet. And here I need to be clear. The 991 is a terrific car. As a driving machine it is a grand-slam home run. I admire it hugely. It would be very hard to be honestly disappointed with such a piece of gear. But I've always resonated with something that the great Henry N. Manney III wrote a long time ago - in a Road & Track article about the 'best' sports car. Everybody else weighed in with the predictable choices. Manney chose the Morgan. He said (paraphrased here) "Motoring is about more than skid-path numbers and quarter mile times. It's about romance." For me, a move to the 991 is a move to a different sort of car. Not worlds apart, but different enough. For me the 997 is a little more intimate. It's a little more immediate. It's just a shade less 'magic' and a little more elemental....and that's ok. That's what I crave. That's what I want...for now.

[Scoper]

Tom,

That was a great write-up, thanks for taking the time to put into words what must be really difficult to describe. It makes me actually want to attend an upcoming launch event, just to see how the 991 feels. But then again, today, with clear blue skies and sunshine all around (really unusual for Portland this time of year), I was zipping home on the backroads, my 997.2 chewing up all the curves without a hitch. I got home, parked her in the garage, and realized I had the same silly grin on my face that I had when I got the car 2 years ago.

It's alllll good.

Thanks for sharing

[SSandy]

Very, very nice write-up. Thanks so much.

[Flip]

Originally Posted by Scoper

Tom,

That was a great write-up, thanks for taking the time to put into words what must be really difficult to describe. It makes me actually want to attend an upcoming launch event, just to see how the 991 feels. But then again, today, with clear blue skies and sunshine all around (really unusual for Portland this time of year), I was zipping home on the backroads, my 997.2 chewing up all the curves without a hitch. I got home, parked her in the garage, and realized I had the same silly grin on my face that I had when I got the car 2 years ago.

It's alllll good.

Thanks for sharing

Look me up if you come to Sunset this Thursday evening for their 991 unveiling.

[Scoper]

Flip,
Checked my schedule - going to be working late on Thursday Let me know how it goes!

Ron

[Manifold]

I posted a somewhat similar review in the 991 section and it generated some lively discussion:

First 991 Drive (Manifold)

[lowpue]

awesome write up...thanks. I plan to drive the car....however, your general impressions for the non driving stuff is very similar to mine. I really want to fall in love but I didn't.

[TomE]

Originally Posted by Manifold

I posted a somewhat similar review in the 991 section and it generated some lively discussion:

First 991 Drive (Manifold)

Thanks for that link, I hadn't seen it.
Nice compact write up.
You seemed less enthusiastic about the 991, maybe based on the shorter drive.
Our conclusions are remarkably similar though.

I said in a review on that other site, I think the 997.2 is the end of an era. It's the last of the 911 models which is a sports car first, and a grande touring car second. The 991 is a gt car first. My guess is, that will remain true. From now on the Cayman will pick up that slack.

[lowpue]

Originally Posted by TomE

From now on the Cayman will pick up that slack.

That would break my heart

[LPpfs997]

TomE,

Very helpful description. Two questions a) was the 991 equipped w/ winter rubber and the temp outside (Chicago was below 40 deg), and b) the jump from your c2 to a c2s (991) could explain a portion of the Wow you felt. Could you further describe this ?

[Manifold]

Originally Posted by TomE

Thanks for that link, I hadn't seen it.
Nice compact write up.
You seemed less enthusiastic about the 991, maybe based on the shorter drive.
Our conclusions are remarkably similar though.

I said in a review on that other site, I think the 997.2 is the end of an era. It's the last of the 911 models which is a sports car first, and a grande touring car second. The 991 is a gt car first. My guess is, that will remain true. From now on the Cayman will pick up that slack.

And actually I did a second test drive yesterday, and posted my comments later in that thread.

My conclusion is basically the same as yours: the 991 is a GT car first - a great one that delivers high objective performance - but the 997.2 may be the last 'true' 911 (breaks my heart to say that).

Maybe a 991 GT3 or 991.2 will restore some of what I (we) feel was lost, but until they come out I'll cherish my 997 more than ever.

[catchmyshadow]

that was a great write-up !! well played sir!

conclusion:
the 991 is the better car, almost perfect BUT maybe a bit too perfect for some 911 lovers.

[TomE]

Originally Posted by Manifold

My conclusion is basically the same as yours: the 991 is a GT car first - a great one that delivers high objective performance - but the 997.2 may be the last 'true' 911 (breaks my heart to say that).

Strangely we've got what is likely the most grande touring model in the 997.2 series, the Targa 4. I love the GT in its character. That's why we got it. And still, the 991 - to me - is a significant step further down the grande touring path.

I posted my other review over on the 991 thread with props to you. Same conclusion of course. Indicated that I didn't want to re-engage in the 'Which is the true 911?' debate. Ultimately it doesn't matter. The brand will go forward.

[TomE]

Originally Posted by LPpfs997

TomE,
Very helpful description. Two questions a) was the 991 equipped w/ winter rubber and the temp outside (Chicago was below 40 deg), and b) the jump from your c2 to a c2s (991) could explain a portion of the Wow you felt. Could you further describe this ?

The 991 did not (to my eye / knowledge) have winter rubber. Actually I did the test in Minneapolis. It was quite warm on Saturday. Both the tires and the pavement were within the spec for regular tyres.

The 'wow' factor, I'm sure, was affected by the difference between our 997.2 Targa4 to the S model 991.
That said, the rompin' stompin' portion of the 991S is not what was impressive. At least not to me. If anything I'd hoped for a little more unruliness. What was impressive was the sense that the 991 was fluid. It seemed almost capable of sensing what need to be done, and just doing it. No drama, no judder, no twist, just results. Seriously there's just a certain magic about what the car can put down. I called it 'almost electromagnet fluid' in my post on the 991 thread. 991 Test Drive (TomE) - props to Manifold
That was the wow part of the equation IMHO.
But, that comes with a trade-off.
Maybe the way to look at it is that it's not so much of a trade-off, as it is a trade into a different type / character of a car.
Does this help clarify my view?

[keninirvine]

Excellent writeup Tom. If you aren't already, you should be a professional writer for one of the car mags. Thanks for sharing.