I've been living with my 2012 GTS for a while having gone from a 997.1 Carerra. Looked at the 991, but opted for the GTS for all the reasons documented by others in various threads. However, I've developed a few peeves about the GTS, and wondered if others saw similar issues.

The net is while the car has great high RPM torque and performance, it seems far less powerful at low rpms vs my prior 997.1. With a client throttle body and MAF, my last 997 had a very solid low end performance - I could basically chug along at idle and never once killed the car out of first (I drive a manual). I've drive 911's and sports cars all my life, including tracking, so I don't think it's my clutching. But I've chugged the engine to stop several times with the GTS starting out (pretty embarrassing at stoplights). It picks up between 3 and 4K rpm and really screams from there to red line.

It also takes a bit longer to fire up, and it has to be warmed for a couple minutes after the first start of the day for the idle to settle down. I can watch the tach jump and surge around starting at around 1400 rpm until it settles down around 800. If I try to drive it before then, the surging translates into throttle surges that make it buck like an old jalopy.

I've also noticed the a/c compressor kicks off if I run it up into higher rpms.

I'm wondering if anyone who has had a 997.1 and 997.2 can comment on the engine differences. I've cleaned the throttle body, but still note these differences. Perhaps it's a difference of the DFI engine. The dealer, of course, notes no engine fault codes so everything must be okay. I'm interested in what others might have seen.

It's more pronounced with the sport mode off. I actually find this feature more annoying that beneficial. I'd just as soon leave all these buttons enabled (sport, PSE), but the deal said there was no way to do this on the 997. Anyone found a hack for that?

 

I've not experienced any 1st gear start off issues with my 2012 GTS - it is smooth through all the rpm bands. It might be your driving style or a clutch problem. I think it is standard for the A/C compressor to cycle off when rapidly accelerating. BTW, I've had 3 997.1's, all MT and this GTS is smother than the 997.1's.

 

I had two 997.1 Carrera S before my 2012 GTS and I have not noticed what you describe. My GTS is clearly more powerful in all rpm ranges compared to either of my 997.1 S cars. All three cars were completely stock.

 

Here's the info from the owner's manual re A/C:
General instructions for air-conditioning
compressor
– Can switch off briefly if engine is under an extreme
load to ensure sufficient engine cooling

 

Sounds very odd. Maybe your clutch is slipping in 1st.

 

I know EXACTLY what you're talking about...and it bugs the $hit out of me!!

A brief background, when I first started looking for cars I drove a few different .1 cars, both S and non S. I couldn't find a used .2 car with a manual to drive around KC at all! I found the perfect car online, 2009, private party, 12k miles, S, nice options, CPO and bought it without ever driving it. I knew it was newer and more powerful than the other cars I had driven so I went for it. What really sealed the deal for me on the .1 car test drives, compared to the vette for instance, was how easy it was to drive, how connected I felt, but I remember pulling away from the parking space the first time in a .1 and thinking "wow..this is what I'm after". My 2009 arrived on an enclosed carrier, so once unloaded my son and I hopped in to take a drive. I remember chugging the car, and bucking it the first few times I took off and thinking "this isn't what I remember" and chalked it up to it being a more powerful car, newer car and me not having a lot of recent manual seat time.

Now over a year later, I too will stall the car every now and then taking off...especially if say I'm looking at my phone and the light changes and I try to do everything real quick and get moving...it doesn't like that at all! In normal mode it will try to stall, in Sport mode it will buck to the point you have to quickly clutch and go to 2nd gear to smooth it out get moving. You have to REALLY concentrate on leaving a stop light...more than any car I've ever driven! In normal it's so slow to react it screws up the take off and it's easy to bog it. In sport it's a lot better, but SO snappy that if you gas it too much it's easy to buck the car. Sport mode is better though. I see my son do the same thing when he drives it. He will not pay attention to stop lights, it goes green and he tries to throw it in gear and leave quickly like you would in a civic or any other manual car, but this 911 does not like that and I can predict his stalling the car every time!

I also will get a miss or hiccup right around 2800 RPM (others here have documented it) and it seems to be an inherent issue with the DFI cars in general. But this makes getting a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd almost impossible unless you're driving more spirited and running it up to 5k or so before you shift. This is only an issue in first gear. And again, it's better in Sport mode as it typically has your shift point above that RPM range.

Once going the car just rips, goes like hell, sounds unbelievable and is more than addictive. But that bog and $hitty feeling right off the bottom is just odd and IMO not right. The dealers often blame it on the high pressure fuel pump (HPFP)...but that's not it, mine has been replaced and it still does it. A few other members have more resourceful dealers that have acknowledged the issue and tried different things. To me it feels more like a variocam type glitch. But that doesn't explain the dead throttle right off the bottom.

Anyway, I feel ya man. To me it doesn't seem right for such an expensive car. I guess I feel better knowing your 11 GTS has the same issue...not something they mapped out. My car is a fun car, not a daily and once I get it all warmed up and I'm all warmed up and everything is flowing I freaking LOVE the car like no other...but something is just not tuned right with that throttle.

 

I'm glad the poster above mentioned the hiccup. I have noticed this recently. It only seems to happen from 2800-3300rpm's and I feel like I only notice it in 2nd gear. (Mine is a 2011 carrera S with DFI engine)

 

I don't think it's my clutch work; I've driven Porsche's for decades (even in San Francisco hills) and never stalled one on a hill till now. Thanks for the post Wheeler, at least we're not alone.

On further research, it seems there were a lot of failures of the High Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP) in earlier years of the DFI (Carerra and other models). I'm not sure whether these have been resolved in the later years.

But here's an interesting summary from another forum of someone's symptoms for the HPFP going bad:

"HPFP symptoms @ least in my case.

3-5 sec. delay in firing up
engine vibrates when it actually starts
erratic rpm reading then settles down to normal
won't take full throttle when it hits 2700-3K rpm (bogging down)
overall runs like crap"

Sounds very similar to the symptoms we've both reported. I had mine in for the 20K service recently and the dealer reported no problems. Curious if others have seen HPFP problems or other causes for similar symptoms.

 

It's not your clutch work. I too have driven manuals since I was kid as well. There is just something goofy and inconsistent about the throttle delivery. And as noted it's worse in normal mode.

For the record, mine idles and runs great in general. I do get the cold start roar, where it's heating up the cats, but other than that it seems to idle fine. Mine cranks over pretty and starts pretty quick as well and has plenty of power and torque. Other than these cars are not torque monsters and don't really get moving until 3000 anyway. But once my clutch is engaged I can lug it around pretty good without it stalling.

There is a device called a Sprint Booster that a lot of guys in different brands use to eliminate the lag of a fly by wire throttle. I talked to an Audi RS4 owner that said it was standard practice on the Audi. From what I've read, if you have the Sport button in your manual, then it doesn't help much if at all, but it will help normal mode. It's not just the lag though, there is a definite bog when trying to get the car moving in normal mode as well, like a blubbery feeling. It's almost like they have normal mode dumbed down SO much for new (or haven't driven a manual in years) divers that its causing issues for people that know how to drive already. All I know is it does NOT pull away like a 997.1 car at all.

I will keep an eye on the other symptoms of the HPFP. I have a CPO until next June. As I mentioned, the previous owner had it done. As for the hiccup at 2800, many have tried with their dealers to diagnose without a fix. I have very non resourceful dealer that won't do **** unless it's throwing a code.

 

I have a 911 C2S 2009. Bought used from Porsche dealership with 16k.
Had the car for three years. Always when cold has some hiccups or hesitations mainly (or nearly only) in first gear. Far less pronounced (and shorter in duration in the summer)
Had it at the dealer. They could not reproduce. Had it at dealer "sleeping outside" on cold days for a couple of days. They could reproduce it. No codes. They communicated with PNA and were told "some cars do it"
Had the dealer change the plugs at 4 years (as per maintenance manual).
All services as recommended.
Now I am used to it. Interestingly my first German car, a Euro spec 1982 528i souped up from Hartge did not have such issues, bosch L Jetronic injection (25 years later Porsche has trouble :-))