Just got back from dropping my Turbo off for it's 1st service at my OPC.

Sitting on the forecourt was a fully optioned black PDK Turbo demo car (with flappy paddle shifters), so I asked for a quick test drive.

First off the sales guy warned me this gen Turbo was MUCH more tail happy than the gen 1 version. He wasn't wrong! PSM wasn't even flashing and we were getting the back out around little roundabouts. So THIS is why the motoring press like the car a lot more!

Change up between gears is VERY impressive, you just feel a momentary blip and then you are off again. You can get up to very high speed very quickly because of this. For me, a manual gear change acts as separators between speed bands. Hard acceleration in 4th for example and you know you are doing very illegal speeds. With PDK in auto mode there isn't this mental barrier distinction to keep your license in tact. I would be very worried about court appearances in this car!

Compared to my modified gen 1 Turbo, the new car is still noticeably slower, quieter, and feels less tight. I think I need more time at Silverstone though next week to form a complete opinion of the new suspension. Plus I am yet to play on the launch control which I am very sure will be mightily impressive. So for me, this is wouldn't be a 'trade up'. I think for stock gen 1 Turbo owners (especially those that have Tiptronic and old PCM) then yes it's a 10% better car all round and worthy of consideration.

More to come when I do my free track experience day at Silverstone in a PDK Turbo next week....

 

It would be nice to know if we can update (through a dealer or something) our Gen.1 traction control with the new more tailhappy settings, as coming from a 996tt (and various M3's...) I really hate the system intervention ALL the time ...

 

Press the sport button? Or even the PSM off button?

I do most of my driving on public roads and I personally want the tail out less not more.

 

great write-up Alex, thanks. I don't think the new Turbos have made their way over to the states yet, can't wait to drive one myself.

 

i agree. less tail happy is desirable unless on the track for me and i believe most owners. Interesting to hear that you felt it being more tail happy, as most of the reviews have said the opposite.

 

Thanks for this Alex. Since you found the 2010 noticeably slower than your modified gen 1, could we get some performance and dyno figures on your car for comparison?

Also, you mentioned that you found the 2010 to be "less tight" than your car. Could you expand on this some more? Did you mean it didn't handle as well or that the car had a less solid feel?

Again, thanks for the preview. I'm too busy right now to get to the nearest dealer with a PDK TT, so your test drive is the closest I'm going to get.

 

I was pre-warned about the new car being more rear biased in term of power. ie. less power is now sent to the front wheels apparently to make it a more 'pure' driving experience.

 

I haven't performance box'ed my car yet, However SportAuto did do a supertest on a Cargraphic Stage II car a couple years back:

http://www.cargraphic.de/stepone/dat...Auto0308_1.pdf



Compared to:



Some other reviews (in English):

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9080208....sche-911-turbo
http://www.cargraphic.de/stepone/dat.../00/GT0208.pdf
http://www.cargraphic.de/stepone/dat...0/911_0308.pdf

I run GMG sway bars, top of the range Bilstein Damptronics, and a -15mm lowered car. The sways just make the car twist less between left and right wheels, the upgraded Dampeners make the car feel glued to the road, and the lower ride height makes the cars center of gravity closer to the ground thus making the car roll less. I also run more aggressive front cambers making the contact patch of the front tyre bigger when cornering hard. All these things make my car feel much 'tighter'.

As I say though, I want to get the new car on a track (next week) before I can give it a fair/full review.

 

Kosta,so the 996TT PSM leaves you more room to play compared to997TT psm?

 

Nice write-up.


Hmmm...I have an EVOMS tune, and sport mode, and I can swing my tail out all day long...that's WITH the PSM ON...brings me right back inline with out having to counter steer either.

 

Great day, lots of fun at Silverstone Porsche Center today for a free 997.2 Turbo experience day.





It was a frosty start to the morning but the sunshine soon brought the temperature up to a lofty 3 degC.



Once arrived and checked into the Center we started with a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea whilst watching the previous session participants hammer around the handling circuit. We were then split into 2 groups of 6 and given the tour of the building along with a short briefing.





Then followed 30 mins on the experience center track ‘rides’, after which was 30 mins playing with launch control over the back of the Silverstone circuit (not actually on the circuit itself). Then back for a ride in a Panamera Turbo with an instructor (going huge speeds and power-sliding around the handling tracks) followed by a spot of lunch. End to end about 3 hours worth of indulgence.



So I started the day in a manual facelift Turbo with PTV, taking it around the handling circuit with my instructor. The gen2 car is certainly a little tighter than the gen1 Turbo, and a little more eager on the power front - but not a huge leap over the gen1 car, perhaps only a couple of percent. Sadly on the water rides (kick plate and ice hill) you couldn’t tell any difference between how tail happy the new car is vs the old one. 15 mins in and we all played musical chairs with the cars; now over to a PDK Turbo.



I was mightily impressed with the 2 modes of Sport and Sport Plus. The Plus mode really holds the revs right up to the limiter, even when you are not accelerating. Another cool PDK trick is you can actually change up gears just by blipping the throttle. The car certainly feels more eager to accelerate with PDK in SPorts Plus and if anything you seem to feel more thrust after it changes up – I suppose the peak torque is lower in the rev range so this is not that surprising. Forgetting about the gears really lets you concentrate on the balance of the car and you can certainly make faster progress than in the manual.

The real delight of the day though was the launch control session. Completely irrelevant on real world roads but great fun on the track none the less! You put the car into Sports Plus mode, left foot brake, then stamp on the throttle. If you do this too slow then LC won’t come up on the steering wheel. When Launch Control appears you let go of the brake and catapult forwards. I have some footage I just uploaded to YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFgkyCkIQss

We also did some slalom’s through cones to see the PVT in action (although it felt about the same as a gen1 car to me here). I thought the noise of the car is much improved. Not aftermarket levels of noise but still much more how a supercar should sound. It still doesn't make up for a lack of a proper sports exhaust option though.

So all in all, a 997.2 PDK with flappy-paddles is certainly a car to lust after. I think if you are a 997.1 owner then PDK and the improved 3.0 PCM are very tempting options to upgrade to. I myself would spec all the performance goodies plus lightweight wheels and bucket seats if I were to get the new car. Probably with the new aerokit in blue, such as:



Now you guys won’t believe me without some independent testing, but even after all the fun today, I still maintain that my aftermarket mod’ed 997.1 Turbo is superior in almost every respect compared to a 997.2 Turbo (even with PDK). IMHO it has better looking wheels, it goes faster (my 2nd gear G-force is definitely more than PDK 1st gear launches), it sounds better, it handles better (less roll, less squat, sharper steering response, less under-steer, etc), and I think I am just a 'manual transmission in a sportscar' type of a guy. So even if someone gave me a facelift Turbo to garage next to mine, I am sorry to say that it would never get driven. I’d always head straight for the gen1 mod’ed car keys 10/10 times; it’s just so much more involving. So the 991 Turbo will be the next car I consider swapping to.



Great day out though!!!

 

Great write-up, awesome pics, looks like you had an amazing time. I wish PCNA would do something like this in North America. I'm surprised to hear the Gen 2 is not that big of a leap from the Gen 1, all the mags I've been reading make it seem like the Gen 2 is the ultimate Porsche. This may sound weird but I'm kind of happy the new TT might not be THAT much better than the Gen 1

 

Alex, very nice thanks. This kind of report from a 997.1 owner is more telling than any mag. review I could find. I can't believe they let you guys test the cars all out; doesn't happen here.

No revolutionary change in the handling department, even with PTV? Phewww... Gen. 1 owners are not missing some huge improvement?

The report is that there has been a change in PASM. Firm setting is now softer than before (less rebound dampening). Did you get a chance to try and if so, how does it compare to 997.1 stock and Bilstein?

Did you have a chance to try the dynamic engine mount option?

TIA.

 

Interesting write up . Agree that the PDK really does cut down the shift gaps . With all the greatness of PDK there are some flaws too in the NA car . For starters if you drive it in sport auto the downshift into 1st gives a harsh jerk . This is normal and many guys actually like it but most don't . Also the normal auto hits 6th gear at 30 MPH making it the most boring driver ever in a 911 . It will even upshift going uphill . It's great for warming up the car or gridlock traffic . So manual /sport is what i feel is the best choice . The only snag is that the car has 7 gears instead of 6 which means more shifting . Despite all this the PDK has more benefits than flaws . It will reject any over rev command making a momey shift impossible . It will rev match on downshifts . It will shift smoother and faster than any manual ever will . In short PDK is great for a) gridlock traffic and b) high performance driving . It's the middle style driving of the streets that i find it lukewarm . I woild still buy it but it does need to evolve -- and when it does -- I speculate depreciation galore.

Aside from PDK the biggest gain with the normally aspirated car that I have noticed is how immediate the response is compared with gen 1 and was wondering if this carries over onto the Turbo.

I do imagine the car will be slower than a modded Turbo and I also wonder how well something like launch control would handle modifications .

 

Great thread. Has there been any thread discussing the merits of the proven 3.6L turbo motor and this new 3.8L mill? Which is more robust long-term, etc.?