6,000 miles from new and my broken-in-by-the-book Pcar exhibits really poor throttle response from a stop. With the sport on it's better but I'm still not feeling the 355 HP Porsche claims for this motor when accelerating from a stop. In fact in sport mode it spins up quicker but doesn't necessarily feel like it's moving that much faster beyond 3500 RPM. Almost feels like the clutch slips a little as the needle moves from 3500 to the red line (which comes on way to quickly for my taste). Definitely feels a little dead in the middle of the tach and then is quick to hit the limiter. Only gets 93 octane premium branded gasoline so I don't thinks it s fuel issue. I know it's not supposed to feel like a big block V8 but it seems a little anemic given the HP rating. Any ideas before I take it the shop for a check see ? Am I expecting too much for a normally asperated Porsche engine ?

 

I'm not sure if it is my imagination or not, but I have found that on the 2 997S cars that I've owned, they each seemed to feel faster as the mileage got up to around 12k-15k miles. Maybe you should try another one with similar mileage, or have another owner try yours to do a comparison. If you were in my area, I'd offer to participate in the comparison.

 

Try stopping by a dealership and taking a test drive in a car they have there. I test drove one the other day (had 20k miles) and the last thing I would describe it as would be slow or sluggish in any way shape or form.

 

Disconnect the battery for about 3 hours, reconnect and take a drive.

Has worked for others. Kind of like a cntl-alt-del for your ECU.

dr

 

Worked for me.
CATTMAN

 

Now that's its properly broken in, drive it like you stole it! The engine "loosens" up and does become faster with more mileage. Also resetting the ECU by disconnecting the battery will help.

 

additionally, the throttle "learns" and will adapt to harder usage

 

I think what you're experiencing is typical of most drive-by-wire cars these days. Because there's no direct throttle cable between your foot and the throttle body, you're relying on an electronic system to communicate your throttle input. The delay you feel at first is typical. As for the lack of power you feel in the mid-range, that could be due to the clutch or, with all due respect, the car may simply not be what you expected.

A lot of the characteristics of the stock car you described above are what drives most people towards an ECU tune. Along with a noticeable bump in power across the range, the EVOMSit software that we use also allows us to tailor the throttle feel to the driver's wants. If you're interested, I can email you some more information.

-Tom

 

Dadio,
What other cars do you drive (or have you regularly driven)?

 

Thanks to all for the ideas. Will try the battery disconnect this weekend. As for comparison cars, I traded in a '01 Boxster I bought new. It is this car I compare the 997 to and given the fact that the Boxster was down 50% in power from the 997 it didn't feel all that much slower. This a low end torque issue for me not HP in the higher rev range where I can feel the difference. Am headed up to the Stoddard Swap Meet in a couple weeks and will be able to stretch the cars legs a bit on the trip. Maybe and Italian Tune up on the way !!! None of that works I'll take it to the dealer and let 'em check for codes. Would a bad MAF exhibit these symptoms ?

 

+1, every chance I can I am up to the top of the rev's

 

When talking about about "breaking in a new car", the manual says 2000 miles, however different people say different things? My first 1000 miles I kept it under 4000 rpm, but went postal this weekend, nice little fast drive in the winding mountain roads.......

 

Have you tried a different brand of gasoline? In your part of the country they might be using more ethanol which may affect performance slightly.

 

You're right when you say midwest gas has various levels of ethanol, upwards of 15% at some stations. I tend to get better mileage and a little more power from BP-Amoco and although I've never investigated the ethanol content I believe it's 10%. The off brands tend to be higher in ethanol and I suspect Shell does also as I don't get near the mileage per tank full as on the lower ethanol gas.

 

Finally tried the battery disconnect trick. Left it disconnected about 2 hours , hooked it back up and started her up. PSM error light came on immediately. Drove away and within 50 feet light went out and everything was fine. Once the engine warmed up I put my foot into it and could feel a significant difference. Also noticed the flat spot in the mid RPM range was gone. Same thing when in Sport mode. Thanks for the tip.