My dealer here in San Antonio is a little weak so I flew into Houston this morning to check out a pair of CPO'd 2006 C2S's I have been eyeing for a while. Both cars are in Guards Red/Black interior. While there I also drove a 2009 non-S for comparison sake.

This being my first real 997 driving experience (they let me take the cars out by myself so I was able to truly test them out) I walked away impressed and disappointed. The car is a true sports car...small and light, quick, rigid, lots of road noise, great engine sounds, etc. In corners I loved the car, especially with PSM off! Lots of great slides in the highway turnarounds and a couple of childish takeoffs leaving rubber in my wake...but what fun. The part I didn't care for was the lightness of the front end. I knew it would be but it was more pronounced than I thought it would be. On the highway, which is mostly a long suspended road with LOTS of those joints that cross the road, the car was very unsettled. As I crossed some of the larger joints the car would come off line slightly and the steering wheel would move around in my hands. It gave me the feeling of not being in total control of the car which I didn't like very much. The Bose sound system sucks big time. My RS4 had a Bose system which sounded very good but this one is seriously in need of help.

So I decided to drive a 2009 non-S (it actually had more miles on it than the 2006's) and I have to admit I enjoyed that car more than the 997.1 S models. It felt just as fast but also felt less "buzzy". It was riding on the 18" wheels which could explain some of that but overall the car just seemed better. The nav and stereo was much improved and although the 2009 I drove did not have a Bose system I think it actually sounded better than the Bose in ther other cars. Sad considering the premium they charge for the Bose system.

In the end I enjoyed driving the 911 and feel it to be a great true sports car with a wonderful history. The 2009 was definitely more fun to drive and felt more solid to me. The technology updates (blue tooth, touch screen, etc) were way ahead of the 2006 cars. I need to figure out if the road noise, light front end, and crap radio will work for me driving the car several days a week to work, in traffic, etc. Maybe I'm getting old.

Any others who have owned or driven the 997.1 and 997.2 want to chime in on the differences? Am I crazy?

 

The 997.2 is an amazing car. Most focused on the PDK and lights being different but the engine tweaks are impressive. The Dfi has this immediate response.

I don't feel the suspension was poor in the 997.1 S though but to be honest I replaced mine so fast after I bought them that i barely recall stock. I love my 997.2S though --also replaced suspension.

The base car has been a real discussion topic lately.

I woudn't buy one . It would bother me NOT to have the extra Hp and brakes of the S. Plus at 85-95k depending on options I woild can both these cars and buy a used 07 or 08 Turbo. That ought to be your next test drive.

 

What a coincidence...

 

Try a 997.1 4S.

 

for me the front end lightness was a surprise as well. once i changed to techart springs and got alignment, all was good.

 

Yeah, I knew the front would be light (no engine there, duh) but was just caugth off guard by how light and by how road imperfections could really "startle" the car. I think with an RS4 as my last car I may be doomed to continuously compare future cars with how a high performance quattro car handles in terms of stability. I could do things in the RS4 that would have the 997 in the wall in a hurry. But I know the 997 can do things the RS4 couldn't, especially in skilled hands.

Anyway, I did laugh out loud a couple of times while driving around Houston and feel pretty darn lucky I didn't get thrown in jail for the way I was driving.

I do know that if I buy a 997 it will be a 2009 though. And the dealer said they would throw some 19" OEM wheels on it for a really great price too.

I guess I'll sleep on it.

 

Over on Rennlist, someone was considering a new Porsche, or rather a different one. He wanted to know if he would notice enough difference between a 996 and 997 to be worth the step up when the time comes. See the thread: http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...m-a-996-a.html and you'll find a lot of us commenting on the difference between those two and just the gap from 997.1 to 997.2. We seem to have a consensus that 996 to 997 is huge and even the small step from dot one to dot two is significant.

I wasn't clear from your note which model you found to have a light front end. That is discussed in the thread as being a trait of earlier models that neither 997 has. Or I thought that was the point. Maybe they meant the dot two finally got rid of it. Best check it for yourself.

Either way, I certainly feel absolutely no lightness in the front end of my 997.2. It's a breezy day out there today, which means 15 knots and up in the desert. Someone had questioned how loud his car was so I took mine out to measure it with a sound meter. I was rolling along at 100 to 105 mph reading a sound meter. No hand free to even engage cruise control, yet the 997.2 felt as solid as a stonemason's afternoon. Not a twitch and no tendency even to drift with a 15 knot crosswind.

Surely it wasn't the 997.2 that felt that way to you? If it was, I suspect an alignment problem.

Gary

 

Belatedly, I notice that your current daily driver is an RS4. One thing to consider is that the Audis, even the RS4, don't just have a front engine, like say a BMW. Audi have put that engine almost as far forward as Porsche puts ours to the back. From an engineering perspective it is damn near ahead of the front axle line. I used to occasionally track a front wheel drive car, but it was an Acura, which has the engine quite a ways behind the Audi position. Allowing for the excellent tuning of the RS4 suspension and its having full four-wheel drive, the balance is probably similar. (Not the performance, mind you. That Acura was embarrassing a couple of 3-series BMW's, but I could have left it panting in your RS4.) The relevant point is the sensation of changing to cars with less mass up front.

I know that when I went from that FWD car to a mid-engine NSX it felt like the NSX had a mind of its own. In fact, the NSX is like the 997.2. A superbly balanced car which is neither tail-happy nor lightheaded, if I may put it that way. What makes them seem that way is that even a very agile car like the RS4 still has the inertia up front when it comes to changing direction. It is perfectly willing to do so, but you must mean it when you ask. No hinting around. This is pretty subtle stuff we're talking about and its a hell of a lot easier to feel in your fingertips than it is to put into words, but try to listen with your sense memory from that drive.

The Porsche 997.2 will do anything you ask and nothing you don't ask, even at three-digit speeds in a crosswind, as I described earlier. But you have a very responsive car under your hands. You don't want to overstate anything you do ask, if that makes tactile sense. I haven't tracked this one yet, but I can picture how it will respond turning into corners like one or three out at Willow Springs. Solid, but almost anticipating each little correction of my fingers.

If it was the 997.2 that felt light to you, I'll bet this was the difference and the concern would go away as your reflexes learned how quickly it responds.

On the other hand, you mention one of the cars reacting to road irregularities and your having to correct. I have not found that to be the case at all with my 2009. I can feel the car crossing such strips and bumps, but the direction never changes at all and I never have to correct. If you saw that with the 997.2, then I'm surprised and a bit non-plussed. Possibly an alignment problem could cause that. Has anyone else seen such behavior in a dot two?

Gary

 

997.2 trumps 997.1 - I've owned them both. 18s trump 19s, I've had (and still have) both. Next-Gen suspension on the 997.2 trump old-gen 997.1. DFI engine trumps 997.1 engine. It all makes sense - you aren't crazy. Perhaps the best combination of all is a 997.2 C2S with Sport PASM suspension and light forged 18s w/ 235/295 PS2s for the street.

As to the light feeling, it's just something you get used to. I came from a perfectly balanced E46 M3 and after a few days on the track you start to understand the Porsche better.

 

I agree that the Boss stereo sucks. The interior noise is overwhelming with the road and the engine that I usually just drive without music. Not necessarily a bad thing considering I like hearing the engine, but the Boss upgraded option found on most vehicle is really a waste.

 

To the OP: You clearly are used to a front-heavy car and you like it. You may not like a 911. The 997 - .1 or .2 - are not front-light. Classic 911s are front-light.

What you complain about the 997 - steering sensitivity is what 911 fans value in their cars... BTW...classic 911s are even more steering-sensitive.

And to compound things you state you turned PSM off. Without experience isn't it reckless?

You may prefer a C4... But I would not and I used to have one.

 

Ouch. I missed that. ADias is right, Brian, any modern supercar is best learned with the stabilization active. We haven't quite reached the point we have in aircraft where the vehicle is unstable without that system, but it sure does make finding the limits less expensive.

Gary

 

Let me make sure I'm clear - I enjoyed driving the 2009 car. I actually enjoyed it a lot. I didn't enjoy the noise and bouncing around on the expansion joints. The expansion joints wouldn't be a problem where I live here in San Antonio so I am not worried about that too much. The cabin noise is a concern for me though. I do enjoy music and that's something I would get less enjoyment from in a 997 than in a C63 or RS4...very different cars I know.

Now to the PSM statement...I wasn't on the track or driving too crazy but I did flog the car pretty good with the PSM on and off. I felt I wanted to experience it both ways. With PSM off I found myself enjoying a few small tail slides when it was clear to do so...and I'm talking 2 gear here, not Toyko Drift or anything like that. I find the "supercar" comment interesting as I do not consider a 355HP car a "super"car. My RS4 had 420HP and I likewise don't consider it a super car.

So do I think it was reckless? Frankly, no. It was my first time flogging a 997 but not my first time driving a performance car in a performance way. I appreciate the concern for the citizens of Houston but I think the comment is a little off point. No bashing...it's all good.

So for me it's down to the 997.2 and the C63. Different cars which stir the same emotions but in different ways for me personally. The great thing is that I can't lose either way!

 

Get the C63. It is clear you like heavy, soft cars.

 

RS4=Heavy front end. Of course 997 is going to feel "light"