last step on decision to swap the Turbo for a GTS stick. i have made a deal on paper subject to the test drive. what am i looking for:

1. speed, not top end but acceleration. drove the h@ll out of an 08 V6 Friday and realized how little fun the right pedal is even if manual.
2. engaging; the turbo is fun but disconnected imo.
3. no lag on a good pin of throttle.
4. no PDCC on this GTS but as i like the stiff sport mode, i think it will be OK. in the end, what will the roll w/o PDCC really be like????
5. comfort - the seats look and initially feel much more comfortable than the stock. even the "sport" seat is lacking any particular support imo. hoping that in motion they are more like my 4s sports seats.
6. sound - hoping for a bit more Porsche sound when wanted.

bottom line - looking for less speed and more fun. i don't know if it willl deliver additonal fun as the Turbo is no slouch!!

is the grass really greener over the fence?

i will update tomorrow.

 

We wait your opinions.

 

I drove the GTS on track a few days ago. PASM and Tiptronic. Not THAT much difference to a similiar equipped Turbo in terms of handling, but a much, much nicer sounding engine. IMO, one of the best sounding V8s out there right now. Much better then the RS4. Almost Ferrari like... but with a lot lower red line of course. My problem with the Turbo is the lag. Sure it's fast... when you have the pedal to the metal, but in 90% of regular driving, the turbos are dormant and you get little over an S.

So for me, GTS is the current pick of the Cayenne range. The best combo is manual, with steel springs and sport suspension apparently.

 

Do you always drive your CTT in D of auto? or do you shift yourself with the tip stick/button?

The reason I ask is because driving it in D the CTT is just a very fast SUV. When you drive a GTS in 6 speed manual it has to be more engaging. You know this even without needing a test drive.

You really need to drive the CTT with tip shifting to get the engagement and fun. I once drove my CTT to a Porsche event with some high speed commuting and I have no problem keeping up and chasing 993TT and 997S.

Sport seats are small problem. I'm sure you can special order from Porsche and fit onto your CTT.

I anticipate that your test drive will be fun and engaging, but much slower.

 

Tim , I'm the pastel yellow 996TT behind you that day! The CTT surprise me on uphill run.

 

Hey Ray,

Good to hear from you. Your yellow 996TT is very shape, and fast of course.

Are you coming out this Sat? I'll be bringing my club coupe this time.

 

I will be going this Sat, hopefully weather will be better than last month!

 

well i drove it for an hour last night and put 60km on it. Overall, it is an amazing vehicle.

1. it did take a bit to get over the speed of the Turbo. initially the GTS just seemed slow but after 20 minutues or so you relaized this is a fast machine, just not blindingly fast.

2. two things make it much more engaging than the turbo. one of course is the manual transmission. now i only use the console shifter on the tip of the turbo, so at least that much connection is already there but there is nothing like the manual. the throw is long and desperatly needs some form of short shifter mod.

the other element is the useability of the rpm range. 2nd gear was fanatastic in the 60km/hr (40mph) traffic zones. it was perfect and you could take it from 3k to 6k rpm - just back in forth in that power range. 3rd gear is great in the 90km (55mph) zones; always in the power band and you could take it up to redline all the time. bottom line is that you can use the upper RPM's in this manual GTS far more than the turbo; if you pop the turbo to redline in anything but 1st gear, then in Ontario at least you blow into car impounding excesses over the speed limit.

3. well no turbo lag, but that is exchanged with the fact that it is just slower. if you are doing 110km on the higher you are at about 4k rpm. so if you pin that you are too low in the power band so essentally you have mimicked the turbo lag. you need to downshift to 3rd which takes you to about 5k rpm and change so you only have about a 1.5k rpm to hit it and got to 4th now to take off.

4. no PDCC - put it this way, if that GTS had been optioned with PDCC, i would have finished the deal on the spot. - bottom line i had found it that fun. w/o PDCC there was much more roll. i drove in double sport 90% of the time so this is minimized, but definitley notice the loss of the almost totally flat drive of the PDCC. this flatness of the PDCC is felt on every aggressive lane change and any hard city cornering. if you only do those super smooth Jackie Stewart like lane changes you will not miss PDCC. having said that , i can't believe the dealers are continuing to talk customers out of it all the time. ( of course none of their spec's were ordered like that so not too hard to see!) anyway, the only point of real hesitation is that i may order a new GTS with PDCC. That PDCC is not a small tech tweak on the car; if you have a changable order in on a GTS or Turbo - get PDCC imo. the one plus of no PDCC is back to the "engaging" element. the limiited body roll of the sport mode really does add to the aura of speed etc.

4. comfort of those new seats blows the existing seats out of the water. the side and thigh bolstering are much better. the alcantera holds you in place. they seemed a bit softer and so the sport setting was softened a bit when it hit your @ss. reminds me very much of the sports seats in my 4S. they allow the car to get away with no PDCC as you do end up needing the side bolster when you push.

5. sound - completly amazing because you get to use the upper rpm range of the GTS so much when you are screaming around. that running at higher rpm's imo makes the experience less transferable to the turbo because you need to get over 4k rpm. when at rest, you could get the same experience with a turbo, but not while out screaming around town. windows open or closed, you hear exhaust not engine; not intrusive - just bloody fun!

all in all, the GTS is not a highway crusier as it is just geared way to high. 120 km /hr (70mph) you are doing something like 3,300 rpm vs about what 1,700 rpm in the turbo. if freeway driving is not on your menu most of the time and your environment allows for a clutch, this is imo perhaps the only car you need. it is that much fun; the turbo will get you to your desired speed faster everytime, but the GTS will be more fun getting there.

as a final note, given the willingness to rev to redline - smooth engine, amazing sounds etc - the mileage on the average day of GTS driving will be shocking. i was using 21 ltr / 100km - maybe 10 or 11 miles to the gallon? even taking it on those inevitable hwy cruises will likely shock you as it is geared so high.

 

Great review! I especially agree with your PDCC comments. It's a must have option in my opinion too.

 

Great writeup. So you are not getting one?!

 

That's a well written review! The manual's are so often not available I was always curious to see what someone thought of it. I knew that the shifter throw was absurdly long for a "sports" car.

This may be a seemingly dumb question, but when you drove a Turbo, was it an '08? If so, did you drive in sport mode? On my '04, the Turbo does lag, and the pedal response is even laggier, but I considered it tame... when you turn off PSM in Gen 1 CTT's, the response is identical to sport and they turn into monsters: Pedal response is quicker, tranny starts on 1st gear, turbo spool is faster, and shift points go WAY up.

 

debating if the PDCC is an absolute must - i did put a caveat in that part - namely the bit of body roll experienced does add somewhat to the feel of speed on a corner. i found the roll annoying on lane changes etc.

to get PDCC i need to order.

 

Great write up.

Still not sold on the PDCC. Yes my dealer told me its a waste as well.
Maybe if I had the chance to drive on with PDCC however with out the drive, with aggresive round-about turns were taken with no issue.

I personally have never liked what stiffer sway bars do to any of the cars I have had.

Maybe a test drive would change my mind but for now still no PDCC.

You did make me even more excited about my order though....

 

red955 - the turbo comparo is against my 2008 turbo. i have tried the PSM on/off thing and didn't notice anything.

 

there is certainly a personal element. i am really torn about taking the one here w/o PDCC or ordering.