Drove the 991S at the Masters school in Birmingham
Mar 18, 2012 | 02:30 PM
#1
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| Teamspeed Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 715
From: San Diego
Drove the 991S at the Masters school in Birmingham Photo Courtesy Porsche Cars, NA
Drove the 991S at the Masters school in Birmingham
Just got back from the Masters school at the porsche driving school. On the main race track we drove the Cayman R, 997.2S, 991S, and a little of the GT3 and TT/pdk.
The 991 was so much better in everyway then the 997.2. There was no loss in visceral raw driving feedback or anything else that people are complaining of. The steering was great, and not one of us 30 guys could feel the difference of the new electric steering compared to the older model. The chassis control around corners, the acceleration, exhaust note, and tranny were better. I had a lot of time going back and forth from the 991 to the 997. The 991 was better then the cayman R also, believe it or not.
The consensus of the guys there, rated the cars as follows:
991>Cayman R>997.2
The GT3 and TT, we only got a short drive in them, and they were amazing. It was hard to really assess them, as we had to follow the instructor in a lead car, which did not allow us to really push the car to our driving limits. Whereas in the 991 and 997, we had open lapping sessions, where we were able to pass other cars and push the car to our limits of control. You notice I did not say push the car to its limits, because the instructors showed us in the hot lapping session that none of us came close to pushing the car to its limits.
I thought I got much better by the end of the class and was probably in the top 3 of the 30 guys at the track, but I was not even 5/10ths at the level of the instructors.
They kept instructing us to have smooth steady inputs on the steering around turns, but they were dancing with the steering wheel, while they took corners at about 20mph faster then we were.
Overall my feeling was that the 991 would be an unbeatable DD for comfort/performance. Congrats to those of you who have one coming in!
Mar 18, 2012 | 05:12 PM
#8
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| Teamspeed Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 715
From: San Diego
Great writeup!
Your welcome, it was a great experience.
Could you please ( if time allows ) compare the Cayman R to the 991S a bit more in detail?
I had the Cayman R as the first car on the main track. Our group thought it was amazing. We liked how nimble it felt. Then we got the 991, and we all thought the 991 was better on the track. It was easier to drive faster, more control through the corners, and much much faster on the straights. Keep in mind, the school disables the sport and sport plus button, so we are driving it in normal mode only. The instructors say that in sport mode they can get the same lap times in the 991 as the gt3. The instructors loved the new 991 and for us it simply made the Cayman R.... forgettable. The Cayman R is great, but really not more impressive then a boxter spyder. The 991 does cost about 30k more which is a negative, but is feels like its 30k more, which is a positive.
You would not be unhappy with a Cayman R, but I left this experience with a much greater appreciation for what porsche did with the newest 911. The dealer test drive does not do it justice.
That`d be very interesting imo since to me the CR is the ultimate drivers car among non GTs
Your welcome, it was a great experience.
Could you please ( if time allows ) compare the Cayman R to the 991S a bit more in detail?
I had the Cayman R as the first car on the main track. Our group thought it was amazing. We liked how nimble it felt. Then we got the 991, and we all thought the 991 was better on the track. It was easier to drive faster, more control through the corners, and much much faster on the straights. Keep in mind, the school disables the sport and sport plus button, so we are driving it in normal mode only. The instructors say that in sport mode they can get the same lap times in the 991 as the gt3. The instructors loved the new 991 and for us it simply made the Cayman R.... forgettable. The Cayman R is great, but really not more impressive then a boxter spyder. The 991 does cost about 30k more which is a negative, but is feels like its 30k more, which is a positive.
You would not be unhappy with a Cayman R, but I left this experience with a much greater appreciation for what porsche did with the newest 911. The dealer test drive does not do it justice.
That`d be very interesting imo since to me the CR is the ultimate drivers car among non GTs
Mar 18, 2012 | 08:54 PM
#10
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 13
Thanks for the write up. Can you compare the feel of the 991 S to your GT2 (understanding there is at least a 130 HP difference before the GT2 is tuned)? I have a 991 S on order, but have driven my buddy's 2008 GT2 and loved it...even though I thought it was trying to kill me.
