n2cars

I'm an old guy. Bought my first Porsche in 1970. A signal yellow 911S. Bought a lot Porsches since 1970 including a CGT. The last two Porsches I have owned have been a 997.1 GT3 and still own a Boxster Spyder. Owned numerous Ferraris too. Sold my 430 Scuderia and bought the Boxster Spyder. I've been lucky in life and lucky to have a wife who puts up with my car sickness.

I take the Spyder in for service and have two hours to kill. The sales person hands me the keys to a new 991S, PDK. I've never owned nor driven a PDK Porsche. I've read all the comments about the new 991 and was anxious to try the PDK. I drove the car hard for two hours. I really wanted to like the car but it didn't happen. The car lacked excitement. The PDK shifting was too slow for my tastes. Porsche has made a great car but somehow has taken the sportiness out of the car. One way I judge a car is this; does it make me want to write a check right then and there? The car I drove just didn't make me write the check.

jrt600

Don't read too much into what others, like myself, are saying. The 991 is still the only new sports car on the market that I'd consider for use as a daily driver. My guess is the same goes for 90%+ of those making the negative comments that you're seeing.

Carrera GT

I think you've gotten off on the wrong foot -- read a little wider, especially the 997 GT3 forum, and you'll see the posts are, for the most part, especially by Web forum standards, civil and reasonable. For sure, there is cause to click the "ignore" button on some who post here with apparently nothing on their mind beyond arguments and bickering, but after you redact those few, there's some valuable information to be had.

Somewhat ironically, for every post to the effect of "why is a Porsche forum so negative about Porsche?" there's a post saying "typical Porsche forum -- totally biased and one-eyed devotion to the brand with no balance or critical thought." Thus, nature balances itself.

As for PCA, check out the local region in your vicinity. At least around California, the various groups of pca.org are very much a social organisation with the emphasis on sharing the interest in all things Porsche -- from tractors to Boxsters, winery touring to time trials and everything in-between. If owners can show up in a Panamera and not be heckled (too severely) I'm pretty sure you can show up in a 2012 911 and not be asked to park around back. : )

n2cars

Heck, you'll be okay at a Porsche meeting. A new 991 and a hot wife. What's not to like? I'll tell you what's embarrassing ... showing up in a Boxster. Why's this guy showing up at our meeting in a girl's car?

Carrera GT

You've got quite the range of experience in Porsche, so I can only suggest you drove a poorly configured example (or you happened to not try Sport and Sport Plus in PDK.) After all PDK is amazing, especially on the road, and its shifts are not only the quickest draw in the west, in Sport Plus, the shift happens in literally negative time (ie., the next gear upshift occurs before the current gear is fully disengaged by its clutch ... this programming is a deliberate "overlap" to use the clutch engage to accelerate the gar with a momentary torque advantage at the same time as allowing the engine to remain at wide open throttle.) The shifts might "feel" a little soft and smooth (unlike the skull fracturing jolt of the Aventador with a single clutch and time working against it) but for sure, they're faster than lightning because the transmission is literally in two places at the same time.

If you wanted something to convince you to replace a Boxster Spyder, I don't think such a car exists.

If you wanted something to really knock your socks off compared to a 997.1 GT3, you've got the 997.2 RS or RS 4.0 ... going from a 997.1 GT3 to a .2 RS, I was astonished by the performance of the RS. Again, I don't think there's a car on the planet that will convince an enthusiastic driver to get out of an RS.

As for the measure of the 991, my only reservation is the steering. I didn't buy the thing expecting it to convince me to push the 3.8 RS out to the curb with a "free to good home" sign under the wiper. But I did expect it to be as good or better than the 997.2 as an all-rounder and to that extent, I think the 991 delivers the goods.

I cut it a bit of slack as sort of "version 1" and trust that whatever else is going on at Porsche and VW, the next 991 will be at the very least, incrementally better. As has been noted here by many, until we see this 991 get into a fight, we won't know its true colors. It's going to take a year or two until we see the GT3 and RS variants, the eventual Cup car and so on.

CarManDSL

You just can't come on this thread and not prove a claim . . . it is just not right!

Besides, it makes the rest of us jealous . . . or not.

n2cars

I think you are right on about the configuration of the car. MSRP was around $108K. It didn't have the wart or the paddles on the steering wheel. And the car had snow tires on.

I had a chance to spec a 4.0 but turned it down. Still kicking myself on that one.

The Boxster Spyder is a keeper. Bucket seats and 6speed. Porsche hit a home run with the Spyder.

CarManDSL

Did you put the car in Sports Plus mode and switch to manual shift?
Do a launch and your head will snap back like you've never experienced before.

C&D did a 0-60 in 3.6 seconds . . . thats exciting in my book!

Mike in CA

Stick around. It's just cars, but in that context, in a period of change like this from one model to the next, there has almost always been this kind of passion and carping about the new car among the faithful. Some of it is well over the top, unfortunately, but there are also plenty of sincere people that you can have a reasonable argument with in addition to others who are really enthusiastic about the 991. Heck, it won't be too long before some of the naysayers end up with a future iteration of the 991 in their garage and the negative statements of the past will be forgotten. BTW, definitely join PCA. You'll find your local chapter more than willing to congratulate you and be accepting of your new 991.

Also, since it didn't happen if there are no pictures, how about some shots of the new car and the hot wife? Kidding, just the car, not the wife (unless you want to...... ) Welcome!

Alstoy

Please, don't leave. I've been hanging around here about a year after buying my first Porsche in '05. The people on this forum have been a great help and I have learnt a lot about this great car. The 991 fumes have done something to these guys. I've never seen so much emotion. Give it time and everyone will be back to their normal self. Enjoy that great car. Cheers.

disden

Thanks for all the kind responses to my concerns. Certainly I understand that everything is subjective and people's tastes vary. I would never let what others think change my perception of how I personally feel about my car. My only complaint so far is that is it in the shop for the recall on the fuel line and they ran our of loaners, so they put me in a freakin minivan rental car. I am trying to post pics, but in my typical idiotic computer way I can't figure it out. However, just picture Guards Red with Black wheels.

C DeVito

After leaving the forums for the lasts 4 years (out of the country). I also just returned to Pcar ownership and the forums and had the same reaction to the bickering. It is hard to say how this forum will evolve with such a rocky start, but I can say my prior experience spanning 22 years and 4 Porsches has been generally very good for these forums and the Porsche Club.

Hang in a bit longer these communities once formed are usually very helpful and take some of the argument lightly. No matter what model we discuss there are always people who like it or don't. I figure I paid my money for a car I like. In the end that's what matters.

zanwar

I had a similar reaction when I started reading these forums. I assumed the forums were populated by car guys who were positive about cars. That's obviously not the case. Some of the most vociferous posters aren't car guys at all .. they're Internet forum guys. Just posting the same endless self satisfied BS to **** people off. It's the same in every sport or hobby, be it cars, aeroplanes, photography, wine, what have you. The same bunch of tw*ts always come out and spoil it. On the flip side, there are plenty of individuals who bring positive comments and occasionally there is some value information posted, so in the end it's worth it to participate.

TT Surgeon

I drove one, made the mistake of jumping into my 930 afterwards.
It's a great car, but more of two door panamera than a 911. Might as well put the engine in the front and call it a day.
Great DD, but more numb than my tts, maybe it's just the pdk.
If I were you I'd get a gts, great deals right now too.
c

hockeyguy

I have yet to drive the 991 (I own a 997.2), so I have no first-hand knowledge of how it drives. But for that kind of money, I want something special and unique.
But if it's less 911-like and more mainstream, I might be more inclined to buy, for example, an audi S4 for half the price, or perhaps the next Cayman.