Quote:
ADias said:
Lars report agrees w/ RC - that is, that the S takes off above 5k RPM and the non-S "feels" torquier below 5k RPM.

That is a puzzle, because the S has higher torque - 10-20Nm more torque - over the full rev range than the base car. What people report may have to do with ECU tuning, such as the throtle response curve and other settings. Maybe RC could raise this w/ PAG and see what they say. OK RC?



Guys, my English isn't always too good and I understand that some of my words might be understood a little bit differently than I actually planned to but regarding the 997 Carrera and the Carrera S, I always said that the Carrera engine feels stronger and torquier than the Carrera S engine, I didn't say that it actually really is stronger or has more torque. Re-read my 997 Carrera Tiptronic review and I mention that I drove from a certain "reference" point A to a reference point and the Carrera S was much faster which of course had to do with the Tiptronic on the Carrera too.

I also tracked down another source of that "feeling" I had: the chrono sport package. When I turn the "sport" button off, the 997 Carrera S engine "feels" to have more torque, similar to the Carrera experience I had. Now there are two possible explenations for this "subjective(?)" experience:
1. the software mapping change caused by activating the chrono sport package "sport" button is more "dramatic" than actually stated by Porsche
2. the whole experience is just based on a subjective feel caused by the chrono sport package, a different M97 engine setup incl. throttle response and exhaust sound

Personally I think it is a combination of both.
For potential buyers, this is actually a bad thing: they testdrive both cars, they get the feel that the Carrera isn't much different than the Carrera S and maybe make the "wrong" decision. The Carrera S is definetely faster than the Carrera but the subjective feel (or called "popometer" in german language...I leave it to fritz to find the proper translation... ) indicates something else.

To help you find a "real world" comparison for the 997 Carrera S performance: I recently encountered an Audi RS4 shortly before we entered a short Autobahn track. In the curves before entering the Autobahn, the RS4 didn't stand any chance, falling back strongly.
When entering the Autobahn, I had to slow down to around 120 kph because of a car ahead of me. The Audi RS4 was right behind me shortly after. When the car in front of me moved to the right, I fully accelerated (chrono sport active!) and we had the chance to drive up to a speed of around 270 kph on the speedo. Up to that speed, the Audi RS4 was right behind me, he didn't fall back one second but he didn't seem to be able to get any closer.
After this short Autobahn ride, I parked in the parking lot of a local store and surprise, surprise, the Audi RS4 came too. The driver got out and we started to talk. He actually followed me because he wanted to ask me how I'm satisfied with the new 997. He owned a 993 before the Audi RS4 but due to his business needs, he needed a bigger car for loading parcels, etc. in the rear.
He seemed pretty impressed by the performance, he said that for the first time he couldn't pass a normally aspirated 911 and this was another reason why he followed me to learn if the car is stock.
I asked him if his car is stock because I had 270 on the speedo and he was still behind me but he said that his RS4 was going pretty well, especially since he passed 10000 km.
I'm not sure if I should believe it but he mentioned that at no time he was able to pass me, he was driving at FULL throttle and he also mentioned that when we drove that curves before entering the Autobahn, it looked like as my 997 was driving on rails, he was VERY impressed and said that his car was already starting to slip away why I was rocketing through the curve without any sign of instability.

According to various car magazines, the RS4 does 0-62 mph in 4.6 to 4.7 seconds and 0-125 mph in 16.6 to 17 seconds, so maybe his car was really stock.

I also had a 993 Turbo encounter a week ago, according to my dealer this car (he is a customer) had the 450 HP powerkit. The 993 Turbo driver had his wife sitting next to him, we drove up to around 250 kph and from around 80 kph up to around 230 kph, he was coming nearer and nearer pretty fast but when I entered the first Autobahn curve at around 250, he fell back. Maybe his wife got a little bit nervous... Although I never expected to outrun a 993 Turbo or be at the same performance level, it showed me that it isn't too easy for a 993 Turbo to pass a 997 Carrera S. It needs a longer distance and it should be significant on a german Autobahn only, not on little country roads.

That said, I think the 997 Carrera S performs exactly to specs and factory claims. Unfortunately I didn't see any 997 Carrera reviews with performance numbers yet but I expect to seem some very soon. But to be clear: from 0-125 mph, there is only one second performance difference between the Carrera and Carrera S.

So I still believe that the M97 Carrera S engine has a different characteristic compared to the M96 engine of the 997 Carrera. And I can't hide the feeling that the M97 engine is slightly "underpowered", intentionally. So maybe the rumors of a 380 HP powerkit are correct but I wish the 997 Carrera S would have had 380 HP from the start. Time will tell.