Well, that was my initial thought as well and thats why I grilled him with questions. I struggle to understand why he would lie to me though since he knows I am not buying one until PDK and/or S comes out..
Could have been as you say a P employee playing naughty but its really weird.
Anyway, on a different note I spoke to one of the tuners that were in the geneva motor show (huge experience in P turbos etc) about his impressions of the 997tt. He said a few interesting opinions:
- Tip is based on the merc one and he does not believe that there'll be such a perf difference and it's a marketing strategy thing. Probably P bought many of these trannys from Merc and needs to make sure they sell them..
They believe that when PDK comes out it will be perfect for this car..
- Differential looks mechanically the same and no way it transfers more than 35-40% max to the front since they would have to change an aweful lot of components for the front system to accept so much power. Hence the benefit is mainly from the electronic interface.
- VTG techology. The turbos seem to be of very high quality; when Porsche brings out new technology it's always extremely well researched. He said that it would offer an improvement in low end torque, some of which one could get with good tuning anyway.
- Engine is pretty much the same (well we know that) with some improvements; ie the dual opening airbox - which a lot of tuners offered, another difference is that it apparently has 2 airmass sensors. That should be a good thing given the problems that I have experienced with the airmass sensor in my car.. (engine response changes a hell of a lot depending on weather conditions + sensor keeps breaking down!). I think he also mentioned of some notable improvements in the intake.
- Car looks "not too bad" in reality except for the following;
a. Exhaust tips and the plastic around them
b. Wheels
c. Front fog lights.
Obviously he was not too disappointed for a and b since it means a lot of people will be changing them asap so more business for them!
Apart from the subjective opinions I tend to believe the above (wishful thinking maybe on the tip comment) since these guys have worked on hundreds of turbos and are usually pretty objective.
Let see what happens when first tests come out..