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U Boat Commander said:
RC: Forgive me because I don't want to seem like I'm trying to be critcal. But I have to agree with SVtrader to a certain extent. Isn't the overboost "option" really just another Porsche marketing BS hosejob? Why not just offer overboost all the time for free? Why make it an option (or part of an option)? Does it cost Porsche anything to have this feature on all the time as it appears to be on your car and others with tip (extra warranty repair costs maybe)? Maybe I don't understand how the overboost works and am missing something. Does the overboost require any additional parts that are not on the 997TT already?
To be honest, I don't know for sure.
A few years ago, I took part in some sort of a "poll" and was asked what features I would like to see in a future 911 Turbo model. "Overboost" came to my mind from my old Lancia Delta HF Integrale days. It was a great feature and I loved it, simply because it was my first turbo charged car.
Why did Porsche implement the overboost? The official reason seems to be components stress. The overboost allows for a short time to exceed the given specs without compromising reliability.
The unofficial reason? I can only have a guess or two.
Personally, I think that the overboost will disappear on the powerkit, the GT2 and the Turbo S. Then, take the factory claims (which are without overboost) and compare them to the new models, voila: you have a much better performance. If you take the overboost into consideration too, the values wouldn't seem that good anymore. Why doing this? Maybe because the air gets thinner in the upper power range. The GT2 is already rumored to hit 200 kph (125 mph) below 11 seconds. Now take the 997 Turbo without Tip and without overboost and the factory claim is 12.8 seconds. Take a 997 Turbo Tip with Sport Chrono and you get around 11.7-11.8 seconds. Understood? The overboost actually helps to keep the factory claim valid but in reality, it increases performance pretty well. Of course this is just a wild guess, it could be a different reason too. The high boost pressure of the overboost (1.2 bar max.) actually indicates that this is the "end" of the possible and reliable boost pressure, meaning that the powerkit and GT2 maybe get different chargers or more displacement, whatever.
Yes, it surely has something to do with marketing but not what most people seem to suspect. It is not a feature Porsche really advertises, most interested customers don't have a clue that Sport Chrono also includes the overboost function. Lots of them still think that it has the same functions like on the Carrera models, thinking of the additional money as a rip-off. Same thinking regarding the PCCB brake: the 997 Turbo PCCB is more expensive but most people seem to overlook that the front 380 mm disc and caliper is actually taken from the Carrera GT and has nothing in common with the 350 mm disc and caliper of the Carrera models.
If the overboost would be a simple marketing ploy, they would advertise it better. They don't, actually they don't advertise it at all to my knowledge. Just in the technical specs.