Today I picked up my 991 Turbo S and I cannot hide the fact that I was very excited.

I arrived at 9.30 am at my dealer and there was some strange looking man on a bicycle, waiting to get in too. At first, I thought this is just another client who wanted to look at cars but I soon learned that this guy, on the bicycle, had actually ordered a 991 Turbo S too (for late October delivery) and that the dealer called him, so he could experience the car live at the dealeship. My car.

My son and me wanted to leave fast, the weather was rainy and we were afraid the rain would intensify but that guy who ordered a Turbo S too, just kept on talking and looking at the car and I couldn't actually be mad at him. I understood him very well, the car looks gorgeous.

Finally we were able to leave the dealership and the very first thing I noticed was...I felt at home. The typical 911 feel, nothing weird, nothing too comfy and nothing Panamera or GT-like. The typical 911 feel and due to the fact that I didn't order the Powersteering Plus, a very firm and direct steering feel, even at low speeds. I kind of started to understand why people hate the 991 steering: They were trying cars with the Powersteering Plus. There is no other explenation.

It was raining cats and dogs as you say in Britain, horrible weather but me and my son still enjoyed it. The car is fantastic, very nimble, very precise and very fast without a real effort. I was actually keeping the engine under 3000 rpm most of the time because the boost kicked in and the car jumped forward. At the beginning, I was driving mainly in auto mode but after aprox. 200 km, I started shifting manually. What a pleasure, no comparison to PDK on the 997 Turbo S. You just shift and the gear changes instantly, there is basically no delay you can feel. Downshifts or upshifts, same thing. Wonderful.

I was driving in Sport mode all the time, the throttle response is just better and I didn't want to use Sport Plus on a new car with new tires on streets covered in rain water. Good decision. In a tight curve, the rear came nicely and to my surprise, the PSM softly limited the drift without me really intervening, just keeping the throttle steady.

The Pirelli PZero tires proved to be wonderful on wet pavement, temperature was around 13°C and I could really feel the street, the water on the street and everything else. The steering really provides a lot of feedback and the tires seem to improve that. Unlike on the Panamera Turbo S, I never had a detached driving or steering feel, which allowed me to drive at pretty high speeds on wet pavement and I am not talking about straight line driving. We drove down a couple of nice country roads and the car behaved perfectly. No understeer at all, not even in the wet (maybe the AMS test driver didn't adjust the tire pressure, I don't know) but a very good steering precision and it does exactly what you tell the steering to do, sharp as a knife, very nice. Keep in mind that we were driving over 300 km in rain, so this is quite a statement from me.

On the Autobahn, the car is almost boring. The steering lacks any kind of nervousness but the direct feel is there, just without the shaking. It is difficult to describe. As if someone put some sort of damper between the street and the steering but without affecting the direct feel or the feel for the street and the state of the pavement. I could actually feel every hole, every irregularity of the street below the tires but without being annoyed.

The sound of the engine/exhaust is loud enough for my taste, the improvement is definitely substantial. The car sounds much nicer than the 997 Turbo S, especially at idle and at speeds over 3000 rpm. Most of the time, we were driving somewhere between 2000 and 3000 rpm, simply because the torque is huge and the car just pulls like crazy, even with little throttle operation. I'm not sure a sport exhaust would to this car any good, it is really loud. Loud enough to make you enjoy it but maybe not loud enough to show to others "here I come". I think that Porsche found the right setup for the 991 Turbo S, addressing at the same time the criticism of the past that the Turbo sounds like a vacuum cleaner. It doesn't anymore. People on the sidewalk were turning heads when I came from behind at rev figures below 3500 rpm, so the exhaust sound is not muted. I don't like however the "spitting" noise of the exhaust each time I release the throttle. It is a deep sounding "spitting" and it kind of sounds in the car as if you have a flat tire or as if someone is hitting the car with something from the outside. It can get very annoying. The "spitting" noise on the 991 PSE has a higher pitch, the low tone of the 991 Turbo S "spitting" is really an issue Porsche should address and I'm not kidding. It goes away when turning off Sport or Sport Plus mode but since I drove most of the time in Sport mode, well... Bottom line is: It sounds strange and it gets annoying after some while. Maybe Porsche can change the tone of the "spitting" sound, it needs to sound higher and more metallic, like on the 991 Carrera. If not possible, they should probably remove it completely.

After driving 300 km in rain, we finally had some dry streets too. I'm still breaking the car in, so no high speed reports but I can tell you that the car literally drives as if it would drive on rails, the precision of the steering is amazing, the chassis adds to the perfect setup and the car does exactly what you "tell" it to do with the steering and the throttle.

For the very first time, I also enjoyed manually shifting with PDK in a turbo charged 911. I hated Tiptronic (but it was fast...), so I kept it in auto mode most of the time and my testdrive with a 997 Turbo S was OK but PDK, especially the manual mode, sucked big time. So I understood those 997 Turbo S owners very well who just left the PDK in auto mode. Auto mode did everything better and the shifting wasn't really a pleasure. Now, things have changed. Auto mode of course is still very good but if you enjoy shifting manually, PDK is now for you. Shifting is fast, practically instantenous and it provides a lot of fun.

Another huge surprise was fuel consumption (as you can see on one of the photos): 12.8 l / 100 km. After the 400 km we did today, the average fuel consumption was 13.4 l / 100 km and I was driving most of the time in Sport mode and didn't really drive slow, just kept the engine below 4000 rpm. Very impressive for such a car. The fuel tank low level warning came pretty early, aprox. 15 l fuel was left when I filled the car up.

Before I start to bore you with my stories, here are some PROS and CONS (short).

 

PROS

- Very precise and direct steering feel (without Powersteering Plus!), very good feedback of street condition, even at lower speeds

- Engine doesn't seem to take a sweat, even a little throttle is enough to be fast with usual rev figures between 2000 and 3000 rpm in PDK auto mode (Sport mode)

- Engine/exhaust sound loud and sporty, I would put a big questionmark behind the need of a sport exhaust. Not as loud as PSE of course but I guess you need to drive the car to understand. I think a sport exhaust would actually ruin the experience, it is difficult to explain why.

- PDK is lightning fast, does everything perfect in auto mode and is even a lot of fun to drive in manual mode.

- In standard mode (no Sport or Sport Plus), the throttle feels a little bit slow but the PSM works so well that even on a rainy road, you can actually be pretty fast without taking a huge risk. The tires are the limit in this case and they do a pretty good job.

- Pirelli PZero tires very good on rainy roads, very good feedback, aquaplaning issues "announced" early, very good and effective braking setup in rain together with the PSM/ABS.

- LED front lights look very nice and provide a very good light.

- Fuel consumption: You can actually drive this car with 13-14 l / 100 km without getting the feeling of being slow.

- The "Online" feature of the PCM system allows me to listen to all the iPhone audio apps through BT audio. Example: Today I was listening to Sirius XM Radio in my 991 Turbo S. Nothing special? Well, I drive the car in Germany and there is no Sirius XM Satellite Radio reception in Germany. I just streamed the audio stream from the iPhone app over BT audio to my PCM system. Not sure if this is possible without the "Online" feature.

- Oil consumption: After 400 km, the level hasn't dropped a bit.

 

CONS

- Glass roof rattles from time to time on bad streets (probably needs some adjustment or whatever)

- Sport Plus mode activates Active Aerodynamics (front spoiler lip and rear wing) but it stays active (deployed) even at lower speeds or when you come to a stop. This can be a huge problem if you forget about it when you want to park your car or when you want to enter a parking garage which requires a higher ground clearance. Active Aerodynamics should retract both, the front lip and the wing at speeds under 20 kph. I get it, some people want to show off when cruising but this could be activated manually for example. I find it quite risky to allow Sport Plus to keep the front lip deployed at very low speeds.

- The exhaust sounds nice but the "spitting" noise is too dull and it gets annoying. It should have a higher pitch tone, like on the 991 PSE. The "spitting" on the 991 Turbo S exhaust sounds as if something is hitting your wheel arch with something. Very annoying in my opinion.

- Chassis could sit 10 or 20 mm lower than now, it looks a little bit too high from certain angles (car is still new, so there is a good chance it "settles" a little bit over time).

- You are always too fast in the car because everything feels so safe and stable.

 

I will add more to this report along the way, now I'm at home and I need to get some rest.

Is the car what I expected? Yes and more. Especially the steering has surprised me a lot since I have driven Powersteering Plus equipped cars only. Yes, if you live in a big city and your wife drives your car too or you have a medical condition, get the Powersteering Plus. If not, stay away from it. This is how a Porsche 911 steering is supposed to feel alike.

More to come... (enjoy the photos, more photos next week).

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My son's favorite pet...

 

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Visiting an old friend and showing off... Smiley

 

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Turbo S, Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2013)