Jusr returned from the "Turbo Lounge"
The 997tt design is much more impressive in person than in the pictures. There are subtle touches that show the kind of refinement I had hoped for. For example, the air inlets on the rear fenders appear more integrated than in the 996, the air ducts at the bottom of the fender are nicely styled and don't look like someone took a can opener to the bottom of the fender. The rear spoiler is more forceful and again more refined looking than that of the 996tt. The biggest surprise to me were the wheels - they looked much nicer in person. Two cars were present - an arctic silver with black leather and a basalt with black/terracota. The latter car was really dramatic and elegant looking; the former car was much less impressive looking IMO. The 997tt looks best in dark colors.
The main thing that pictures I've seen can't convey is the three dimensional, forceful appearance. It looks like a car to be reckoned with. It looks just great in person.
As far as the answers to our questions. I got some answers but I have to set the reference point. The Turbo Lounge was staffed with young PCNA marketing and public relations persons - they were very nice and personable but I was not likely to get any "inside info" from them.
I asked about the justification of the price of the turbo in light of the Z06. I got the same answers that we give to that vette guy that comes over to annoy us. The PCNA rep stated the quality of the 997tt, that it isn't mass produced like the Z06 and that whereas the Z06 is very fast on dry roads or track, as soon as you put some real world road hazards like rain or snow, there is no contest.
We talked about the debate between tip and 6 speed. Most of the people there favored the 6 speed. All of the PCNA reps agreed that the tip was slightly faster but the 6 speed was more fun. Nothing new here.
About PDK - Porsche is just not ready yet and it's still at least 2 years out.
A turbo cab is at least a year away and the Turbo S's are at least 2 years away. They said we should use the 996tt as an example for when releases might occur - the S came towards the end of the product cycle.
The launch cars will be in dealers' hands on June 24 and they can start delivering them at that time.
The inside of the wheels are treated with an anthracite (deep grey) paint that does not correspond to any of the classic Porsche colors but rather is a nice contrast. The rep told me that brake dust discoloration and difficulty in removing brake dust should be a thing of the past.
Sounded like MP3, Ipod, SAT and Bluetooth are years away still.
they will adapt the electronic awd to the Carreras, but no info when that might occur.
RC is quite right about how Porsche stays in touch with what is said on Rennteam. All the guys "know" of RC and seem to read what is said on Rennteam.com.
The transmission is not the Aisin but rather the MB and it does default to second gear when started from rest.
The main thing that pictures I've seen can't convey is the three dimensional, forceful appearance. It looks like a car to be reckoned with. It looks just great in person.
As far as the answers to our questions. I got some answers but I have to set the reference point. The Turbo Lounge was staffed with young PCNA marketing and public relations persons - they were very nice and personable but I was not likely to get any "inside info" from them.
I asked about the justification of the price of the turbo in light of the Z06. I got the same answers that we give to that vette guy that comes over to annoy us. The PCNA rep stated the quality of the 997tt, that it isn't mass produced like the Z06 and that whereas the Z06 is very fast on dry roads or track, as soon as you put some real world road hazards like rain or snow, there is no contest.
We talked about the debate between tip and 6 speed. Most of the people there favored the 6 speed. All of the PCNA reps agreed that the tip was slightly faster but the 6 speed was more fun. Nothing new here.
About PDK - Porsche is just not ready yet and it's still at least 2 years out.
A turbo cab is at least a year away and the Turbo S's are at least 2 years away. They said we should use the 996tt as an example for when releases might occur - the S came towards the end of the product cycle.
The launch cars will be in dealers' hands on June 24 and they can start delivering them at that time.
The inside of the wheels are treated with an anthracite (deep grey) paint that does not correspond to any of the classic Porsche colors but rather is a nice contrast. The rep told me that brake dust discoloration and difficulty in removing brake dust should be a thing of the past.
Sounded like MP3, Ipod, SAT and Bluetooth are years away still.
they will adapt the electronic awd to the Carreras, but no info when that might occur.
RC is quite right about how Porsche stays in touch with what is said on Rennteam. All the guys "know" of RC and seem to read what is said on Rennteam.com.
The transmission is not the Aisin but rather the MB and it does default to second gear when started from rest.
. thanks.
while taking some nice pics, so that I had to delete all of them from my digicam 
). So you can imagine how I always feel when I meet these guys/women in those nice dresses. This is actually the best way to tell the sales people/press guys from customers. 
I'm happy to hear that it is the same in the US too because every time I go there on vacation, we meet a lot of nicely dressed people at our hotels. My wife always feels underdressed but apparently most of these people are "just" employees of various companies and they have to attend business meetings/launch/dinner at the hotel. Last time a bunch of Swatch employees were at our hotel.
