A drive in the 997tt
Just spent about an hour seat time in the 997tt that will be mine (6 speed).
The other reviewers who have posted about their test drives are spot on with their comments. I would just like to add a few thoughts:
1) turbo lag is still there - but tamed over a stock 996tt.
2) the car felt quite "involving" - the sound isn't bad, but is muted
3) handling, steering & brakes are fabulous, as expected
4) suspension is firm but very controlled and the biggest surprise is when you select PASM sport mode. On my Boxster, selecting PASM sport mode is an invitation to a terribly choppy ride on normal roads - it is only good for very smooth tarmac. But on the turbo, sport felt perfect to me - firm, but not harsh and incredibly well controlled. The 997tt's PASM is a huge improvement over the stock 996tt's suspension, which I felt was overly harsh yet had too much vertical motion in the curves. With PASM on sport, the 997tt has perfect turn in and control in curves. The car feels smaller than it is - more like my Boxster.
5) The car is deceptively fast, a few very short bursts of acceleration (while keeping the revs under 4200) had me easily 20 mph over the speed limit. This is a car in which the driver will have to be careful not to intimidate lesser cars by coming up on them too quickly.
WOW, pretty much sums up my seat time.
And BTW, it's road presence and visual impact is much more like the 993tt than the 996tt. In "pure" black the car is just breathtaking.
The other reviewers who have posted about their test drives are spot on with their comments. I would just like to add a few thoughts:
1) turbo lag is still there - but tamed over a stock 996tt.
2) the car felt quite "involving" - the sound isn't bad, but is muted
3) handling, steering & brakes are fabulous, as expected
4) suspension is firm but very controlled and the biggest surprise is when you select PASM sport mode. On my Boxster, selecting PASM sport mode is an invitation to a terribly choppy ride on normal roads - it is only good for very smooth tarmac. But on the turbo, sport felt perfect to me - firm, but not harsh and incredibly well controlled. The 997tt's PASM is a huge improvement over the stock 996tt's suspension, which I felt was overly harsh yet had too much vertical motion in the curves. With PASM on sport, the 997tt has perfect turn in and control in curves. The car feels smaller than it is - more like my Boxster.
5) The car is deceptively fast, a few very short bursts of acceleration (while keeping the revs under 4200) had me easily 20 mph over the speed limit. This is a car in which the driver will have to be careful not to intimidate lesser cars by coming up on them too quickly.
WOW, pretty much sums up my seat time.
And BTW, it's road presence and visual impact is much more like the 993tt than the 996tt. In "pure" black the car is just breathtaking.
