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WBH said:
Have never found WindingRoad very insightful, even vs typically clueless car mags....
Much of elegance of 599 hp/tq deliv is its robust mid-range, NA tq deliv in context of arguably world's fastest/smoothest/most daily-useable paddleshifter gearbox....that's why, aside from F's dubious passive safety, 599 could easily make CL63/65 essentially irrelevant for even mundane, yr-round daily commuting in CA....
One of P's major Achille's heels is its reliance on wimpy turbo motors w/glaring, unsolved turbo lag/nonlinearity issues....unsuitable for fast, urban CA fwy commuting, where one needs to solve "jigsaw puzzles" in traffic....or, for track/mtn twisties use, where turbo lag/nonlinearity is similarly less than optimal/poss destabilizing....
Even AMG is moving away from old-tech turbo/SC motors....the new NA63 motor is superb...and, hopefully, AMG will within next 12 mos retire the ancient, heavy 65 motor for a new, latest-tech, lighter, NA V12.....more along the lines of the 599 motor....
Would argue future for daily-useable (poor sales of Veyron, FXX, GT2, etc confirm that most affluent, car-oriented buyers want cars that they can easily daily-drive to office and drive on wkends in mtn twisties...tracks are largely irrelevant to most buyers) high-perf cars will likely be engineered around high-tq, NA motors w/fast, smart computer networks linking the gearbox/chassis damping/stab ctrls/brakes, etc in context of a platform based upon lighter materials and smart wt distrib, while optimizing active/passive safety and fuel tank crashworthiness.....along the direction of today's 599 and CL63, w/ever-faster, smarter, safer hardware/software upgrades/debugs as tech advances.....
I'm sorry VKSF, but Porsches aren't built for urban freeway commuting in the californian mountain highway twisties with no police and loads of jigsaw puzzles. Freeway commuting doesn't only exist in the Bay area and I can assure you that the Turbo is quite capable of handling it. The lag also isn't nearly as bad as you purport it to be, but calling the engine WIMPY? Are you kidding
? It would seem that unless the car has at least 6 litres of displacement, two tons of safety reinforcements around the chassis and the absolutely newest state-of-the-art interior electronics and creature comforts, it becomes DATED by your standards. I'm very sorry, but that is a very sad place to be if you are actually serious. Appreciating a capable sports car for what it is and ENJOYING it for many years to come isn't something I would sweep aside for the newest and greatest from Exxon-Benz, just so my friends don't mock me and which I have to trade in after 6 months at the latest - the car isn't even run-in properly during that time and then you have to get rid of it. I seriously don't understand how your mind as a car enthusiast works and this isn't an attack on you, just a very curious question.