991 base for the City?
#93
08-11-2014, 08:28 AM
Quote ..."We do agree on the importance of strenuous physical activity. I last had the time to train semi-seriously when I was just a few year older, 52, than you at 49 for your last official service 1.5 mile run. My training goal then, shared with a younger friend, was to break 12 minutes....."
My only idea of strenuous physical activity is staying fit enough so I still look proportioned well enough driving a 991 and don't have a problem getting in/out of it and having someone say "look at that fat dude trying to squeeze into that small sports car!!"
** I want to avoid joining the pathetic crowd of Mustang, Camero, and Vette owners who are trying too hard to be cool again ... We're all Porsche brothers here, let's get along!!
My only idea of strenuous physical activity is staying fit enough so I still look proportioned well enough driving a 991 and don't have a problem getting in/out of it and having someone say "look at that fat dude trying to squeeze into that small sports car!!"
** I want to avoid joining the pathetic crowd of Mustang, Camero, and Vette owners who are trying too hard to be cool again ... We're all Porsche brothers here, let's get along!!
Last edited by STG991; 08-11-2014 at 08:44 AM.
#94
08-11-2014, 08:52 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Los Angeles (Century City)
Age: 71
Posts: 809
Rep Power: 47 
Amen, regardless of which model, version, or generation, we share a common love/appreciation/joy, whatever one wants to call it, with this brand of vehicles. I can cheer for the next Porsche driver and still be satisfied with mine.
#95
08-12-2014, 01:40 AM
This is one of the best contributions I've read in a long long time ! It reflect almost perfectly how I feel and think about my 991 and the 987S I had before that, except that you put it into words so much better than I ever could !
Especially the part about how the midengined one seems to pivot around its axis. I hated that. It feels like a razor's edge car, one millisecond you're ok, the next you're in a ditch, no communication whatsoever. Never really loved that one. Totally smitten with my 991 though, best car I ever owned in every way, a dreamcar come true.
Yesterday saw a video comparo of a bone stock 991 against a 981S loaded up with all the goodies, PASM, LSD and so on. Pitted against each other on a small, narrow track that favors the 981. Yet still the 991 came out on top because it was more composed, more front end grip, more communication and so on ... probably been posted before as it's a few years old, but still ...
So I think it's best to take these Ringtimes with a pinch of salt !
With the mid-engine, you have a sense of agility and liveliness in day-to-day driving because of the weight distribution. When conditions are perfect and you have the opportunity to commit to a corner, there isn't so much as a sensation of left-right weight transfer but one of the car pivoting around your hips. It's sublime. Pushing hard on the track however, it is easy to get caught out because of this very pivot tendency. Unless you are very clean with your inputs, you may find that it's just a hair between understeer and oversteer and it can snap between the two. For me at least, this means that I'm a little less confident and that makes me a little slower. If you are a driving God of course, none of this may matter.
With the rear engine layout, especially with the very sorted dynamics of the 991, you don't get this pivot feeling, but you get something else... that of a beautifully confident and even-keeled handling with immense rear axle traction. It is different, but equally nice, to perceive a sensation of being firmly propelled from behind, of the chassis having a rear squat bias, and once you learn to use it, steering the car by its *** almost. It's a kind of connection that is hard to describe but when you experience it, you will know it and love it. On the track, my clear preference is for the 991 where this characteristic makes for more predictable dynamics. There is almost no understeer unless you are really barrelling into corners having forgotten about the brake pedal. Start braking late, trailbrake towards a late apex, and power out letting all that weight bias on the rear axle with those fat tyres sling-shot you towards the next braking point. There is oversteer if you overcook it, but it never comes suddenly. It's like its always there and just gets progressively more pronounced so it's more controllable and you can use it to good effect for tighter corners. It's no wonder that 911s have been the basis of so many motorsport victories for Porsche because the rear engine layout is so exploitable on the track. I love it!
Especially the part about how the midengined one seems to pivot around its axis. I hated that. It feels like a razor's edge car, one millisecond you're ok, the next you're in a ditch, no communication whatsoever. Never really loved that one. Totally smitten with my 991 though, best car I ever owned in every way, a dreamcar come true.
Yesterday saw a video comparo of a bone stock 991 against a 981S loaded up with all the goodies, PASM, LSD and so on. Pitted against each other on a small, narrow track that favors the 981. Yet still the 991 came out on top because it was more composed, more front end grip, more communication and so on ... probably been posted before as it's a few years old, but still ...
So I think it's best to take these Ringtimes with a pinch of salt !
With the mid-engine, you have a sense of agility and liveliness in day-to-day driving because of the weight distribution. When conditions are perfect and you have the opportunity to commit to a corner, there isn't so much as a sensation of left-right weight transfer but one of the car pivoting around your hips. It's sublime. Pushing hard on the track however, it is easy to get caught out because of this very pivot tendency. Unless you are very clean with your inputs, you may find that it's just a hair between understeer and oversteer and it can snap between the two. For me at least, this means that I'm a little less confident and that makes me a little slower. If you are a driving God of course, none of this may matter.
With the rear engine layout, especially with the very sorted dynamics of the 991, you don't get this pivot feeling, but you get something else... that of a beautifully confident and even-keeled handling with immense rear axle traction. It is different, but equally nice, to perceive a sensation of being firmly propelled from behind, of the chassis having a rear squat bias, and once you learn to use it, steering the car by its *** almost. It's a kind of connection that is hard to describe but when you experience it, you will know it and love it. On the track, my clear preference is for the 991 where this characteristic makes for more predictable dynamics. There is almost no understeer unless you are really barrelling into corners having forgotten about the brake pedal. Start braking late, trailbrake towards a late apex, and power out letting all that weight bias on the rear axle with those fat tyres sling-shot you towards the next braking point. There is oversteer if you overcook it, but it never comes suddenly. It's like its always there and just gets progressively more pronounced so it's more controllable and you can use it to good effect for tighter corners. It's no wonder that 911s have been the basis of so many motorsport victories for Porsche because the rear engine layout is so exploitable on the track. I love it!
#96
08-12-2014, 01:49 AM
Oh my. I can so easily turn that around on you. S cars are for the ones looking to patch lack of talent with hp !
I drive a non-S. I AM VERY MUCH an enthusiast, and I'm not elderly either ! It does not leave me wanting. Quite the opposite. It makes me realize what a mediocre driver I am, and how much of its performance I leave untapped !
Now that 987S I had, that left me wanting !
#98
08-13-2014, 01:27 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Posts: 43
Rep Power: 13
Why thank you kindly, sir! 
#99
08-13-2014, 01:42 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Posts: 43
Rep Power: 13
Haha! Totally with you on this! I too am an enthusiast and not elderly so that generalisation was pretty repugnant to me. Methinks there isn't much point in having a car that leaves too big a gap between its capability and mine. If I ever become a better driver, then the cars I buy would probably be different. And even then they would be for the track only. On public roads, all the testosterone-brandishing, sabre-rattling, and bragging rights of big HP and torque numbers is all for nought.
Oh my. I can so easily turn that around on you. S cars are for the ones looking to patch lack of talent with hp !
I drive a non-S. I AM VERY MUCH an enthusiast, and I'm not elderly either ! It does not leave me wanting. Quite the opposite. It makes me realize what a mediocre driver I am, and how much of its performance I leave untapped
I drive a non-S. I AM VERY MUCH an enthusiast, and I'm not elderly either ! It does not leave me wanting. Quite the opposite. It makes me realize what a mediocre driver I am, and how much of its performance I leave untapped
#100
08-16-2014, 02:01 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: S.E. Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Posts: 108
Rep Power: 16 Stereotype much? And, it's "Camaro" and "Corvette".
#101
08-16-2014, 06:36 AM
Sorry about the spelling mistake on the "Camaro". Rarely do I mention that fugly car! I am a fan of the 1969 model though!
I thought "Vette" was acceptable for Corvette? Maybe you need to own one to be able to say that? Sorry, I forgot to include the Mustang in with the other two cars!
Thanks for the spelling correction! I rarely make any errors.
Last edited by STG991; 08-16-2014 at 08:43 AM.
#102
08-16-2014, 09:34 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: S.E. Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Posts: 108
Rep Power: 16 To 1AnalGuy, coming from a NonAnalGuy:
Sorry about the spelling mistake on the "Camaro". Rarely do I mention that fugly car! I am a fan of the 1969 model though!
I thought "Vette" was acceptable for Corvette? Maybe you need to own one to be able to say that?
Thanks for spelling correction! A rarely make any.
Sorry about the spelling mistake on the "Camaro". Rarely do I mention that fugly car! I am a fan of the 1969 model though!
I thought "Vette" was acceptable for Corvette? Maybe you need to own one to be able to say that?
Thanks for spelling correction! A rarely make any.
As to the term "Vette"...back in the mid '70s, when I owned my first Corvette (a '70 LT-1 coupe), I met a guy who drove a Chevette. Remember those (
)? He always referred to it as his "Vette". Ever since, when someone makes reference to a "Vette", I'm tempted to ask them which car they're referring to. I mean come on, "Corvette" is only two lousy syllables...and still it's too much work to say or write "Corvette" instead of "Vette"? End of rant. Maybe this is just me living up to my username...By the way, I'm completely with you on the looks of the current Camaro, and I'll throw in the C7 Corvette as well. They're both way too "Hot Wheels"/"Anime" for my taste. It's one of the reasons why I'm here now...
I am kind of surprised that this thread has degenerated into a lap-time-and-handling comparison/argument, which has absolutely nothing to do with the OP's original inquiry as to whether or not a 991 Carrera's 3.4 has enough low-end torque for the car to serve as a satisfactory DD in Toronto traffic...and he is wondering the same thing about a 981 Cayman S. It's a legitimate concern. In heavy traffic, you will occasionally need a car that can, at a moment's notice, squirt itself into a rapidly-disappearing hole in the traffic, or even that can just plain get out of the way of something bearing down on you. His question was, basically: can a 3.4 Carrera or a Cayman S do that when required, or will he be stuck waiting for torque to appear while the revs climb high enough for something to happen? He obviously already considers either car's handling prowess to be more than adequate for the required duty...
Last edited by 1analguy; 08-16-2014 at 10:03 AM.
#103
08-16-2014, 10:03 AM
Thanks for being a good sport as well!
Nothing against the Corvette here in the big scope of things. An iconic American car.. Except my father in law drives a 1980 something Burgundy one and thinks it's the coolest thing in the world! Ha ha ..
Nothing against the Corvette here in the big scope of things. An iconic American car.. Except my father in law drives a 1980 something Burgundy one and thinks it's the coolest thing in the world! Ha ha ..
#104
08-16-2014, 10:07 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: S.E. Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Posts: 108
Rep Power: 16
Oh god...not a late C3, I hope?