I've had my 991 now for two months and just finally got around to an enjoyable weekend trip in it, long overdue if you ask me. I had never driven a sports car in a spirited fashion at all until this weekend and this is the sportiest car I've owned by a huge stretch (S2000 is probably next) and also by far the nicest, so I was a little apprehensive to drive it 300+ miles in one week, but I'm glad I did. I drove from my home in Downtown Phoenix to the Loew's Ventana Canyon Resort north of Tucson, AZ by way of the Copper Corridor Scenic Road, which cuts through some very remote and very beautiful parts of central and southern Arizona.

Some impressions:

This car is extremely comfortable on the highway and behaves in a very manageable way. With "regular chassis" selected the car feels docile and cushy, but with "sport chassis" it's stiff and feels like a well connected car. I enjoy that setting much more and usually just leave it there while in town.

It feels underpowered. Perhaps it's my driving style, but the car doesn't feel like it really is fast until above 4500-5000 rpm, but under that it feels pretty slow, honestly. In 6th gear at 70 mph I feel like I'm mashing the gas for nothing, it just feels, uh, SLOW. Pulling away from a stop light is the same, I could be driving a Corolla and get the same feeling. Perhaps the tire pressure I run (33/39) has something to do with that. It's of course faster than my daily driver, TDI Golf SportWagen, but doesn't pull like my WRX did. Maybe it's the lack of torque and the car is accelerating quickly but just doesn't feel like it.

The Sport Plus seating is fantastic, absolutely the most comfortable 3 hours I've ever spent in a car chair. I've heard from big people that they are not comfy, but I race bicycles and climb mountains and have the body to prove it (read: skinny little ****!) and I find them to grab, hold, and support very well. I also broke my back, neck, a bunch of ribs, clavicle, and some other things a year ago this month and these seats do nothing to aggravate my injuries.

The sound is unbelievable while downshifting and cornering, the blip of the throttle, the throaty acceleration, it's just magical.

Gas mileage is decent, too. I have been getting mid 15 to 17mpg in the city and today driving home I got 28.4... pretty good for a car with these performance characteristics.

In summary, the Carrera S is nearly the perfect car, it feels like a grown up version of my S2000 I had years ago, to be honest. Gutless until you get high RPM but sounds mean across the powerband, holds the road like it's on rails, and is very manageable at low speed. The big differences are the fact this car is light years more refined, quiet, and enjoyable to drive.

Here are a couple pictures of where I was.

This is a shot I found online of the road I was traveling on (I've actually cycled this road as well and didn't take pics then either), unfortunately I didn't snap any pics:


This is a giant copper mine I drove past:


View of the desert from my cockpit:


View from my hotel room with storms rolling in, they had no indoor parking so I ran out to get my car out from under a tree... high winds meant the possibility of a branch or limb causing damage.

 

My 991 is my second Porsche, but like you, I owned a Honda S2000 before purchasing my first Porshe. Of course the Honda was only 4 cylinder (and about 225 horsepower if I remember correctly). It didn't have much kick until the Vtec kicked in at around 6,500 RPM. It's funny but I feel like both the S2000 and the 991 have to be driven at very high RPMs before you really get any kind of a rush. Below 4,000 they both feel like you're driving, well, a Honda Accord. The big advantage to the Porsche is the handling and confidence you feel at those high RPMs. Don't get me wrong, the S2000 drove like a go-cart, I just loved it, but I couldn't take a corner in it, like I can in my 991.

BTW, I love the espresso colored leather dash on your 991!

 

Interesting cover on the s2000, something like that would have been nice for me because I parked it outside and always worried about kids slashing my top to steal my seats. Apparently it's quite common because they bolt into a civic and will possibly total the car.

 

Do you have a picture of the car? It's the first time that I have ever read of a new 991 Porsche Carrera S to be compared with a Honda.


I've owned several Porsche cars before my 991 but never a Honda.


We have some nice roads in the north Georgia mountains:

 

Mine was the same style as the guy who posted above ^^ (they only made one body style of them before discontinuing) except mine was red and had some gaudy titanium tipped exhaust on it.

 

Wish I could drive on that road . . . looks epic. And great dash on the 911, by the way. Really sweet.

 

Thanks for the compliments on the interior color, I really like it as well, here's the whole thing:

 

Fantastic interior!!! Glad you got the car out for a 'proper' road trip. Nice looking roads and scenery there! I too, just recently, have taken my 991 on a road trip. Did 3000 miles from FL up to the NC mountains/Blue Ridge Parkway. I will agree with you: very comfortable, surprising fuel mileage and a great handling and sounding car!

Keep us posted on any other trips you do!

 

I have a C4S with a manual transmission. If you like to heal/toe you might want to consider swapping out the pedals. I chose this with a wider accelerator to make heal/toe a lot easier. Of course you can also just switch into Sport-Plus mode for auto-rev-matching, but I consider that cheating. :-)



Here's my two-tone, before I installed the new pedals, but I honestly have to say I like your interior even better.

 

Hey Vintage Racer, just because we compare a Honda S2000 to a Porsche 911 doesn't mean we're saying they're equivalent. We're just contrasting the two experiences. For example I might compare how I looked when I was a teenager to how I look now that I'm considerably older. I'm not saying the two looks are the same, unfortunately, but comparing the two helps one get perspective :-).

The S2000 is only 225 horsepower, but for the price of my 991 C4S, I could have bought four S2000s, or the equivalent of 900 horsepower. I wouldn't trade my 911 for any other car, but dollar for dollar, the S2000 packed a lot of punch. :-)

 

There's a very good reason prices on S2000s keep rising.

 

The S2000 had 240 hp. I had one back in 2002! Since then I've had a 996 Turbo S and now a 997.1 Turbo. There are a lot of different factors when I say this, but I almost had as much fun in the s2 as I did the Porsches. It's not entirely to do with the capabilities of the cars either. I may get another one some day!

 

I parked it outside and always worried about kids slashing my top to steal my seats.

 

It's not entirely to do with the capabilities of the cars either.