Hi guys,

I have been reading about the new 997 turbo due next summer in the various magazines. They say it will have at least 500 hp and ready to take on the F430.

Will the new turbo continue to be AWD? What do you expect the base MSRP to be? $130k? Will it eclipse the GT2 in all around performance? Would you choose it over a comparably priced used GT2?

 

Hi George:

"I have been reading about the new 997 turbo due next summer in the various magazines. They say it will have at least 500 hp and ready to take on the F430."

Well, we all feel it should have 500hp, but in reality, it'll probably come in closer to 460. But we live in hope. As for the F430, there is some indication that the F430 customer cars are not delivering the claimed performance (which is prodigious), so I imagine the 997TT will be faster than the F430.


"Will the new turbo continue to be AWD?"

Yes. It's a safety thing. Porsche has, in recent years, split the model line between touring-type cars, and more hardcore offerings (GT2/GT3). The regular TT falls into the former category, and assumes no previous high-hp driving experience, so you get all the electronics, a stock suspension with some understeer built into it, and AWD. It's a very stable platform, but the enthusiasts generally want more 'edge'.


"What do you expect the base MSRP to be? $130k?"

When the 996TT replaced the 993TT, they were priced similarly, although you got all the new technology on the 996TT, so expect something similar with the 997TT. If you want to spend more, add options and get it in the first 6 months after US release.

"Will it eclipse the GT2 in all around performance?"

Good question. If Porsche history is honored, the answer is probably not quite, but it'll be close. If Porsche history is honored, the 997TT may come out the gate too slow to be competitive with other available cars, so hopefully, we'll see a substantial bump in performance with this vehicle.

"Would you choose it over a comparably priced used GT2?"

For me, it's all about the safety stuff. A GT2 is too much car for me at this stage in my driving, so I'll take the AWD/PSM car anyday. Let's just have a race mode for PSM that disables it completely, even under braking.

 

I have been struggling between a GT2 or GT3 and decided on the GT2.

I looked at a GT2 for sale and was mighty impressed. I didn't drive it very aggressively for obvious reasons.

However, after reading about a possible 500 hp in the new 997 platform sounded very interesting. But, if the car is overly refined and removed like the current 996 turbo, that would be a negative in my opinion. I have to admit I would be a little disappointed if I bought the GT2 and 9 months later the standard turbo outperforms it.

I just read in Car and Driver that the car will have at least 500hp. Do you really think this is optimistic? Even the new ZO6 Corvette has over 500 hp.

Also, are the 997 chassis cars that much better than the 996? Or is primarily cosmetic with a much redesigned interioir?

Thanks.

George

 

I saw 5 997 tt in flagstaff AZ doing some testing on monday looking good I want one.

 

Unfortunately, I agree. The 997TT will probably kick out around 460-470hp. I can' t forsee it hitting 500hp in all honesty. Even with a 3.8L, Porsche will want to maintain the reliability aspect of the 911 turbo and not push the engine to the upper limits (not initially at least).

For those that argue about the 500hp C6 Z06, that is a 7.0L engine. That's going to be hard to compete with and still maintain the normal reliability. I guess we'll see, but my thoughts are upper 400s.

 

Actually in the article they said the engine should be safe up to 700 hp. The isses are with the cooling & tranny (they would give out before the engine).

 

The 997TT is going to destroy the F430!

 

Since Porsche claims to be about performance, the 997TT will have to be faster than the current GT2. The new Z06 Vette offers GT2-like performance for half of what the Turbo costs. The Turbo will probably be rated somewhere between 480 and 500 hp, with a more powerful "S" variant coming a year or two later. It will however have more than the rated horsepowr if it is to compete with the Z06. Even the standard 483 hp GT2s put out way over 500 hp (claims from Germany estimate its power at around 530 hp, which is why the GT2 can hold its own against the new Z06).