Porsche 911UK Forum

Welcome to the @Porsche911UK website. Register a free account today to become a member! Sign up is quick and easy, then you can view, participate in topics and posts across the site that covers all things Porsche.

Already registered and looking to recovery your account, select 'login in' and then the 'forget your password' option.

Spotted in the road....first impressions

Chris W

Well-known member
Joined
17 Sep 2006
Messages
7,851
So I'm coming down the A1 in Bedfordshire and I see the familiar face of a Porsche coming along...Cayman me thinks as quite narrow ...errr no it's the new 991!

It passes by and I get a good look, its white, its got silver wheels and its filthy on a day like today. It sounds great.

But following for the next 20 miles I'm looking at every angle and in all honesty I didnt find myself very excited, quite to the contrary.

With the spoiler up it doesnt say anything, just looks like a bootlid is open, it seems almost pontless visually. It would look better if it extended across the whole width. Then the rear wiper arm moved and it looked huge, awkward and out of place.

The lights look nice, less Aston Martin than I previously thought, but they're not as 'at home' as they are on the 997, both Gen 1 and 2. They're almost too seemlessly grafted into the body. Overall the rear end looks like its been botoxed to the max.

A couple of times I saw flashes of the 928 rear, but also the narrow body early 996. Its too clean and its lost its sexiness. If anything the proportions seem slimmer and taller than all previous 911's but scaled up....gone is that silhouette of a tapered cabin sat on 4 wide arches.

The rear badging is just OTT....it looks ridiculous and if you dont know its a 911 then you're not interested anyway. This was clearly a PORSCHE 911 Carrera S if anyone was in any doubt.

One angle that looks most awkward is viewing from behind at and angle of 11 or 1 oclock. The glass windows are so seemless the B pillar just disappears, probably accentuated by the white body perhaps. A bit like if you took a 993 and removed all the gutters.

Sitting behind I began to wonder if the tyres are narrower than the 997, so when I pulled up at some lights I saw it was on 20" wheels but they were still 295/30's, somehow they look more bloated?? And worth noting for the first time Porsche have used a bright chrome silver on the wheels...they'll be expensive to refurb for dealers and owners.

Maybe its the arch height that changes the proportions. Again this is an area which the 991 is dramatically different...the rear arches are higher than the front arches, so its lost its classic line. The rear bumper is too high, perhaps to meet modern safety regs?? But they need to do something to break it up. I'll never forget the first time I saw the 997 GT3 rear end, it was awesome, unlike this.

I fully get the technical revisions and leaps forward. It is undoubtedly a great drive but I cant help feeling they've designed in a facelift model or created space for the 992 already.

I think the Cab will look much better, and perhaps the 991 should be spec'd in darker colours. Perhaps the wide body variants will work much better?

No offence to the new owners here but from what I saw today, if it was parked next to a 997 GTS or GT3 I know which I'd be lusting after.


:dont know:
 
You are not alone CW. I saw my first one parked up locally. In dark grey, and with very boring wheels, I had to look at it very hard to work out what I was looking at. No doubt a very capable machine, but if I was looking at spending the thick end of £100k on a car, I would want to be more excited than I was looking at that one :dont know:
 
Hi Chris,

I'm really looking forward to seeing a 991 in the metal.

In the meantime, closer to y(our) home I saw a 458 in Coxheath today :eek:

It was probably the same one I saw doing 120 ( :?: :dont know:) on the A20 near Leeds Castle last week and it looked gawjus.

Terry
 
Hi Terry.... you've hit the nail on the head if you compare to a 458. I see a nice Guards Red 997 Turbo heading up Sutton Rd a lot and that has the wow factor.

Glad I'm not alone in my thinking then. And me being a Porsche obsessive too.

Mind you the Merc SLS....what an ugly monster that is!
 
Give it some time and I suspect the 991 will grow on you (all of us?).

I've seen quite a few now and no it doesn't have the 'wow' factor but I suspect it will slowly start to get under your skin as they become more common and variants like the cabriolet, wide-body cars, turbos, GT2s/3s are introduced. Maybe more so as other manufacturers launch new models that make the 991 look even more like a 911, with that classic shape (even though some of the design details are slightly new and different, it's 100% unmistakably a 911 still).

I'd love to revisit this thread in 3-4 years and see if opinion has changed (including mine); I'm a sucker for not liking something at first then only 'getting' it years later (Bangle BMWs for example)! :frustrated:




Chris W said:
Mind you the Merc SLS....what an ugly monster that is!
I will agree here; it's a big, ugly brute that's all out of proportion, but again as per above it may grow on me with time I guess. Although having said that I thought the Mac/Merc SLR looked awkward and ugly when it was launched and I'm sticking to my guns on that one still... :thumb:
 
Ghost said:
You are not alone CW. I saw my first one parked up locally. In dark grey, and with very boring wheels, I had to look at it very hard to work out what I was looking at. No doubt a very capable machine, but if I was looking at spending the thick end of £100k on a car, I would want to be more excited than I was looking at that one :dont know:

You should have looked at the back to work out what it was, perhaps that is why they spell it out so clearly. If not people might think it was a 997.

MC
 
As I said on another thread (and alluded to in my first drive report): does nothing for me in person.

It might be lighter.
It might be more powerful.
The steering might be worse.
The noise might be louder.
The interior might be too GT.
The price is definitely OTT.
But in the end, it's just a car.

And I'm not sure if it's a 911 anymore.

And if there is any doubt, then there is no doubt.
 
I don't often see the outsides of cars when I drive them, because I can't find shop windows big enough to reflect them. I do see the insides, however, and they're really important to me.

So ... even if I wanted a new Porsche, I wouldn't buy a 991 or a Panamera, because the interiors are so Jaguar XF. All flat surfaces, like a 1980s cocktail cabinet.

The outside of the 991, however, is wonderful, I think. A super-clever combination of 911-ishness and development.

I first saw one in an OPC workshop - doors and front & back lids open - and it looked as if it was just another Porsche. For me, that's a compliment.
 
Saw one in Beckenham recently. I think they gone too futuristic... the back lights are just not 911... and they should have kept the frog lights.

Hopefully the resale on my 2006 Gen 1 C2S will bounce back in 6 months.

Sorry to any 991 drivers.
 
I must be the only one liking it on here.....! I saw my first one just last weekend. It was Basalt Black and it looked fantastic. Of course as a 997 driver I will compare it to my own and the difference, in my eyes at least, is vast. It was a natural evolution for Porsche to shape the 911 this way as they can't deviate too far away from the overall silhouette. A great progression imo. That said, the lipped back end will take some getting used to though.

~ Maxie
 
Dont get me wrong.

It is a stunning car... Im jsut making comments on my firsr impression..
In a few months I'll probably be drooling over it...
 
Sorry but I'm sure you'll all be lusting after one in a couple of years time, after the 993 was superseded everyone thought the next model was naff.

Anyway, just 7 days until I collect mine and I cannot wait :yahoo:
 
Can't believe I havn't seen one yet. We're two months post release now and I'm sure that at a similar time I saw plenty of 997's.
 
Rimmer said:
Sorry but I'm sure you'll all be lusting after one in a couple of years time, after the 993 was superseded everyone thought the next model was naff.

To be fair, that is still the general concensus.
 
Having had an extended test drive, I would have one over my 997 great car that it is , too expensive for me though, cant afford the depreciation hit unfortunately. But for those that can, the refinement, performance, comfort,economy space all better the 997 by a good margin. You could drive this all day and not get droned out, such is the difference in refinement. I cant see a downside really and once you have had a chance to drive and compare, it will win over all but the purists and there are plenty of other derrivatives to keep them happy.
 

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
124,350
Messages
1,439,416
Members
48,707
Latest member
race911turbo
Back
Top