Following his teaser we shared with you the other day, Chris Harris is back with his full review of the new 991 Porsche 911.
How the world has turned when Harris says it feels like Porsche has nicked the gearbox from the Nissan GT-R and placed it in their hero car. But what of the new electric steering, the longer wheelbase and so on. Have they affected the key handling attributes of the 911 beyond recognition?
Check the video after the break to find out.
Porsche has just revealed pictures and basic information on its new 911 Carrera Cabriolet. Obvious exception aside, the Cabrio is basically a carbon copy of the 911 Coupé. The engine and gearbox options are the same, which means a 257kW 3.4 litre engine for the Carrera Cabriolet and the 294kW 3.8 litre unit for the Carrera S Cabriolet.
A 7-speed manual gearbox is standard, while a 7-speed PDK can also be had. The soft-top roof has been used for its lightweight properties and when it is up it retains the profile of the Coupé.
The 911 Cabrio goes on sale in Europe next March, expect Australian sales to follow shortly after.
Following last week’s leaked images Porsche has lifted the veil on its all-new 911. While many wags will joke that nothing has changed, Porsche appears to have done a great job in managing the balance between heritage and progress (see our 991 v 997 comparison for more).
Aside from minor gripes about the wheel design and front LED styling we think the 991 is a great looking 911. The shapes around the rear wheel arch are unmistakably 911 and the side profile leaves nothing to chance.
Porsche generally take a less is more approach to their official material and as a result only basic details and just 13 images have been revealed to date. That’s not much when you consider this is just the third genuinely ‘all-new’ 911 since the original model in 1963 and the 996 in 1998.
Of course, the 991 will make its public debut in Frankfurt Motor Show (15–25 September). But the order book opens before then on 1 September and deliveries will start in early December. We’re not sure how much longer Australian buyers will need to wait, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see new 911s in local dealerships before the end of Q1 2012.
Here’s a pictorial comparison of the new 991 Porsche 911 against the well loved 997.2 model it replaces.
One of the first things you notice in profile view is how the 991 appears a bit sleeker and lower. The more dramatically raked front and rear glass is a small, but definite improvement.
At the front the 997 gets our tick for having less fussy LED daytime running lights. Even the headlights, while very similar, look nicer in the old car. Although, we reckon Porsche has done a good job in the lower spoiler area on the all-new 911.
When comparing the backsides of the two 911s we call it in favour of the 991. We like the sharper look of the new rear lights. The quad-tipped exhausts also look better, despite being a bit clichéd these days. The new model also has a more refined finish around the lower bumper area. Our only concern is how the rear cooling vents look in profile view; they stick up a bit too much. That’d be function ruling over form, of course, so we can happily accept that.
So there you have it, as expected the exterior of the new 911 doesn’t appear to have changed too much, but we’d still call it a successful progression. You can click on the image above for a larger version of the comparison grid, or check out the individual images below, including interior photos.