PORSCHE REWRITE THE HISTORY BOOKS WITH THE NEW 997
AND THE EDITOR'S DRIVEN THE 2008 MODEL 997s..... SEE HIS EXCLUSIVE STORY BELOW
|
This month's issue (August) has full details of the new 911 range; new engines, new PDK gearbox, more power and stunning eco gains. Grab the latest issue today. Having difficulty finding the mag? Check out where it is on sale closest to you with our location finder911 & PORSCHE WORLD PICNICThe annual 911 & Porsche World Picnic will once again be happening at Wellington Country Park on Sunday 28th September. Will we see you there? More detailsWIN FREE 911 TRACK DAY
Gateshead-based tuning parts supplier, Revolution Motorstore is offering a competition to win a half-day VIP track experience at Croft Circuit, near Darlington, driving a 911 GT3 RS no less!! Call 0845 002 3009 or go to Revolution MotorstoresSUBSCRIBE AND SAVE UP TO £30!
Never miss a magazine, have it delivered direct to your door. You can save up to £30 (that's for a two year UK subscription). Or you can pay in two six month instalments by Direct Debit |
 Classifieds  Books  Clubs  Events  Subscribe |
EDITOR'S BLOG - The 911 fights back
Back from the bun fight that was the revised 997 launch in Stuttgart. My pre-launch thoughts turned out to have been something of a self-prophecy with no end of double-dealing going on in the background to secure the cars of choice for the publications of choice, except that with just three coupes out of nineteen cars, most of us were disappointed. The other sixteen cars? Cabrios.
Our German hosts probably thought they were doing us all a favour – it is summer after all – but they underestimate the purist streak that runs through hardcore UK motoring hacks. Drive a cabrio? They might as well of asked us to wear dresses. And so it was with some bemusement that the German Porsche PR contingent looked on as a group of angry journos surrounded UK PR man, Nick Perry. I honestly thought that it might get violent at one point as more than one prominent ‘name’ flounced off in a huff. What’s the big deal? Well more than anything 911s look better as a Coupe, which for the pics is important. Oh, and we all hate Cabrios.
Of course the other point raised by our hosts was along the lines of “what the hell does it matter, the important stuff is under the skin.” And they were absolutely right, and even now I still feel a bit churlish, although as you will see from the front cover of the August issue, we did manage to get a Coupe for the cover. A red one too.
And so to the ‘important stuff under the skin.’ Actually no lets just cover the exterior changes first. They’re minimal and you’d be hard pushed to spot them and as ever people will wonder why Porsche bothered, but with such an iconic shape as the 911, what are they supposed to do? They extend to different shaped rear lights and rear apron and LED front driving lights and slightly different air scoops. Oh, and new alloys and wing mirrors and some other stuff that’s really not important.
What is important is Direct Fuel Injection engine and the PDK gearbox, the combination of which achieves nearly 30mpg and 225g/km of C02 from the standard Carrera and on the flipside 0-60mph in 4.5 secs and 186mph from the Carrera S. Now I’m not going to go into a huge amount of detail here, after all I would rather you read the 3000-word feature I sweated over (Aug issue out July 3) all weekend, but both are significant, ground breaking even.
Both the 3.6-litre and 3.8-litre DFI engines are all new and up in power by 20bhp and 30bhp respectively. They’re lighter and lower and feature a host of low friction and non-power sapping ancillaries to boost mpg. It’s clever, clever stuff.
But even more impressive by far is the double clutch PDK ‘box. Double clutch? You know the score. It’s like two gearboxes in one common housing. You’re in, say, second and the other box, with its separate clutch has third already loaded and ready to go. The change when it comes, either automatically or via the steering wheel mounted rocker, is instant and imperceptible. It’s light years ahead of Tiptronic and faster by far than the manual. It could be the first ‘box that really does have manual licked.
In normal mode it short shifts to overdrive seventh as quickly as possible for economy, hit the Sport button and the revs rise and shifts race up and blip down the box. Go for Sport Plus and you got a race car box and throttle response and a launch control set up that beats the manual to 60 every time and time and time again (these systems usually die after a few runs, but the PDK keeps on going and going). It’s astonishing. We need to spend a bit more time with a manual and a PDK on the road, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the days of self-shifting the 911 are numbered. Never thought I’d hear myself say that.
Steve Bennett, editor, 911 & Porsche World
