Mike, check your PM *NM*

A CS, followed by a CGTS, followed by 991S and finally a 991 GTS.
All had PDK, PASM, Sport exhaust and were drive in sport mode.
We drove a short lead and follow loop around a shortened course maybe a mile long with enough room to put your foot in it.

The CS is pretty close to our car HP wise so the acceleration was not much different, but I did notice a change in handling (X73 vs. PASM) with the PASM feeling looser.

The CGTS was a real hoot--more power for sure, a lot more exhaust noise and I really liked the 18 way seats. The wife and I really liked this car.

The 991 S felt a lot like the CS just bigger; didn't seem any faster.

The 991 GTS felt a bit quicker than the 991S but not by a lot; handling was a bit more composed.

At the end of the day, the CGTS put a smile on both our faces; the other 3 cars were fine, they just didn't seem as fun as the CGTS. Maybe 3-4 hot laps on a full course would have made for a diferent outcome, but for the $, the CGTS seemed like the ticket for those looking for a fun Porsche coupe to drive.

As always, YMMV...

Sounds like you really had to put your nose to the grind stone yesterday. Glad you survived the day.

I am surprised that you found a big difference between the CS and CGTS if they were equipped the same and driven in Sports mode. I didn't think that 15 HP would make much of a perceived difference.

Were both equipped with PASM and you were comparing the handling to your X73 suspension?

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Guenter in Ontario
I am surprised that you found a big difference between the CS and CGTS if they were equipped the same and driven in Sports mode. I didn't think that 15 HP would make much of a perceived difference.

I was at Sebring this past weekend in my CS. I entered the back straight about 8 to 10 car lenghts in front of a CGTS. Looking at my rear view mirror, he seemed to never came much closer to me. After the run, he stopped by my pit stall and saw I had a CS. He admitted to me he was unable to come any closer to me. He then asked me if my car was modified. I told him the only mode was the 3.8 engine. Just kidding. I should have mentioned I only had the two way seats and not those 18 way seats which weight about 25 pounds each more than mine. I actually said I may have had more speed through the previous turn before the back straight.

So, like many other times, it's sometimes the driver and not the car.

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

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Somebody had to do it, Guenter; it might was well have been us.

All the cars had PASM and I did prefer our X73 to it on the track. IIRC, there is a 20HP difference between the models, which isn't much; maybe it was the particular sport exhaust in that model--It was marvelous--got made us think it was going faster than it was. It certainly seemed louder....

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MikenOH
Somebody had to do it, Guenter; it might was well have been us.

All the cars had PASM and I did prefer our X73 to it on the track. IIRC, there is a 20HP difference between the models, which isn't much; maybe it was the particular sport exhaust in that model--It was marvelous--got made us think it was going faster than it was. It certainly seemed louder....

Glad to see you took one for the team, Mike.

According to the website, the CS has 325 HP and CGTS has 340.

It depends on the settings that you use with the PSE.

With PSE on, it definitely sounds better than with it disengaged. Put it into Sport mode and it kicks it up another notch, specially the burble and pops when shifting or decelerating. PSE really does add at least 25 iHP when fully engaged. I don't have Sport Chrono, so don't know if Sports Plus makes any difference to the sound.

Based on my experience, if someone wanted to get the ultimate handling Boxster or Cayman (aside from the GT4 or Spyder), get an S or GTS depending on taste of the front/rear bumper. It won't get any better than to get the following options:

• X73 Sports Suspension
• Sports Plus seats (as Harvey point out, the non powered ones save about 50 lb.)
• PSE
• Short shifter (which you can't order, but get it installed later)
• Sport Design wheel - it just feels better
• maybe Sport Chrono (I just opted out of it because it does the throttle blipping that I enjoy doing.)

I think any other options are mainly personal taste / comfort / appearance.

Interesting comparison. Thanks for posting.

I think the driver/front passenger compartment of the 991 has essentially the same dimensions as the 981 (the 991 dash shape is different), but the 991 has a back seat and hence more interior volume. The 991 has an inch shorter wheelbase, but overall is a considerably longer car.

In terms of the 991 feeling 'bigger', as this in relation to the way it drove/handled, the way it felt inside, or moving it around in close quarters, or perhaps all those?

The Cayman GTS is superb car. Arguably our best AXer has one. He's quite the hot show on both the parking lot and track, and drives a bone-stock, leased vehicle on street tires faster than 80% of Red run group, and often wins FTD at AX. Can't beat his wife's Lotus though - that's a go cart.

The GT4 is one of the few new vehicles that tugs at the right strings for me.

At our summer HPDE event, the sponsoring dealer let me take out a 991 for a session. It was benign, and made me much more comfortable than I expected, more quickly, but didn't give me all the right feel. Much of this is likely true of ANY new, more isolated, PSM-equipped vehicle. For now i'll keep my trusty old 986.

thanks for the info,

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Jeff Benson:

2016 Boxster, See it here: www.greatvalleyhouse.com/Boxster

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First car: 1952 Hudson Hornet

First roadster: 1962 Austin Healy 3000 III

Still have: Computer free 1974 MGB

Previous Porsches since 1982: 924, 944, 944S, and four Boxsters; 97, 03, 08 & 2012