Re: Finally got to take a 981 out for a test drive.

The car was an S, manual transmission with lots of extras (about $14K worth) with about 800 km (500 miles) on the odo. Had a chance to take it on a toll road with very little traffic, some curvy roads and one that had the pavement torn up ready for repaving. So here are some of my observations.

I still think a gorgeous car like the 981 deserves nicer looking mirrors. They just look plan Jane.

Sitting in the car, the fit and finish is first class. The doors, bottom of the roll bar, rear trunk lid and fenders and back of the front hood (I guess you could say the belt line) seem to be a little higher than the 987. Maybe that's where the extra depth of the trunks comes from. The hood is a bit more steeply raked at the front, then levels compared to the 987. The center console takes a bit of getting used to with all the controls and buttons grouped together. My wife said the interior felt more roomy than our 987. She even kept her window down because she like the sound of the engine, with the intake on both sides. The doors closed with a nice thunk, sounding very solid.

The right gauge has LOTS of information available, but it just seems a bit small/busy to be able to read all the information while driving. Coolant temperature and fuel level is so easy to read in a 360 sweep while driving the 987. You just have to take your eyes off the road longer to the get the info in the 981. You can set what you want to show in that gauge, so I guess you just have to set it up for what you want to know.

Rearward vision is a little more restricted (with the top down). I think it's a combination of the bottom of the roll bars, part of the belt line, being a little higher and the roll bars also being a bit thicker, along with the black frame of the windstop screen. The screen is not as clear to see through as the lexan of the 987 windstop. I didn't notice any more or less draft than with my 987. There was no danger of my hat blowing off, even at freeway speeds.

The roof works like a charm. Hold up a button and it unlatches and folds. Nothing else to do but enjoy the sunshine.

It was 91 F, great time to try the seat ventilation. It felt great. Both my wife and I would want it for those hot days in the summer and BRBS trips. It was just enough to keep your clothes from feeling like they were sticking to the seat back.

The shifter sits a bit higher than what my preference would be, but its not a serious issue. Shifter throw distance is somewhere between my original and my current short shift kit. There's no SS option available right now. I found the shifter felt positive and smooth on each shift. Maybe cutting the shifter down, like Pedro did with his, would bring it into the right zone - down and shorten the shifts.

Ride on the 20" wheels was surprisingly smooth. Driving down that rough road, it felt smoother than the CURVEN8R on 18" wheels.

Steering felt good to me. It went were it was pointed and no wander at ....ahem speeds. Just what I'd expect from a Porsche. (It was kind of hard to rein in the horses after the on ramp.) It seemed to bounce around less on the rough road then the 987. It just felt planted at all times.

OK, the extra 75 horses compared to the CURVEN8R are quite noticeable. Come off he gas, and there's a nice little burble. That might sound even better with a PSE.

With both windows down, there was a little bit of vibration, but no flapping or noise from the seatbelts (I'm quite certain that they would not flap at a hypothetical 160 kph / 100 mph).

The auto start/stop feature works quite seamlessly. Come to a red light, shift it into neutral, let out the clutch and engine turns off. Press in the clutch and the engine is running again. This feature can be disabled with the touch of a button or when you have the car set in Sport mode (this basically sharpens the throttle response.) I'm not sure if I'd ever drive it in anything but the Sport mode anyway.

Bottom Line. This is one terrific sports car. I'd say that Porsche is going to sell a lot of these beauties.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2012 09:18PM by Guenter in Ontario. (view changes)

Thanks for the write up Guenter. Certainly sounds like you and Michelle liked it..perhaps there is a 981 CURVEN8R in the future Curious, when you used the seat ventilation was that just air or was it AC cooled air?

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jwdbox
Thanks for the write up Guenter. Certainly sounds like you and Michelle liked it..perhaps there is a 981 CURVEN8R in the future Curious, when you used the seat ventilation was that just air or was it AC cooled air?

I never put the AC on with the top down. The ventilated seats are only fans in the seat that pull the air away from the seat back. I guess that draws the moisture away and keeps you feeling dry.

I don't believe there's any connection with the AC aside from the fact that you have to buy the Auto climate control in order to get the ventilated seats option. Just packaging.

Guenter
2014 Boxster S
GT Silver, 6 Speed Manual, Bi-Xenons, Sports Suspension (lowers car 20mm), Porsche Sports Exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring, Auto Climate control, heated and vented seats, 20" Carrera S Wheels, Pedro's TechNoWind, Sport Design steering wheel, Roll bars in GT Silver
[www.cyberdesignconcepts.com]

Gman says :

"I'm quite certain that they would not flap at a hypothetical 160 kph / 100 mph."

"Certain". If I didn't know Gman better, I'd think that maybe he actually .... (no, he wouldn't do that).

Thanks for the thorough review, Guenter.

You left only two questions unanswered:

Were you able to work out a deal on GT Silver, or will Platinum Silver suit you just fine, and

How soon will they have it in your driveway?

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Roger987
Gman says :

"I'm quite certain that they would not flap at a hypothetical 160 kph / 100 mph."

"Certain". If I didn't know Gman better, I'd think that maybe he actually .... (no, he wouldn't do that).

You know me only too well.

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Roger987

How soon will they have it in your driveway?

It all depends on who's paying.

Good observations concerning the rearward visibility. Aside from the lack of clarity through the mesh, I think you got it right concerning the roll bar thickness.
Roominess: For my positioning relative to the pedals, wheel and shifter, there's a couple inches more room to the rear bulkhead. The longer wheelbase is largely responsible.
I'm ok with the right instrument's readability. I haven't tried to set preferred readouts, but find it's easy to toggle the wand through the various information.
You're right about the seat ventilation: it's independent of the AC, and I've found it works well even with the AC off. A definite cooling sensation as the fans wick away moisture.
By the way, the owner's manual tire pressure spec for summer 19s; Boxster S is 29/30, but the TPMS shows 30/32 as not requiring more or less pressure, (and it's set for that spec tire.)
Neither of the two supplied radio manuals is actually for what's installed in my car. One is for the CDR30, which nominally is correct, but factually and graphically wrong, and there's a German language manual for a CDR31, also incorrect.
After all these years, I've come to believe that foreign car manuals are written by people fluent in English, but not native speakers. It would be a huge leap of information conveyance should native English speakers edit these things.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2012 10:51PM by Laz. (view changes)

I don't have TPMS on mine, so others probably have more accurate info on this, but, I think that you have to set for the correct tire size in order to get an accurate reading from your tires.

I don't think that TPMS recommends a tire pressure, just gives you information. Besides, if you keep an eye on it, you should notice that the pressures in all the tires will rise after a hard driver or even if a tire sits in the sun for a while after being cool. If you don't see any differences in tire pressure in these instances, I'd be concerned that your TPMS isn't working properly.

Und ach das Radio Buch. Das ist very hard to translaten. You are not za first perzon to notis zes sings.

Guenter
2014 Boxster S
GT Silver, 6 Speed Manual, Bi-Xenons, Sports Suspension (lowers car 20mm), Porsche Sports Exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring, Auto Climate control, heated and vented seats, 20" Carrera S Wheels, Pedro's TechNoWind, Sport Design steering wheel, Roll bars in GT Silver
[www.cyberdesignconcepts.com]

The "proper" tp (tire pressure) being that measured when tire is "cold" (at ambient temperature) of course. It's amusingly informative to watch the tire pressures fluctuate with the vehicle underway.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2012 09:34PM by Laz. (view changes)

Very informative info, Guenter, many thanks.

Does anyone know how fast the pressure info is update on each tire?
I ask since a while back I had an after market system which would update the temp and pressure of each tire which, IIRC, was tire every 2-3 minutes.

nearly instantaneously. I'd say the quicker the better, considering the system is there to help prevent catastrophic failure and its consequences. My guess is that Schrader makes the system, so perhaps if you do some surfing you might come up with firsthand specifications.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2012 10:09AM by Laz. (view changes)

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2012 12:25PM by Laz. (view changes)

Please tell me you didn't drive CURVEN8R to/from dealer for the 981 event, did you?

You better dump quickly before she starts getting too jealous and acting up.

maybe a little narrow though, did Gunter give it a go?

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Burg Boxster
Please tell me you didn't drive CURVEN8R to/from dealer for the 981 event, did you?

You better dump quickly before she starts getting too jealous and acting up.

Well I wasn't going to walk the 60 miles to Toronto. Besides, the CURVEN8R is quite safe, running as strong as ever.

Guenter
2014 Boxster S
GT Silver, 6 Speed Manual, Bi-Xenons, Sports Suspension (lowers car 20mm), Porsche Sports Exhaust, Porsche Torque Vectoring, Auto Climate control, heated and vented seats, 20" Carrera S Wheels, Pedro's TechNoWind, Sport Design steering wheel, Roll bars in GT Silver
[www.cyberdesignconcepts.com]