I want to ask the hardcore Porsche guys here a question:
Porsche and 911 in particular are considered the pinnacle of automotive engineering excellence. But is there something you miss from other cars you have owned or driven? Is there a car brand that does something a little better? For e.g. steering feel of a Lotus or transmission shifts of a Ferrari or something like that?
I will leave out the obvious: I know Porsche is not known for luxury of a Rolls Royce/Bentley… So :)
Lamborghinis come with better stock exhaust systems than pretty much any Porsche, 911 GT3 RS included. Lambo and Ferrari have better sense of occasion, are visceral and raw, Porsche always feel very gentlemen like, too civilized, albeit being better track cars.
I dunno. This is super subjective. Although I love the drama of the exhaust of a Ferrari or Lambo, I also appreciate the symphony of sounds I get from my bone stock 991.1S exhaust. It’s beautiful, screams “take me to the track”, and IMO more sophisticated. Also I honestly don’t love how most regular people get pissed off by the exhaust of a Lambo. Not sure if I’d want to deal with that every weekend.
One thing I was really disappointed with when I bought my 992 was the exhaust sounds. Previously I had a G82 with only the resonators removed and it sounded amazing. To get the sound I wanted out of my Porsche I had to spent $7500 on a full titanium exhaust system and then a $2500 tune from M-Engineering in order to allow the valved system to open fully. The stage 2 tune also increased the hp up to 600 and the torque up to 650nm. It sounds amazing now and better than the G82 but it took some work and some money.
I could care less how it sounds, as long as it passes sound levels at tracks. I bought the Dundon quiet muffler for that reason. Same weight, same HP.
I personally would like a quieter car. Less of a cop magnet, and would make talking easier…
Plenty of cars now have “fake” sound. Either fake bass pumped through the speakers, or special vibration panels.
What problems you have with the exhaust on the 992? Think it’s great personally but it’s all up to the person. Btw you don’t need the m engineering tune for the valves to open fully there’s some other thing it’s cheaper, it’s at the top of Rennlist I forgot it’s name
Why not just straight pipe it?
“better” exhaust in what sense? Sound? Or are they leaving performance on the table?
The civility is a very subjective issue, I think it comes down to preferring German restraint to Italian high drama (the VAG Lambos make a fascinating fusion thereof.) I remember when the Audi R8 came out people were dinging it as being “boring” and I couldn’t imagine a car that pretty taking a turn at 100mph with all the effort of going to get the groceries being considered boring.
Honestly, as unpopular as I will sound right now, I feel this whole Italians doing the “drama” thing and whatever some car fans call “soulful” or “emotional” and calling Germans “boring” is a bit too exaggerated. Yeah, even as a die-hard Porsche person, I harbor love towards the Ferrari V12, but to outright call a Porsche or any relative German sports car “boring” or “soulless” is an overused trope, be it in exhaust sound, design, etc. IMHO. Personally, anyone who calls an R8 (particularly the OG) boring is just talking out of their rear end.
Regarding sound, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt towards anything turbo as Turbocharged engines aren’t known for sound. However, engines like the N/A 4.0L Flat 6 (even those in the RSR cup cars), certain V8s (older GTS models and even the 918), the older race car engines like the Flat 8 and 12, V10, etc. are all some incredibly special engines created by Porsche. The driving experience is also unique and special in its own regard.
For Design, Porsche has always preferred being understated. I personally find that an appealing quality to Porsche at a time when many folks prefer Italian exotics for the brand name and flexing the status alone.