My new 911 Turbo S: There is no substitute for traction

[stealth.pilot]

I took delivery of a 2014 911 Turbo S over the weekend to replace my Jaguar F-Type R Coupe. The Turbo S car is 1 year and 9 months old, 4500 miles, with a 6 year 100k CPO warranty. Mint condition car, with all the options including two-tone leather, active cruise, porsche active safe, Burmester, 18 way seats, LED lights, keyless go, cameras, and all the electronic goodies. Things like sport chrono, Porsche Dynamic Chassic Control, and Carbon Ceramic Brakes are standard on the Turbo S. Plus it has a Europipe Full exhaust with 100 cel high flow cats, full clearbra and a few other nice upgrades.

I took the car for a 100 mile trip in the North Georgia mountains over the weekend and have to say I am completely blown away by the performance of this car and how accessible the performance is. Here are some of the things that really strike me as someone who was also driving a 2014 M5 and a 2015 Jaguar F-Type R

WHY EVERYONE NEEDS TO OWN ONE
1) Traction. With or without launch control, this machine launches with no smoke - just rapid acceleration. 0-60 times are well known, but the feeling is like you are in a rocket. There is a huge difference between 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and 0-60 in 2.6 seconds and you can really feel it.
2) Exit speed from corners. You can apply throttle exiting corners far earlier than you can in a rear wheel drive car and this makes it a lot more fun driving through corners - especially when doing hill climbs.
3) Best handling car in its class. I considered an AMG-GTS but I think this car crushes the GTS in handling. Its really predictable, very communicative, the cornering limits are exceptionally high, and it instills a strong sense of confidence. The Porsche Torque Vectoring all wheel drive is phenomenal and it really allows you to power through a corner in a way you could never do in a rear wheel drive car. The active 4 wheel steering significantly reduces steering effort in the corners allowing the car to carry more speed through the corners. And in high speed overtaking manevers, you can do the whole thing full throttle with absolute and total stability thanks to the 4 wheel steering. That combined with the total absence of body roll with Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control really instills a high sense of confidence. The handling is so good, that you need to relearn how to drive, because the laws of physics you thought you knew, somehow no longer apply. You don't need to lift or brake as much.
4) Steering is superb - I can't believe this is EPS. I had hydraulic steering in the M5 and the Jag, but the steering here feels much better.
5) There is no lag in any mode. This may be due to my high flow exhaust with 100 cel cats. But this car doesn't feel like a turbo. It feels supercharged in terms of throttle response because there is no lag at all. The throttle response is spectacular.
6) Feels safe to drive it hard and break traction. The combination of great handling, great feel and great traction means you can use power oversteer when driving on public roads, because there is an exceptionally high sense of control with this car. You can drive it very precisely because it communicates well and it has very high limits.
7) Turn radius is a revelation. This is not my first car with 4 wheel steering but the Porsche guys have clearly perfected the technology. Turn radius is amazing, steering precision is exceptional at all speeds. Turn in is very sharp. And feel is also exceptional.
8) Build quality is also superb. The car really feels built like a tank.
9) Sexy body. I hand washed this car twice in the first 3 days of ownership because I feel hand washing a car is the best way to understand and appreciate the design and the aero. And I really love the design, much more so than that of my F-Type R Coupe.
10) The carbon ceramic brakes are also exceptional. It's my first time using ceramic brakes, but they are as advertised: no fade, superb response, very strong braking power, and no dust.

WHAT COULD BE BETTER
To be honest none of these things matter, because the car is that good. But:
1) Sound. Compared with my Jaguar F-Type this car is pretty quiet. The sound character is actually better than the Jag - it has a lot of bass, a lot of burbles and it sounds exotic. However I wish it was louder inside the cabin.
2) Electronics - No HUD, very little iOS support, old fashioned nav, no telematics.


PHOTOS
DSC02054 by Stealth.Pilot, on Flickr
DSC02059 by Stealth.Pilot, on Flickr
DSC02062 by Stealth.Pilot, on Flickr
SQ_800 by Stealth.Pilot, on Flickr
Hg_800 by Stealth.Pilot, on Flickr
qw_800 by Stealth.Pilot, on Flickr

[RPiM5]

Congrats dude!

[clar]

Very nice, congrats!

[13M5F10]

Such a beautiful car ... I just wish it wasn't so expensive. I just can't seem to justify it in my mind.

I'm jealous! Great color choice inside and out.

[elitex]

Congrats! Are you going to C&O next weekend?

[patb23]

Wow. Looks good. Congrats!

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by elitex

Congrats! Are you going to C&O next weekend?

Forgot about that. I normally go to the C&E which takes place next on June 19 at lenox Mall.

Are you going to C&O? Would love to see your McLaren.

[Vic55]

Congrats, glad you got the one you did...

whats Telematics?

[TrevorM3]

Originally Posted by 13M5F10

Such a beautiful car ... I just wish it wasn't so expensive. I just can't seem to justify it in my mind.

I'm jealous! Great color choice inside and out.

same.


beauty though

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by Vic55

Congrats, glad you got the one you did...

whats Telematics?

It's where the car has it's own data connection which is used for things like Concierge service, sending addresses from your cell phone to your car, remotely activating the cooling, gps locating, etc. Most BMWs and Mercedes have telematics. Even JLR has had it since 2016. I think Porsche started fitting it on the 911 in 2016 although theirs is nowhere near as advanced as BMW or Mercedes.

Thanks a lot for all your advice and guidance through the process. You are like the Car Godfather, or shall we say Carfather!

[Vic55]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

It's where the car has it's own data connection which is used for things like Concierge service, sending addresses from your cell phone to your car, remotely activating the cooling, gps locating, etc. Most BMWs and Mercedes have telematics. Even JLR has had it since 2016. I think Porsche started fitting it on the 911 in 2016 although theirs is nowhere near as advanced as BMW or Mercedes.

Thanks a lot for all your advice and guidance through the process. You are like the Car Godfather, or shall we say Carfather!

Ok thanks and thanks LOL So Telematics is like BMW Connect I would equate?

Carfather!! I like it

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by Vic55

Ok thanks and thanks LOL So Telematics is like BMW Connect I would equate?

Carfather!! I like it

Telematics is the combination of BMW Online and BMW Connected Drive. In Mercedes case it is just MBrace. The telematics features we used in the M5 and in my wife's Mercedes are:

1) Concierge - press the concierge or information button and tell the agent to send an address to the navigation (it pops up on screen and you press go). No need for data entry. The concierge can also do other things but for me this is the main use.

2) Using the Connected Drive or MBrace App to:
- send addresses to the car
- locate the car (e.g. if you want to know if your wife has left the library yet)
- lock the doors (if you forgot to lock them)
- sound the horn (e.g. if you forgot where you parked the car)
- turn on the ventilation 10 minutes before you return to the car park, etc.
- check the battery or fuel level remotely

3) Ability for emergency people to be automatically deployed if you are in an accident

4) Ability to share location info with law enforcement if car is stolen

The car has its own 4G data card and phone line which supports these services. The price of the connectivity is included with the service. With the M5 it's all free for the first 4 years. With Mercedes we pay about $200 a year for it.

[dhirm5]

Absolutely gorgeous. "Sexy body" indeed.

Congrats!

I'm over at Rennlist quite a bit lately as I plot my own entree to the Dark Side. They're a touchy group over there.

[Bimmer6]

Very nice

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by dhirm5

Absolutely gorgeous. "Sexy body" indeed.

Congrats!

I'm over at Rennlist quite a bit lately as I plot my own entree to the Dark Side. They're a touchy group over there.

I will be sure to chime in on your questions. I do find the M5 board the best. The Porsche guys are great too. When you start going to the Jaguar and Mercedes boards you really have to watch out. I once posted about installing a laser jammer and got tons of people warning me not to speed!

[elitex]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

Forgot about that. I normally go to the C&E which takes place next on June 19 at lenox Mall.

Are you going to C&O? Would love to see your McLaren.

I am going to both this month. I went to C&O last month and the turn out was pretty good.

[frisky]

Stunning! Congrats!

[RPiM5]

I always liked this video.

[boots]

Congrats. One of my crew members has '15 model same color combo. Very nice

[ColdList]

Congrats. LOL! I'm in the middle of negotiating a deal on a new TTS Cabriolet myself. I always miss my Porsches when I don't own one.

[eleven11]

Congrats man! Great choice.

[TC M3]

Congrats !!!!! So much love for the 911tts