718 review - test drove today

[mikefocke]

You guys are lucky. Dealers in the US won't have their first car for another 4-6 weeks. Not even a showroom sample to view yesterday.

[Sparkyhd]

mikefocke said:

You guys are lucky. Dealers in the US won't have their first car for another 4-6 weeks. Not even a showroom sample to view yesterday.

Yes but you'll be the lucky one because I'm guessing yours will be cheaper?

[Ozzie Osmond]

Sparkyhd said:

Yes but you'll be the lucky one because I'm guessing yours will be cheaper?

It's about double the price of a V8 Mustang in USA, which would be equivalent of a starting price of £70,000 in UK. These cars are an absolute bargain in UK.

[DJMC]

HighwayStar said:

I came to the same conclusion from the reviews, the 2.0 appears to be the sweeter engine.
To take a TT over a 718 though... I had a MK2 TTS and driven the MK3 TTS, it's better than it was but beyond the tech and bar the flexibility of the coupé it's still pretty bland proposition. TT owners tend to believe there's nothing better out there, with particular dislike for the Cayster but I can't see many Cayster customers headed over to the TT. Treacherous engine or not the Porsche will still be chosen by the more enthusiastic and badge leasers (I love that term).

After my 987 test drive in early 2014 at Porsche Solihull, and as I walked out of the building, I saw a chap in a suit standing by a TT. He said the owner had just p/ex'd it for a Cayman. I then bought a TTS. Durrrr.....
Mind you, the 981 was too expensive to consider back then when I only wanted to pay £25-30k.

I rather like my 981's SatNav compared to the TTS' Nav and the E-Class' COMAND. Touch screen, real time re-routing, never let me down, where's the problem?

[HighwayStar]

DJMC said:

HighwayStar said:

I came to the same conclusion from the reviews, the 2.0 appears to be the sweeter engine.
To take a TT over a 718 though... I had a MK2 TTS and driven the MK3 TTS, it's better than it was but beyond the tech and bar the flexibility of the coupé it's still pretty bland proposition. TT owners tend to believe there's nothing better out there, with particular dislike for the Cayster but I can't see many Cayster customers headed over to the TT. Treacherous engine or not the Porsche will still be chosen by the more enthusiastic and badge leasers (I love that term).

After my 987 test drive in early 2014 at Porsche Solihull, and as I walked out of the building, I saw a chap in a suit standing by a TT. He said the owner had just p/ex'd it for a Cayman. I then bought a TTS. Durrrr.....
Mind you, the 981 was too expensive to consider back then when I only wanted to pay £25-30k.

I rather like my 981's SatNav compared to the TTS' Nav and the E-Class' COMAND. Touch screen, real time re-routing, never let me down, where's the problem?

I had the same problem... I wanted a 981 CS but TTS ownership and running costs were better suited to my pocket.
Now I'm the one who traded a TT for a Cayman. The SatNav is way better than the TTS. The only thing I miss... The Sport Design wheel not being multifunction. No regrets.

[bcr5784]

DJMC said:

I rather like my 981's SatNav compared to the TTS' Nav and the E-Class' COMAND. Touch screen, real time re-routing, never let me down, where's the problem?

I don't mind the 981 satnav either - but these days people expect much better integration with their phone (android auto, mirrorlink, apple carplay and internet etc) - something that's available on cars a fraction of the price, but not personally not of concern. The lack of personal POIs and speed cams is my beef.

[Krobar]

DJMC said:

After my 987 test drive in early 2014 at Porsche Solihull, and as I walked out of the building, I saw a chap in a suit standing by a TT. He said the owner had just p/ex'd it for a Cayman. I then bought a TTS. Durrrr.....
Mind you, the 981 was too expensive to consider back then when I only wanted to pay £25-30k.

I rather like my 981's SatNav compared to the TTS' Nav and the E-Class' COMAND. Touch screen, real time re-routing, never let me down, where's the problem?

When I tried a 981 nav in Hampshire it had road seperations wrong in the mapping and was inaccurate. Tomtom or phone had the correct maps, it was also slower and more difficult to use than a tom tom or modern phone. Largely I think Carplay and Android Auto remove the need for any integrated sat nav at all.

[HighwayStar]

Krobar said:

DJMC said:

After my 987 test drive in early 2014 at Porsche Solihull, and as I walked out of the building, I saw a chap in a suit standing by a TT. He said the owner had just p/ex'd it for a Cayman. I then bought a TTS. Durrrr.....
Mind you, the 981 was too expensive to consider back then when I only wanted to pay £25-30k.

I rather like my 981's SatNav compared to the TTS' Nav and the E-Class' COMAND. Touch screen, real time re-routing, never let me down, where's the problem?

When I tried a 981 nav in Hampshire it had road seperations wrong in the mapping and was inaccurate. Tomtom or phone had the correct maps, it was also slower and more difficult to use than a tom tom or modern phone. Largely I think Carplay and Android Auto remove the need for any integrated sat nav at all.

Hmmm, smartphone integration is all ok until you're somewhere with no mobile signal and oh!!! No SatNav.
I suffered this very thing when going to Camerons Sports Cars near Bath to look at the 981 CS I now have. The TTS wonderful SatNav, not having full post codes could get me close but not there. Ha ha, I have my iPhone. No signal!

[FourPotPorsche]

CoPilot uses GPS with the maps downloaded and it also has Speed Cameras. I for one am speccing just Connect and will use Apple Maps in CarPlay mode to display the maps on the PCM screen in conjunction with CoPilot running in the background for voice guidance and speed camera warnings...and speed limit warnings for that matter.

Moreover, if Apple ever supports CoPilot via CarPlay then I will be ditching Apple Maps but who knows what Apps Apple will support on CarPlay.

[HighwayStar]

FourPotPorsche said:

CoPilot uses GPS with the maps downloaded and it also has Speed Cameras. I for one am speccing just Connect and will use Apple Maps in CarPlay mode to display the maps on the PCM screen in conjunction with CoPilot running in the background for voice guidance and speed camera warnings...and speed limit warnings for that matter.

Moreover, if Apple ever supports CoPilot via CarPlay then I will be ditching Apple Maps but who knows what Apps Apple will support on CarPlay.

Apple support one company. Apple.

[FourPotPorsche]

HighwayStar said:

Apple support one company. Apple.

Spotify is supported on CarPlay. I presume Spotify is a direct competitor for Apple iTunes/music so not all hope is dashed...just yet!

[Ozzie Osmond]

IMO there's a lot to be said for buying a car from people who make good cars and buying gadgets from people who make good gadgets.

Amongst other things, a car is good for at least 10 years of use but most gadgets are long outdated after 3 years.

[FourPotPorsche]

Ozzie Osmond said:

IMO there's a lot to be said for buying a car from people who make good cars and buying gadgets from people who make good gadgets.

Amongst other things, a car is good for at least 10 years of use but most gadgets are long outdated after 3 years.

Yes that's very true.

[Porsche911R]

o well 3.5 stars evo review

The once untouchable Boxster has come unstuck, swapping a naturally aspirated 'six for a poor sounding, poorly performing turbo ‘four !!

http://www.evo.co.uk/porsche/boxster/17792/porsche...

[FourPotPorsche]

Porsche911R said:

o well 3.5 stars evo review

The once untouchable Boxster has come unstuck, swapping a naturally aspirated 'six for a poor sounding, poorly performing turbo ‘four !!

http://www.evo.co.uk/porsche/boxster/17792/porsche...

As reported here a few pages ago...

[Ozzie Osmond]

Strange there's no mention of Porsche's "pre-spool" technology. Press the Sport Response button on the wheel and the car drops a gear, goes into max performance throttle and PDK mode, and pre-spools the turbo for 20 seconds. This button is re-usable over and over again with no limit.

[ORD]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Strange there's no mention of Porsche's "pre-spool" technology. Press the Sport Response button on the wheel and the car drops a gear, goes into max performance throttle and PDK mode, and pre-spools the turbo for 20 seconds. This button is re-usable over and over again with no limit.

It's also massively naff.

I resent having to press buttons to make cars do what they should always be doing. 'Driving modes' are cringeworthy.

[bcr5784]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Strange there's no mention of Porsche's "pre-spool" technology. Press the Sport Response button on the wheel and the car drops a gear, goes into max performance throttle and PDK mode, and pre-spools the turbo for 20 seconds. This button is re-usable over and over again with no limit.

Don't have any problem with the idea - fundamentally no different from changing down anticipating an overtaking opportunity - but it's a bit unclear how this actually works. You can only pre-spool the turbo either electrically (which I'm pretty sure doesn't happen), using rally car ALS techniques (not likely either for economy or reliability reasons) or ? I could speculate, but does anyone know.

[bcr5784]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

In what way FUNDAMENTALLY different? You are overriding the current car state/configuration because you, as a driver, know better than it does what lies ahead. But ignoring that philosophical point do you have any technical input as to what pressing the button does?

[ras62]

Porsche pre spin has been around since the factory started using turbo's 40 years ago. It's now been enticingly renamed pre spool and comes with a button which makes it sooo cool.