Thanks for your review RDMcG.

I agree with pretty much everything you said, however I took an R8 out for a test drive yesterday and was utterly amazed at how apalling the R-Tronic gearbox is. The PDK 991 would run circles round it whilst it was deciding which gear to clunk into next.

Personally, I have no interest in manual boxes anymore. If Audi updates the auto box on the R8 I'll take another look. They'd also need to have a rethink of the interior, though, which is low-rent compared to the 991.

So, on paper and probably on the track the R8 might well be competition for the 991. On the road and as a rounded package the 991 knocks it into a cocked hat.

DSG version of R8 has been announced.

I should have mentioned that its been a while since I drove the R8 and it was a manual V8. I drove it over the same roads and on the same day as my RS.1. My feeling was that it felt almost delicate with a featherlight clutch. I did not warm to it,but I mentioned here only bacause I think that's what will be cross shopped. Its actually hard to know....Maserati manybe? At the price point I am just not really sure.
Thanks for your comments and also your earlier observations

Fantastic thread. I am new to PH and joined to read about the new 991 before taking the plunge. Clearly two camps here. I looked at 997 in the past and decided not to as i found the interior pre-historic and the drive bit tricky and not in control. Accept that a longer drive would have possibly given me comfort with the 997. Ended up buying M3 E92 with screaming v8. Loved it, great engine, superb build quality. The 991 gives me what i was missing with the 997, better interior and relexed drive till you push it. The car is seriously quick, i mean 12 sec quarter mile for 991 s is impressive. Maybe time to sign the order form.

W

This is exactly the point. There are no right or wrongs here. I personally didn't get on with the e92 M3. It was too comfortable and GT like. I am impressed by the technical tour-de-force which is the 991. It's not a car I warmed to over the 3 days I had it. I found it too GT like (there's a theme here!). It's a wonderful thing, and i'm glad it exists; I simply feel it's not for me, and probably a few others who like their cars a bit more edgy and connected, irrespective of speed.

Interesting! My comparison also came down to between between the GTS4 and 991. GTS4 is just a superb 997. People familiar with the old incarnations of 911s will say they prefer 2wd to the 4wd versions... I did too!... Until I drove the GTS4 with the upsides of 408hp +new PTM 4wd system + LSD.

Manks' comparison of his old 997.1 vs 991S will always see the 991 as the dynamically more capable car. However, the 997.1 is a far less capable car compared to the 997.2 GTS or GTS4. Even the 7.2C4S Manks borrowed will lack the power and responsiveness of the GTS engine. The GTS4 raises the dynamic capabilities of the GTS even higher. Manks raised the point many moons ago that he does not push his car that hard - shame, as the differences are less than one imagines: the GTS4 reveals more ability the harder one pushes in an organic way, whereas the 991 serves up instantly in its own synthetic manner. PTM is remarkable imho. Different behaviours, and some people just prefer the greater feedback offered up by the 997 platform. In the GTS4, Porsche were able to really hit a sweetspot in its dynamics with extra power.

This is never going to end in agreement. Samantha Cameron outclasses Carla Bruni but I know who I'd rather shag.

Not a fan of the facelift I admit. A bit Halfords.

Nicely done, but the door was left open for that.

It has been a useful and in depth thread.

Certainly, why should Porsche soldier on with a basically flawed chassis when it has to compete with cars like the Audi R8, Nissan GTR and others where outright performance is the goal and no limitations are acceptable. Porsche should be among the fastest if not the fastest, and arguably needs to be to survive. It looks as if the 991 will achieve that.

From another perspective, Porsche has form here. The 1978 928 was a move away from a sports car to a GT where performance, arguably, was less important. It followed the departure of the E-Type and arrival of the XJ-S pursuing exactly the same market. Neither was as successful as it was hoped to have been, but maybe they were just ahead of their time.

What they have now produced is a car which does both. It is both an outstandingly capable GT and, if you push the correct buttons, have the desire and the necessary talent, potentially the fastest thing round the Nurburgring on four roadgoing wheels. Also it still looks like a 911.

It would be surprising, however, if a large number of us did not regret the passing of one of the most characterful and instantly exciting driver's cars in history, while at the same time worrying a little about the extent to which performance and handling is now a matter of electronic management.