Tuesday 18th August 2015

Porsche not perfect shocker: PH Blog

Why the 911 GTS might not actually be perfect and why Porsche isn't helping the situation

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I've been lucky enough to spend a few days driving about in the Porsche 911 GTS you see here. But when I Tweeted that it might not actually be all that a right old can of worms opened. "Mushy steering, stubbornly inert chassis, pointlessly stiff suspension ... am I the only one not loving the GTS?" I said.

'Journo disses Porsche' shocker!

Some seemed to think I was some sort of champion of free speech for being the first journalist to dare 'say it how it is' and criticise a Porsche. Others that the only reason for possibly finding fault in such a perfect car was inability to drive it properly. One inescapable conclusion was that Porsche makes it very difficult to compare seemingly like-for-like cars, thanks to the huge range of options and their subsequent influence on the way it drives. Porsche isn't the only one either - see Audi and the variety of suspension and powertrain options on RS models.

This whole 'choice' thing is much overrated in my book and only serves to confuse matters. My new chippy has a very Yorkshire solution to the problem of being stuck behind some idiot ordering 'special' this or 'extra large' that. It serves haddock (one size) and chips, ordered - and enjoyed - in the multiples required. No mucking about, get in, get out, everyone knows what they're having and it tastes lovely. Absolutely no room for confusion.

But there are so many variables with the GTS that the two-wheel drive one I had, including optional PASM Sport suspension, PDK and its £170 colour coded key (yes, really) could be completely different from the one the bloke on Twitter was saying was 'intoxicating'. Outwardly they'd look pretty much identical. They'd wear the same badge. But depending on the options we could actually be attempting to compare cars with very different chassis and powertrain components. And subsequently very different behaviour, especially when you factor in different driving modes and their influence on throttle, steering, differential, gearshifts, active engine mounts and more.

Options spend influences more than price

Even a Cayman S can be specced with six wheels of varying size and weights, different steering, a choice of three suspension settings and with or without torque vectoring and a mechanical locking diff - just think how differently two cars with extremes of these options packages could drive. And what a minefield this leaves a few years down the line for those shopping in the classifieds.

It's like saying 'I love fish'n'chips' to a man who likes his cod with the skin on and fried in vegetable oil when in fact I'm talking about haddock fried - properly in my book - in beef dripping. We're both talking about fish'n'chips. But we're not comparing like with like.

Back on topic I'm not advocating a return to the Henry Ford days of 'any colour you like as long as it's black' but I don't think manufacturers are doing us any favours by offering customers options that so dramatically impact on the dynamic behaviour of the car. It certainly makes objective comparisons - formal in the media or informally between owners - ever more challenging.

More on this in due course...

Dan

 

Photos: Stuart Price

[CDP]

Beef dripping every time.