[455bhp]

Okay, there aren't many who are cross shopping new 992-generation Porsche 911s vs Camaros, but I had so much fun in my 992 airport rental car that I just wanted so share some of the experience here with you. (Full writeup with more pictures here.)

For me, the tenuous connection between the Camaro and 911 is that they are both 2+2 sports cars. I've got a little kid that I love to take on drives with me, and it's great to have space in the back for her to come along. (Admittedly, space is much more limited in the 911 than in the Camaro, because there rear seats are so skinny and the roof line is so low!)

Anyway, I consider the 911 and the Camaro both great dailies, in the sense that neither car beats you up at slow speeds. The mag-ride Camaros I've driven have had softer suspension settings, but the 911 is pretty good, too. I do prefer the visibility in the 911 - putting the engine behind you helps with opening up the view forward.

Power wise, even though the two cars are both rated around 450 hp, the 911 feels a whole level quicker. Especially when launched: the PDK is ruthless with the launches I think I've only launched harder in a Nissan GT-R! The 992 is turboed but it keeps the strong high-rpm build that you'd expect out of a NA powerband. I think this must be a deliberate tuning choice by Porsche.

Both the Camaro and the 911 are amazing on a mountain road. It was a real learning curve for me to get used to rear-engine RWD. There is so much more rear traction when I exited corners, to the point that I could get power-on understeer due to to the rear traction trumping the front traction. It was a curious new sensation for me, as I've only owned front-engine cars.

Yes, the 911 Carrera S is more than twice the cost of the Camaro SS. You certainly get a lot of performance and luxury for that extra money, but I wouldn't call the 911 twice the car as the SS. That said, if I could swing the extra cost, I'd love a 992 for the challenge and experience of mastering a rear-engine car.

Best,
Mike

[BlaqWhole]

The Porsches to me are looking better and better as time passes. I used to think they were hideous. But now I think the body and sleekness of these cars is improving with evert iteration. I would not mind owning one. I just wish they were AWD.

[455bhp]

Originally Posted by BlaqWhole

The Porsches to me are looking better and better as time passes. I used to think they were hideous. But now I think the body and sleekness of these cars is improving with evert iteration. I would not mind owning one. I just wish they were AWD.

Actually, the 911 Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S, and also Turbo models are AWD. Problem solved?

[ST1LE]

Porsche 911 is my all time favorite car!

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

Nice. Porsche's turbocharged engines are pretty underrated, or rather, rated differently than SAE method used here in the States so they make more power than we would expect them to for their rating. I think they rate their engines with the A/C on, at 100F and 5000' elevation. So when they are run in a good or decent DA, they are extremely quick for their rating.

[John Simon]

These images are AMAZING, The view and the Porsche LOOKS HEAVEN.

[John Simon]

The Porsches and their Obsessions with their Launch Control. Damn does this car hooks. Even tho it is less powerful call it still competes with the cars with almost double the power of it. Like Aventador and McLaren 570.

[Curr]

I know I'd posted earlier this year that I was looking to get a '23 ZL1 convertible, but dealers weren't willing to knock off the dealer markups on the cars I was looking at, that coupled with a very generous company bonus payout and a real gem of a car came up (1 owner ordered new, lived 20 minutes from dealer, all maintenance documented, absolutely loaded with options (~$25k!!!) and CPO'd for 2+1 years with no mileage limits and they replaced the accessory belt, all 4 tires, new battery, and pads AND rotors...) and I jumped on it. Was a little more than I wanted to spend... but as someone who wanted a 911 since I was 10 (had a poster on the wall and everything!) I went for it.

2.5 months later and 2500 (s)miles... just wow. The OP is 100% correct, what a truly amazing car. I've owned Mustang 5.0's, 16 C7 2LT, 17 SS 50th... and 911's are everything they say about them. Just a superlative driving experience.

I will say, the biggest drawback is lack of that amazing flat 6 naturally aspirated engine noise by going with the 991.2. I wanted that big fat turbo torque curve so I compromised on the engine noise.

Nothing beats a V8, and to be honest, my car sounds like a really angry vacuum cleaner (but it will also do 3.47 0-60 all day long, so there's that... launch control IS bonkers...)

And yes, it's my DD so I opted to get into a PDK car... it's also amazing, but it's no replacement for a stick. I could see myself hanging on to this car for 5-7 years easy, then trying to find something with a stick and V8 again.

[Bigdave18629]

Originally Posted by Curr

I know I'd posted earlier this year that I was looking to get a '23 ZL1 convertible, but dealers weren't willing to knock off the dealer markups on the cars I was looking at, that coupled with a very generous company bonus payout and a real gem of a car came up (1 owner ordered new, lived 20 minutes from dealer, all maintenance documented, absolutely loaded with options (~$25k!!!) and CPO'd for 2+1 years with no mileage limits and they replaced the accessory belt, all 4 tires, new battery, and pads AND rotors...) and I jumped on it. Was a little more than I wanted to spend... but as someone who wanted a 911 since I was 10 (had a poster on the wall and everything!) I went for it.

2.5 months later and 2500 (s)miles... just wow. The OP is 100% correct, what a truly amazing car. I've owned Mustang 5.0's, 16 C7 2LT, 17 SS 50th... and 911's are everything they say about them. Just a superlative driving experience.

I will say, the biggest drawback is lack of that amazing flat 6 naturally aspirated engine noise by going with the 991.2. I wanted that big fat turbo torque curve so I compromised on the engine noise.

Nothing beats a V8, and to be honest, my car sounds like a really angry vacuum cleaner (but it will also do 3.47 0-60 all day long, so there's that... launch control IS bonkers...)

And yes, it's my DD so I opted to get into a PDK car... it's also amazing, but it's no replacement for a stick. I could see myself hanging on to this car for 5-7 years easy, then trying to find something with a stick and V8 again.

Looing at a 911 myself, prices seem to be all over the board, but I am also getting the California influence, could let us know mileage and price for comparison...at least ball partk

[Curr]

Originally Posted by Bigdave18629

Looing at a 911 myself, prices seem to be all over the board, but I am also getting the California influence, could let us know mileage and price for comparison...at least ball partk

Go test drive one, most Porsche dealers will happily let people drive their cars, unlike a lot of Chevy dealers (looking at you MacMulkin). At my local Porsche dealer, I went back and drove the same 911 S and Boxster S back to back 5 times total over 3-4 months when trying to figure out which one I 'liked' better. He let me try launch control, showed me some corners I could cane it through... just a real car guy.

Truth be told it was a coin flip. The 911 S was definitely faster, but you can really feel the more neutral handling of the Boxster S. I decided on the 911 because, it's a 911 S, and should I ever decide to get rid of it, it'll sell very easily with it having all the desirable options / being a convertible, and not being Black / Silver / White. Remember, buy the seller, not the car. It took me ~4 months to find a car I was looking for because I wanted the maintenance records. Not necessarily CPO, but something I know had been taken care of.

It was ~30K miles, and their asking was $98.5k. The original owner bought it from them, lived nearby and they had every single service record. The previous owner traded it in to buy a 2023 911. I got them down on the asking price, but had them include shipping from CA to MA in an enclosed trailer. So my total cost was right around $98k.

Worth every damn penny. The car is everything every car magazine raves about. Just a superlative experience. I don't pretend I'm Randy Pobst but it driving the sames roads and on / off ramps the limits of this car are noticeably higher than my previous performance cars. Goddamn these cars are quick / fast.

[Bigdave18629]

Great info, thank you. Sounds like I need to do some serious shopping. I am too tall for a Cayman/Boxter but the 911 has room. Sat in a few but haven't driven one since the 996. Congrats and enjoy

[Curr]

Originally Posted by Bigdave18629

Great info, thank you. Sounds like I need to do some serious shopping. I am too tall for a Cayman/Boxter but the 911 has room. Sat in a few but haven't driven one since the 996. Congrats and enjoy

I would say, don't undervalue the engine / exhaust sound. Drive a *bunch* of 911's.

The 991.1 (2012-2016) are still naturally aspirated and have that classic Porsche flat six howl / clatter all the way through the rev range. That said, they do not have that low end turbo grunt, and are noticeably slower that the 2017+ cars until they hit 4500RPM+. This is the reason I went with the 991.2 cars.

The 991.2 / 992 (2017+) still have that flat six noise, but it's been muted by the turbo's on the exhaust. Until you get up in the rev's... around 5k+. You get more turbo whoosh and whistle than you do engine noises below that. I call my car the 'angry vacuum cleaner'.

Finding a manual will be a chore. And expect to pay for it, but it's an exceptional transmission. I bought mine with the notion of daily driving it (just passed 4k miles since June), so I'm ok with "just a PDK". That said the PDK is ludicrously fast when you want it to be, and gentle around town when you want it to be.