I like that they're implementing direct injection. It's one of those new technologies that really doesn't have a whole lot of downsides, especially not for a car like the 911.

Steering wheel heating? I have clearly underestimated the wankertude of the modern Porsche clientele.

911s are probably so capable and well-sorted nowadays that they're probably downright boring to drive anywhere but on a track.

@China_Crisis: To be fair, Lexus and Infiniti have offered that for quite a while. But I agree it's a little odd in a supposed sports car.

But then again, $4,000 leather vent covers.

Honestly, it's not quite the refresh I was hoping for.

With all the hits the 911 has been taking lately from the GT-R and R8, I can't imagine they'd take it lying down. I have a sneaking suspicion that the 997s replacement, whether it's a 998 911 or completely different platform in that price range, is going to be out of this world. It seems to be Porsche getting outflanked by Nissan is like the smartest kid in the class failing a spelling bee. It seems like such a shame, because you know they're capable of so much more.

Someone are not welcomed to back to work on monday

@AshMeAboutMyCar: Porsche options are ridiculously expensive. I was looking at their display at the Chicago Auto Show this year, and they had an $80 option to paint the air vents with the exterior color.

@China_Crisis: Mini offers that.

Does it come in purple with velour purple interior?

@China_Crisis:

You've also never sat behind the wheel of a Cayenne then.

This is old-hat my friend, and the sports cars are finally getting something the Cayenne has had since 2003.

Wow, direct injection and a LSD.

@long_live_the_E36: Uh, the fastest car that I've ever driven is probably a '91 white Camry sedan. After that, an 81 Accord 3-door, and then a beige roofracked 80s 240 wagon. I somehow doubt that these 911s will be dull.

@China_Crisis: What if the steering wheel heater was basically Megan Fox rubbing herself all over the steering wheel till it got warm????

There is no LSD in the boxter.

Bah, humbug.

@China_Crisis: @AshMeAboutMyCar:
And people get on me for the fun I poke at modren Porker owners...there is indeed, no substitute...

@impreza:
You say that like it's a good thing...

@UNÆVÒL\/ED: I don't think there's that much left to get out of the 911 platform. You can get more power by going to a bigger engine, but as far as chassis and suspension, I don't see how they can make significant gains without doing a clean-sheet redesign. It may be time for Porsche to just take the outer 911 skin, and then design a new car to fit that package.

@Chinese Knockoff Bento: I could go for that.

@elwood:

The heated wheel is like an extra $100 over the standard heated seat price, not exactly a "ridiculously expensive" option.

$80 to paint the vents being expensive? That must be a typo, It's can't be only $80. Either way, yes. It's expensive, But you get what you pay for. Gotta judge everything and really determine if it's worthwile for yourself. Some people may think $4,000 to cover the vents with leather is insane, some may love that look so much, they dont care what it costs, they've got to have it.

You've got to realize that these are upper eschelon sports cars, not corvettes and vipers.

You'd still be hard pressed to scratch the lamborghini price with a decked out 911 turbo, and you'd certainly be on a pretty close playing field performance wise.

Not that it matters, since Porsche holds/will hold majority stake in lambo :)

@UNÆVÒL\/ED:

A while back, Porsche released that they'll no longer be using their legendary opposed-six engines in their GT2 and GT3 cars.

They'll have eight cylinders instead.

Considering the old Porsche GT2 produced over 500 horsepower with six cylinders on now-outdated technology, the new Porsches should be scary indeed.

No one mentioned the 7 Speed "Doppelkupplung" or Dual Clutch gearbox option.

@impreza: I believe it is VW that holds majority in both Porsche and Lambo...

Also, Corvette Z06s(ZR1s) & Vipers are in the same class as Porsche. Sure the Porsche will get them in the twisties, but the Viper and Vette will catch up on the straights...

@voodoojoo: What I mean is, they've gotten so good that you can hardly ever use more than 10% or 15% of their performance on the street. I don't know about you, but I like cars that I can drive the wee out of as much as possible.

How much for the leather-covered run-flat tires? Not that I need to ask, it's just that my pesky accountant will want the numbers.

@Lieutenant LT БЯд╒╒ ®:
uh? you're kidding right?

carbon-fiber engines...

@impreza: Good points, but you lost me with "You've got to realize that these are upper eschelon sports cars, not corvettes and vipers."

I see about five 911s for every Vette, probably 50 for every Viper. Porsches are not very unique as a brand, but maybe we just have too many doctors and lawyers around here...so in that sense, overpriced options DO see very weird.

@Lieutenant LT БЯд╒╒ ®:

[jalopnik.com]

whar you been?

@AshMeAboutMyCar:

Around here it's about 40 vettes to every Porsche, and maybe 1:1 Porsche:viper ratio.

I do not count traffic areas around my dealership, of course you're bound to see tons of Porsches within 5 miles of a Porsche dealership :p

@impreza: uhh, no...

Dodge Viper SRT10 Coupe

Price and Power Stopwatch
Base price $83,145 Acceleration (Sec.)
0-30 mph 2.19
0-60 mph 4.53
40-70 mph 2.64
1/4-mile 12.19 @ 121.2 mph
As tested $88,295 Braking (Ft.)
30-0 mph 29.34
60-0 mph 124.00
Powertrain 510 hp/535 lb.-ft. 8.3-liter V10, 6M Sound levels (dba)
Idle 69.1
Full throttle 87.5
60 mph 81.5
Brakes 14-in. discs, ABS Lateral acceleration (G's) .97*
Tires (F/R) P275/35ZR18
P345/30ZR19 Double lane change (mph) 53.8
PM fuel economy (mpg) 15.2 Slalom (mph) 48.7
Weight/HP:weight ratio 3450 lb./6.8:1 Best lap time 1:15.59

Porsche 911 Turbo

Price and Power Stopwatch
Base price $122,900 Acceleration (Sec.)
0-30 mph 1.46*
0-60 mph 3.68*
40-70 mph 2.55
1/4-mile 11.63 @ 119 mph*
As tested $140,850 Braking (Ft.)
30-0 mph 27.80*
60-0 mph 119.60*
Powertrain 480 hp/460 lb.-ft. 3.6-liter twin-turbo flat six, 5A Sound levels (dba)
Idle 66.3
Full throttle 86.2
60 mph 78.7
Brakes 13.8-in. PCCB discs, ABS, ECS Lateral acceleration (G's) .95
Tires (F/R) P235/35ZR19
P305/30ZR19 Double lane change (mph) 54.3
PM fuel economy (mpg) 23.8* Slalom (mph) 50.1
Weight/HP:weight ratio 3600 lb./7.5:1 Best lap time 1:17.17

Chevrolet Corvette Z06

Price and Power Stopwatch
Base price $70,000 Acceleration (Sec.)
0-30 mph 1.99
0-60 mph 4.37
40-70 mph 2.54*
1/4-mile 12.00 @ 120.90 mph
As tested $77,230 Braking (Ft.)
30-0 mph 29.90
60-0 mph 120.90
Powertrain 505 hp/470 lb.-ft. 7.0-liter V8, 6M Sound levels (dba)
Idle 64.8
Full throttle 86.8
60 mph 75.1
Brakes 14-in./13.4-in. discs, ABS, ESC Lateral acceleration (G's) .96
Tires (F/R) P275/35ZR18
P325/30ZR19 Double lane change (mph) 53.3
PM fuel economy (mpg) 21.6 Slalom (mph) 47.9
Weight/HP:weight ratio 3200 lb./6.3:1* Best lap time 1:15.74

@impreza: Living in the Chicago area, there are times (the winter) when I'd like to have a heated steering wheel, or at least heated seats. And it's not so much that the options are so expensive, but there's so many of them.

@Lieutenant LT БЯд╒╒ ®: Are there any racing classes where relatively stock Porsche 911s and Corvettes race against each other? Only place I can think of would be SCCA racing, and I don't know enough about it to say for sure.

@impreza: i thought you were talking about the vehicle performance, sorry...

I thought I may have had the ownership part backwards...

I wonder if the 7 speed DSG unit they're using is the same one that Audi is going to start using across the line.

"upshift indicator for economical driving"

Oh good.

@Lieutenant LT БЯд╒╒ ®: What track were the lap times taken at? Because you can come up with a track and track condition that would put any of the three cars you listed as the fastest. Also, the Viper and Corvette would probably be better compared to the GT2.

@Lieutenant LT БЯд╒╒ ®:
Nope, upper eschelon meaning price-point. Which really, isnt all that bad anyway.

@elwood:
There are indeed hundreds of options. Our option books look like are several hundred pages. Of course the options are described in detail, but there are literally hundreds of options you can order.

One of the most difficult questions you have to answer is "What can I order?"
My response generally is "How much time do you have?" lol

@impreza: I'd prefer to not sit behind the wheel of a Cayenne. Unless Megan Fox were warming the steering wheel at that moment.

@elwood: that is a great question but I failed to take note of the answer...

@nirad: Audi doesn't use DSG in the R8 (apparently it won't fit). Porsche will use something else.

I think they need to get away from this for their performance car. Turbo Cayman seems better. Then again isn't Nissan's GTR sort of like Porsche's Carrera GT?

While the GT3 is clearly still a sportscar, the typical garden variety 911 is purchased and driven as more of a grand tourer. The true, pure 911 is still under there somewhere, but doesn't get out much anymore. I suspect that most of the Doctors Jekyl that buy these things compare them to the Quattroporto or DB9, never really grasping the GT3's ability to Hyde from an Exige or F430 on track.

I have been waiting for the Cayman to hit it's stride, and become the flagship for people that really want to drive. Stop teasing us already, Porsche! Let the old fat men have their Tiptronic 911's, and give us a properly developed Cayman with 400+ hp, a stir-it-yourself transmission, and chassis tuning to cash the checks the mid-engine design writes.

@China_Crisis:

Then unfortunately you are missing out, the GTS is pretty damn beast.

@j6r: if the GT-R is like the Carrera GT, then Porsche has a major problem on their hands...

By the way, Carrera GT is the best sounding car I have ever heard on the road... until perhaps the LF-A hits the streets?

now if they would just move that engine up...

These modern car industry life cycles of 4-5 years (with a face lift a year or two before the end of the production) are hurting 911. I bet 911 designers have the most difficult job of keeping this conservative legend fresh. It has basically come down to face lifting. I doubt that there is a much room for further improvement after this 2009 model comes out. OK, at least new engines (maybe a camless engine lingering?) and technologies are being developed and implemented with every new incarnation of 911. The question is will Porsche be bold enough to finally make a switch to the MR platform?

@Lieutenant LT БЯд╒╒ ®: I just meant a display of the companies abilities. Porsche can say we do sports cars all day long, look at what we are really capable of with the Carrera GT. Nissan builds Altimas and Cubes everyday but wants to show they're capable of more and introduce the GTR.

@long_live_the_E36: I completely agree with you about the 10%-15% aspect. I want a car that I can drive at 110% to 115% on the road, preferably without losing my license. With the Porsche, you'd lose your license and probably an arm or two. Or at least that's what I'll say when a Carrera S being driven at 12% blasts past me on a b-road and not even realize I was racing him.

@OG_: yeah, but haven't folks been saying the same thing about 911s for the past 20 years? Even Porsche felt like giving up in the 80s and they've made all sorts of changes (I wouldn't say that they're all good, Mr. Navarro).

@Lieutenant LT БЯд╒╒ ®: 730hp CGT with straight pipes:

+ Watch video

@Adamskiy: Which, by the way, is the closest I have ever heard a road car sound to an F1 car.

@Adamskiy: Okay, those guys are total dickheads...but then, my sense of perspective may be clouded by insane jealousy.