991 testing video

interesting insight

I'm pretty sure every car manufacturer tests their cars that way (extremes of heat and cold) but fun to watch nonetheless.

Cool video. It continues to surprise me, though, just how many outlets keep calling it a 2012 model when it is actually a 2013.

There is really no substitute!

Why are they 2013 when 2012 hasn't even started yet? when I got my Cayman S as a factory order in Dec 2009 that was a 2010 model

The 2012 models (997) came out May of this year (2011). The new 991 is a 2013 Model.

OT: I've never understood why model years are what people in the USA (and Canada I guess) talk about. Who cares about what 'year' the car is, especially as nowadays they have little to do with the actual production date? It's the MODEL NUMBER (or generation) that counts, i.e. 997.1, 997.2, 992, etc. or BMW E46 facelift, E90, E90 facelift, F30 etc... That's what makes a difference in the car itself, not any stupid 'model year'! When you're buying a used car you want to know when it was manufactured, what was the first registration date, etc.. But even then the 'model year' doesn't give any useful info at all. Nothing that the model designation (like 997.2) wouldn't give. Only sometimes might there be a rare exception in that there has been some minor update (like in the Boxster's engine mid-2006 or changes to C6 Corvette in '08) within the same model designation. But once again: model years won't help to give exact info on what has changed if anything and when, you still have to know to look for the power rise by 5hp to be sure. If you see a car on the street, it's the model number/generation what matters as it determines its technical specifications etc.. A '2010' and '2009' can be exactly the same car technically and the '2009' might have come out of the production line one month earlier and perhaps then sat at the dealership 2 months before first registration and then only been driven in good weather on the weekends.

What kind of tires did they use? Do they use snow tires only? What about all around driving, desert and snow like we have in California?

@Dr. Ing. Your statements are not entirely true. Not only do manufacturers change things in the same model year to year ( many times important things ) but the model year also will help gauge the age of the car. For example, a used 2006 Boxster S is sure to cost more than a 2007 Boxster S even if the actual days they came off the line were just 4 weeks apart if all else in the cars were the same.

So, if I had an identically equipped 2009 997.2 and a 2012 997.2 for sale, you would pay me the same for two cars? Come on, what you posted doesn't make sense. Of course the model year makes a difference.

That was my point, the year does make a difference in the value, therefore, the model year does matter.

As I said: the ACTUAL age of the vehicle does make a difference, and age wise first registration date and manufacturing date tell that story the best. And sure, as model year is a marketing tool it also has status importance. But how much, and does it matter to everyone? And what if you're not buying a car to talk about paper values but to get a car as technically good as possible for your money? For one example: it seems to me, when buying used, that you can get a much better deal on a low mileage, technically identical car if it is past the usual lease age and you'll pay relatively a lot more for technically the exact same model's newer model year if the leased cars haven't started returning to the showrooms. If I'm not mistaken you might get a lower mileage, pampered car for less than the usual one year's depreciation difference instead of a newer model year that is half a year older, technically identical and with more miles on it. To me, in these cases especially model years are not very important when discussing you new purchase because you've got a certain technical package at a certain condition, and the rest is much less significant details and more about ego and maybe a small difference in resale. Overall, the model number/generation tells most about the car itself and a change in that factor provides the biggest differences. The rest is mostly about condition. And the older the car, the more this is true. Model year certainly doesn't tell much about the car and requires a lot more studying than using model generation numbers and then more detailed info when needed. The 'model year' is much worse of an indicator for actual age, usage and technical differences than model number, production date, first registration date and mileage to determine how much to pay for it. That then explains the same stuff and MUCH more than the confusing and more marketing-based 'model year'. I'm against mentioning model years, I just think that it is irrelevant and more confusing than helpful. The main determinant on "what the car actually is" is the model number or model generation. In Europe that is the primary thing that people look at and mention when just giving the first few details (or discussing/asking for basic info on a car). That is 'what the car basically is', and then you can go on with countless different details from then onwards. Usually what is then mentioned is first registration date (not 'model year'), mileage, number of previous owners, equipment etc... I know that since you guys are used to it, and especially people that are well informed on cars often know what each model year means in terms of production dates, technical changes, introductions of completely new models and facelifts, it may not seem counterintuitive. But unless you've read up on all the changes on each car's changes for each model year, you're pretty much in the dark. My car is "MY'07" (manufactured at the very end of Oct 2006) as it has the updated +5hp engine version introduced late 2006, but over here it is ALWAYS referred to as 2006 in technical, sales and registration situations, absolutely everywhere! It is a 2006 car in every respect and mentioning the engine update is not only a small issue but easier to add than always figuring out the details of every single model year of every car model you are dealing with and what changes happened in each of them. With model numbers you have I guess at least three times less changes to think about and then with small updates it is easy just to add a mention about them. One example: you are looking to buy a used car and see that there is a 2008, 2009 and 2010 911 for sale, and their prices. How much info does the 'model year' alone tell you, and how much MORE you should pay for ex. a 2010, should the price difference between them be the same as between 2008 and 2009? Well, you'll have to find out the actual model generation (997.1/997.2, and find out the technical differences through that), mileage, and the actual condition plus loads of other details. Especially if you're just talking to someone about a car briefly or asking a couple of questions about someone's interesting car, IMO a model year tells much less than saying 997.1 or 997.2 (or 997 facelift model), let alone if it is a 996 or a 997! Quite a difference! 2005 vs. 2006? Barely any difference at all. Especially to someone who doesn't know every single technical difference between every single model year. Like with the 991: does it really matter AT ALL if it is CALLED a MY 2012 or 2013?

The first 991s being called 2012 or 2013, does it make any kind of difference to anyone in any way?

@Dr. Ing : I think the key difference is registration year, that is not something that is used here in the USA and every car is only advertised by its MY. Our only reference to age is the MY. Another question, when does a car get registered? When it ships from the plant, when it arrives at a dealership, or when it actually gets bought by a consumer? The reason I ask is that if the car gets registered at purchase ( as happens here in the US ) , you could then have two different models ( ie 987.1 and .2) with the same registration date if the 987 was sitting on the floor for many months. Anyway, I think that MY and Model number both matter, registration date tells you nothing about the car's actual age, manufacture date is what the cars actual age is ( and you need to decode VIN to get that or ask dealer ), between model number and MY you can understand what was in each car and what changes were introduced.

This seems to be a situation where regional differences apply, it appears that people in Europe look at this differently than people in the U.S. The reason why it matters to people in the U.S. is that today you can go to your dealer and buy a brand new 2012 911, it will be a 997 varient. In about 60 days you will be able to go to your dealer and buy a 991 version of a 911. If Porsche used a model year designation of 2012 for that car it would lead to some confusion because then they would have 997 and 991 versions available in the 2012 model year. By calling the 991 version a 2013 model year, it makes it a bit easier for Americans to understand which version of the car one is referring to. In Europe it may not matter as much.

Exactly, and that is the critique: I just think that the MY is confusing and not that informative, and think that something else could start to replace it in the USA. Or maybe some rules could be applied on what a MY actually is, and perhaps a database on what each model year means. That way it would be more useful and clear. The registration issue is the same here. There is no difficulty in that issue because knowing both the model number and the registration date covers that. Plus, if for some reason there is a longer than usual delay in registering the car, the customer has to be informed of it. There are for example some small dealers that buy cars that have been in storage for some reason and are 'new' and unregistered but a year old or more. In that case they of course have to tell the customer about that fact, and in any case when buying a car you do go through all such details (like production date) so it won't be a surprise, right? So since you need to know the production date anyway (as MY doesn't provide that or registration date) if you want to know how old the car is, and you know the model number in any case, IMO MY just doesn't give any important info. You are right that there are sometimes changes even within the same model numbers, but it is much easier and logical to mention those changes separately if there has been changes (very rarely). This in contrast to having to know what changes have happened in EVERY single model year, when each model year was introduced etc... For example with my car I knew that it was a 987.1, the first registration date, that there was no long delay between production and registration, and they just had to mention that it had the engine update. I think it is logical also in the sense that a small update isn't one of the most important things in a used car, like in my case a 'monumental' +5hp... When searching for cars I looked for 987.1s in a certain year range (registration date in Europe, usually in the detailed description they tell the month as well), and then I knew that there was ONE detail to look at (the engine update) which I could see by looking at the power figure.