Porsche Experience Centre - Page 1 - 911/Carrera GT - PistonHeads UK

Hi I attended the PEC Friday driving a carrera T in Cartagena yellow. Had a great time. As a pdk devotee I was very impressed with the manual gear box! The car itself, loved it and has me questioning should I change to a manual it was that good! Even liked the colour!

I’ve driven the ‘T’ in the previous 991.2 and 992.1 derivations and, correctly spec’d (keep it light and simple), I regard the ‘T’ as one of the nicest contemporary 911s - closer in concept to earlier generations. Not yet driven the 992.2 ‘T’ but have heard very positive endorsements from acquaintances. James May had one on loan from Porsche, to review - possibly the same PEC car. He thought it would be just another modern 911 and wasn’t expecting anything more. In fact, he had it at the same time as a mutual friend, who had a 992.1 ‘T’ PDK for comparison. Anyway, long story short, both were completely taken by the new ‘T’ ….. specifically because of the character and engagement of the ‘manual’ gearbox which, in their words, made it much more fun. As a result, both were so impressed that they both ordered, and have since taken delivery of, new 992.2 ‘T’s. It would probably be my preference over the heavier, more complex, auto only, GTS. But still surprising that Pccbs can’t be optioned on the ‘T’.

Geneve said: I ve driven the T in the previous 991.2 and 992.1 derivations and, correctly spec d (keep it light and simple), I regard the T as one of the nicest contemporary 911s - closer in concept to earlier generations. Not yet driven the 992.2 T but have heard very positive endorsements from acquaintances. James May had one on loan from Porsche, to review - possibly the same PEC car. He thought it would be just another modern 911 and wasn t expecting anything more. In fact, he had it at the same time as a mutual friend, who had a 992.1 T PDK for comparison. Anyway, long story short, both were completely taken by the new T .. specifically because of the character and engagement of the manual gearbox which, in their words, made it much more fun. As a result, both were so impressed that they both ordered, and have since taken delivery of, new 992.2 T s. It would probably be my preference over the heavier, more complex, auto only, GTS. But still surprising that Pccbs can t be optioned on the T . I read quite a few posters complaining about the lack of options on the T and guess there must be a reason why Porsche limit the options, it may be a marketing thing or more likely to do with production costs. Personally I like to keep the car simple, while it doesn’t make a heap of difference in the real world I avoid weighty items like electric seats and glass roofs. Just me probably, but when I think about the lengths engineers go to in an effort to reduce weight in a sports car it feels wrong to add it back on. I like the lack of options on the T and wouldn’t bother with ceramics, the steels are more than enough in my experience.

Would be nice if you could have the brake calipers painted, at least.

AllyM said: Would be nice if you could have the brake calipers painted, at least. That’s something i couldn’t care less about, a good example of where I probably diverge. The T in my head is all about the drive, manual with the performance parts as standard is where it’s a for me, everything else is ballast!

OP may have been better to have placed this in the ‘Anyone for T’ thread, for a wider response. However, agree with the general theme, it’s great that Porsche make the T with its simplified specification and Manual box. Can it be specified with a kerb weight under 1,500kg ?

I am hearing that Porsche are giving up the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone ?? If so, I wonder what else they may be doing to replace it ?

I’d be surprised. PEC came about because Porsche recognised that it was impossible to demonstrate their cars’ abilities safely on the public road. There had been several nasty high profile accidents involving sales personnel mis-handling customer demo drives. So, Porsche very responsibly invested in a closed circuit with dedicated instructors. At one point, I think during Geoff Turral’s tenure, Porsche GB had hoped to buy Castle Combe but Howard Strawford didn’t want to sell. Prior to PEC, OPCs often arranged customer days at nearby circuits. And they also had a team of driver consultants, inc Richard Atwood, who would provide advanced road and track tuition. During the ‘aircooled’ era, I also did several days with Bernard Aubrey at Chobham. Edited by Geneve on Sunday 1st February 07:31

We shall have to see ...