Sport Auto Supertest: Porsche 997 Carrera S

[st-anger]

NS:

the 997S is nearly capable to reach lap times of the 996TT or GT3 due to its outstanding sport suspension kit.
superiour agility and engine paired with perfect handling and driving safety with no understeering in slow bends and evil oversteering in faster corners are resulting in a 8:05 lap time - TOP!!!


HHR:

extremely neutral handling only at the very last limit the rear needs a quick hand good reactions but everything remains very smooth and controllable. with the optional sport suspension kit the "S" is 1.3 sec faster than with the PASM suspension - mainly due to the useage of a diff-lock that comes standard with the sport kit - so perfect traction is ensured, the steering is very light but provides a very good feel.


accl./braking:

main reason for the good times is the optional and reworked PCCB and the diff-lock


aerodynamics:

extremely low cw value with only 0.27...
very big step forward, only at autobahn when speed exceeds 250kmh the steering is getting a bit too light and straight running behaviour could be better...


max. lat. g´s:

the special Michelin with the Porsche designation N1 is one of the best tyres ever on a 911 with an outstanding performance although beeing a street tyre and no semi slick as Pilot Sport Cup or Dunlop Super Sport...


36m slalom:

unbelievable result beating the GT and CSL and beeing equally fast as a CLK DTM - and all this with street tires. this shows the enourmous potential of the 997´s suspension and steering. HvS only noticed that these speeds are only possible under load so that no load cycle changes can irritate the line...


110m evasion test:

turn-in behaviour is again superb, absolutely no worries at the back end when turning in fast and hard, when driven too fast one can easily catch the rear, the car´s limit is again pushed up a bit but is now also definitely wider so that the driver could react better and won´t loose the car - so definitely an improvement to the 996...


wet handling:

beeing that good in the dry one could expect the 997 to do worse in the wet but also on slippery pavement the performance is outstanding, again the tires, the diff lock and reworked brakes are helping a lot here with traction and wet-braking behaviour on top level. nevertheless the limit in the wet is a bit different than in the dry, the very high grip limit is resulting in a kinda sharp traction loss - but again - everything very controllable due to the perfect setup of the suspension...


conclusion:

for the performance orientated owner the 1500euros for the sport suspension is a definite MUST HAVE option...
for HvS truly the best modern 911...





...haven´t had much time for a better translation but did my best, sorry...