Porsche 991 Turbo Project Car Begins... In Las Vegas!

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, except our new 2014 Porsche 991 Turbo; it went from 10 miles to 350 miles as its first rodeo.  Why Vegas?  Well we wanted our car ASAP and coming from the awesome guys at Rector Porsche in San Francisco, the driver was stopping in Vegas to pick up and drop off more vehicles.  So rather wait a couple more days, we hopped on a plane for a 1 hour flight to drive back 5 hours to beautiful Arizona.  First off, the experience with Rector Porsche was amazing.  Dan the Sales Director and Paul the Service Manager are always helpful to us and our customers in the Bay area.  The process was effortless and the communication was always on point.  We were able to configure the car how we wanted in mid summer and it arrived in port just before Christmas.

Having owned and modified several Porsche cars, I have never actually bought one brand new.  The configuration process is pretty cool on the Porsche website.  Though if you actually add in everything you really want, you are soon driving a small house!  When I configured this car, I looked at it from a tuning point of view as well as a resale.  Certain super cool options we would end up replacing with performance parts where others were a must have for down the road when the next buyer gets to enjoy our creation.  So if we are talking options, here is what we went with.

• White color…  Why?  Because white looks amazing and gives you so many options for wheel color.  My first 996 Carrera was white and simply loved that look.  Our 997.2 Turbo S was white and we threw 3 different color wheels on it and with any setup, it looked hot!
• Carbon fiber…  Interior carbon fiber trim always looks amazing.  Its hard to out do what the factory does.
• Sport Chrono…  This is a $4000 option!  But having that sport button with the sweet clock on the dash is a must for driving and resale.  The exhaust tone change is nice, though we know that will be changed soon enough!
• Red seat belts…  $500 because paying $10K plus for the ceramic brakes was not happening so we had to match the red calipers .  No really we went with the standard brakes as we plan on a upgrade with a partner to show what can be done without the ceramics.  Our 997.2 Turbo S had ceramics and so does the Panamera Turbo.   They are without a doubt the most insane braking experience ever and the rotors weigh like paper.
• Centerlock wheels…  They look so good!  For the option price of $3500, you cant even get a good set of aftermarket wheels for that.  The centerlock setup looks serious and is unique to all other street cars.
• Some other options include Porsche crests in the headrests, 4 way sport seats, paddle sport steering wheel, and sunroof delete.

So back to the drop off…  We landed and took a taxi to the MGM Grand where within minutes, the driver had rolled up across the street to unload the car from his truck.  On top was the 991 and ironically below was a 996.  Kinda like the evolution of our Porsche career.  As the car was backed out and lowered on the lift gate, pure excitement started to run through me.  After a quick check and inspection, my co-driver and I jumped in and with 10 miles on the clock, headed out.  If you have ever driven from Phoenix to Las Vegas, it is a pretty fun trip.  The roads are full of curves, whoops, and straights.  As we headed out of Vegas we got all our buttons, dials, positions, set for a quick cruise.  So many new features are on the dash including a G-Force meter and a Torque Graph.  If you thought texting and driving was bad, trying to navigate all the new features is a handful.  So this car is definitely a read the manual and get situated before you drive!

So how was the drive you ask?  The 991 Turbo is a completely different look than the 997.2 Turbo S on the outside.  Sitting inside it, I felt the same size as the 997 but maybe having the Panamera skews it a bit with the center console.  The angled center console gives the car a more cockpit type of feel.  On the road the Pirelli tires do pick up a lot of pebbles if you are in a crap area.  On the highway, they are pretty quiet.   The factory suspension with PASM off is nice, not to cushy or wandering, but comfortable.  Past cars almost had to have sway bar upgrades because they would feel to loose at high speeds.  When you click the sport suspension on, it is definitely noticeable.  If only the suspension would also lower to get rid of the off road ride height, it would be a flawless setup.

Cruising at 80mph is like you are going 30.  Several times would look down and we would be doing 100mph like it was nothing.  The acceleration from 80-130mph is pretty damn quick.  One new thing with the 991 Turbo is pressing the button for the hydraulic rear wing also has the front spoiler change pitch giving the car more downforce, which on these roads and high speeds, it helps.  I think Porsche just set the bar for aerodynamics and we are going to see some interesting things from the aftermarket and OEM’s to compete.   Overall, the new 991 Turbo is pretty awesome.  You would expect awesome from $160K plus anyways!  But one reason we have never strayed the Porsche course to say Lambo or Ferrari, is simply because Porsche builds such as solid car.  As these become more and more advanced, it really makes modifying them become more challenging.  With that, we look forward to the challenge.  If you have not read our story, we are truly fortunate to even be working on and with such an incredible car.  We are really going to take a different approach to this car and the products we add to it, design for it, and promote.

Enjoy these pictures and video and stay tuned to our official Porsche 991 Turbo project gallery here.

Porsche 991 Turbo Project Car Begins... In Las Vegas!