I agree with your position about respect for the car, its tradition, safety. While I see lots of crazy driving in the city, I've yet to see any by a Porsche driver. When I want to explore the limits of the car and my driving I head to the track. That said, I hope the TT will be, as advertised, a good winter drive. I'm sure people will think me crazy here, but I just love driving - in any weather.
Thanks for your input Big Bob.
P.S. I'm leaning toward the AWE exhaust at this point.

 

Bion,
may i suggest that you master the cars abilities well before stepping it's performance up. this way you will enjoy it more as there will always be a bit of a challenge ahead. this will also make you 'safer' to others.
after saying that, i believe you are already this minded.

i sometimes worry that we drivers sometimes think we can drive like the professionals, but really a lot of us are not going to be near their levels of control, courage and experience.

i am still learning my way around after 5 months with this car, and i am still reserving the boost setting for special occasions. i will eventually be using the boost more, but this is my own stepping up process of mastering the car.
i have oft repeated this process and enjoyed all the nuances of different cars i have ever owned or drove.

keep us informed of your 'exhaust' experience.

 

Right on the money Charles. The 997TT is more of car than I will probably ever be a driver. I have spent enough time on the track to appreciate and respect my limits vs. the car's so it will demand considerable patience and humility. I will probably go with the AWE exhaust after I drive it stock for awhile, for reasons other than just more HP and Torque (from my limited experience it already has gobs of these). And, yes, vanity is probably one of them. You are right, I want to develop the "feel" for the car and where I'm at, ability wise, with it before and after I change the exhaust. Compared to my M3 (which as 480BHP with the VFE S/C), the "feel" of the TT is what really made me decide to take the plunge. While I didn't use the Chrono boost, I understand it really changes the feel of the drive, other than just more TQ. Anyway, I've enjoyed researching the exhaust issue which from all sources seems to extend beyond the HP/TQ issue alone.

Must be nice to have all year driving weather in your part of the world. Enjoy!

 

Must be nice to have all year driving weather in your part of the world. Enjoy!

yes, that is one great advantage here. pity the disadvantage is that our OZ Porsches are at 'twice plus' your USA prices.
In fact ALL of the 'luxury' and 'sports' cars here are twice your prices.


sie la vie.....

 

Wow. I had no idea about the prices. I hope this significant increase isn't reflected in insurance, maintenance, and gas prices too.

Oh oh, I think I've hijacked my own thread. Apologies.

 

Made my decision after listening to a few exhausts on TTs in my area. This seemed like the only way to make up my mind. They were all great, but I've ordered the AWE exhaust and am looking forward to having it bolted on. I'll stick with this change and give myself some time to adjust to the new car (arrival ...soon).
Hope we get some summer soon too!

 

Lets see the pics of the car, and recording of the "sound" in due course. Enjoy the experience.
Regards Big Bob

 

Thanks Big Bob.

You can count on it, hopefully before the end of the month. I'll have the AWE exhaust, radar detector/shifter, and 3M installed before I pick it up. Atlas Gray coupe, ceramic brakes, manual, axle differential, Sports Chrono ..... coming soon!

 

I do not think you will feel any difference with the new exhaust, Porsche has done an excellent job designing their exhausts and 30 hp is very optimistic. Porsche had to do a lot to get the GT2 up to 530 hp and if you think an intake, exhaust and some high flow cats will get you there you are wrong. I think you have to hear a few exhausts to figure out what sound you want. I have a turbo cab and for the most part I cannot hear the exhaust unless under heavy acceleration. I have the B&B bullets on my Z06 and that is loud and has considerable drone and I cannot feel any HP gains. I think you will find the drone on any aftermarket exhaust that you get while cruising on the highway. B&B has an exhaust and computer remap that they say gives you about 530 hp. The problem is if the dealer see's the remap they might void your warranty. Have you checked the price on a new or rebuild of a turbo motor and if you try to resell would you buy a car without a warranty.

 

I agree re the HP increase claims you mention. The dynos are not done by independent pros and there is also a "translation" factor from quantiative measures to qualitative driving experience. I guess I will find out but either way I'm good with the results. Having a good relationship with my tuner and getting to actually listen to different exhausts (as work was done on the TTs) made a big difference re my AWE choice. I also was able to see and lift the stock exhaust and the after market ones. I was impressed with the weight savings (always a plus) as I am with the generally agreed upon reduction in back pressure. Ok, I like the sound too, a lot. I have no complaints with the stock exhaust, it's a matter of personal choice. And since I also drive a cab I know it's important to factor in exhaust sound for driving comfort (I'm glad I did when I changed my cab exhaust). Yes, I understand from my local shop and Porsche dealer there should be no warranty problems with the AWE exhaust but doing more than that is a different risk dimension re warranty so I'm good for awhile until the warranty expires. I am not concerned about power now - I'm still grinning from my test drive and look forward to exploring the perfomance of my TT and my own driving limits (safety first, for us old timers) when it arrives (soon I hear, maybe this month!).
Thanks for your comments and I hope you have some time for driving this summer.
Newbies like me always appreciate input from other members. Hopefully we can pass it on as we get more experienced with Porsche.