DRIVEN: So, What's The All-new 2020 Porsche 911 REALLY Like? FIRST Review Is In...

Rear overhang seems to get longer, almost the same length as the front... looks weird

Time to turn useless rear seat to storage and shift some components forward toward a 47/53 weight distribution

Just buy a Cayman.

Sure, if Porsche is willing to put the 911 engine in it.

Correction: I mean 43/57 weight distribution

Boy, after reading that review and looking at the performance numbers, I'm tempted to trade my 997.2 GTS in for the 992.

Supposedly it is longer than a 928 ever was now. I still hate the Braun shifter.

Got me curious so I looked it up, the 928 was 178in long according to Wikipedia, the new 911 is 177.9 according to Porsche USA. That is quite interesting. I have to say though the 928 is a smaller car in real life than it appears in photos.

The engine has been moved 20 millimeters forward. That roughly a half an inch. I don't know what the weight distribution is. I suspect if there was no weight of the twin turbo's it would probably be pretty much similar to a mid engine car. Interesting though how Porsche keeps the 911 just enough ahead of an average Cayman. Specifically it appears to have better turn in going into a corner and better traction coming out of a corner. The Cayman appears to have better balance mid corner. Further with the 911 wider track(especially at the front)any advantage the current Cayman has over this new 911 would be pretty negligible. Of course the new replacement Boxster/Cayman is still going to be based on this same platform. You would have to believe that the mid engine car would forge a clear handling advantage again. In the real world its really a silly argument as both cars have more handling agility and cornering grip than 99 % of the population will ever explore anyway. And the other thing is sports cars and super cars in general have gotten so wide and tire size so big that soon they will need a spare country with roads and parking places double the size so they can properly fit within road boundaries. There is one sports car out today the refreshingly somewhat bucks this trend. It is the relatively new Renault Alpine A 110. The car is not as wide and it rides on smaller wheels and tires. Supposedly a very fun car to drive.

"The engine has been moved 20 millimeters forward. That roughly a half an inch."

More than 3/4 inch actually.

I'd rather have a Cayman with 911 power than a 911.

I've driven both and the Cayman is the one I prefer by far.

We think the 718 GT4 is coming next year with the GT3 4.0l N/A/ engine (though detuned). Hope they make a Touring version of that 718 GT4, as they did the GT3, (i.e, without the giant rear spoiler). I'd be hard pressed not to grab one of those (if I can get one).

A rare occasion that I agree with MD re 911 vs Cayman. I have an '09 Turbo, my brother a '16 Cayman S. Mine has a lot more power and torque than the Cayman, yet the Cayman is more enjoyable in normal driving.

That said, both take a back step to the Model 3 Performance version. Both feel sluggish compared to the Model 3 in any situation below 60 mph including around the corners. Both Porsches need to rev past 3000 rpm to get any meaningful performance out of them.

If I ever consider Porsche again, it will be the Taycan. I've lost interest in the NA GT4, as well as the rest of their ICE lineup.

@EVisNow as I have mentioned here before, I have a Porsche 914-6 recreation from the simple expedient of putting a 911 engine in a 914. OK so there's more to it than that like the engine being more modern than vintage. And the conversion needs a few upgrades, but I digress.

I actually go to some Porsche owner events and there some look askance at the fake 914-6 and others have ask me to sell it to them, so I've actually built a couple more and made some really nice change in the process.

Some looked askance at the 944 LSV8 I brought one time and others said "build me one", so I've overseen three of those.

Currently I have a handful of 914s that have been taken down to bare metal, repaired and shot with primer awaiting a project. I also have a couple 944s in worn-out but drivable condition that are ready to be project cars. I also have a pristine 928 with the crappy Porsche V8 blown.

After I get some "throw away" money ahead, I plan to do a 928 LS conversion. When it's done, the Porsche brigade will loathe it and some within their ranks will want it.

The Porsche to have today though is obviously the Cayman though.

A while back I had the privilege of driving some new Porsches at an event and the Cayman was simply more pleasurable to drive than the 911 which--for all its electrostabilitycrap--is still tail happy.

I really wish Porsche would do a modern 944. Every time I driving one, I sing "Miss Christina drives a 9-4-4. Satisfaction oozes from her pores...."

An LS swap 928 would be great. The standard 928 V8 is a bit of nightmare with it's 9ft serpentine belt. LS motors are affordable and parts are cheap. Auto or stick you could be set up nicely with some additional power to boot. There will be some haters but who cares.

You know I don't. LOL

I've been driving back and forth to Newport Beach in two different oldies with LS swaps.

I haven't made up my mind as to next company car and my accountant is not happy.

Well I guess it would be interesting to compare a 2020 911 Carrera S to a 2019 Cayman GTS. I say this because the 2020 911 is not the same as a 2019 Carrera S. That was the point I was trying to make earlier. I borrowed a 944 for about a month about 10 years ago. I thought it was a great car to drive and had reasonable punch for very few engine mods. It felt really flat on the road. I wonder if putting a V8 (which sounds great by the way)would affect handling balance by virtue of making it a bit too front end heavy? I've never driven a 914/6. I have driven a stock 914-I think it was a 74 1.8. Obviously not a lot of power but really nice on the highway at speed. This was about 25 years ago.