Alright, so if you haven’t driven either, you’ve missed out. But the good news is, I have been fortunate enough to have driven both, and have done some work around both cars to be able to explain some of the key differences. Let me get into it.
991.1 Porsche Carrera Cup Car
I started out racing in a Porsche Cup in 2015 in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB series. Back then, the car I raced during that season and in 2016, was a Generation 1 GT3 Porsche Cup 991. The car was good, it was fun to drive, and the big focus was about trail braking into a corner. You really had to carry the brakes into a corner because with the engine located at the rear of the chassis, if you rolled off too quickly on the brakes, you would pick up crazy understeer. The over riding memory of that car was that it had this understeer which you could of course use to your advantage (and the quick drivers did so) but it meant you could get it wrong on the exits or entries, quite often. The car had good power, around 425 bhp, with a 6-speed sequential gearbox. The long and short, it was a great car to drive, and I personally got on top of it well.
2015 – My first year in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB series.
991.2 Porsche Carrera Cup Car
The second generation came to the UK in 2017, and I raced another 2 race seasons with it – in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Both years were great for me, finishing up 2nd overall with wins, podiums, and fastest laps. I came close to the title on both occasions but was arguably robbed by some bad luck (another story or two for another day!)
I remember driving the car for the first time at a wet Silverstone national in preseason 2017. I can remember the instant difference of power – the Generation 2 had around 485 bhp which was a good 60 bhp more than its predecessor. The car felt tighter, more powerful, and generally a good upgrade from the Gen 1. The interior was an upgrade, with a better dash system and more scrolling options on the dash.
Naturally the drivers got used to it pretty quickly – but fundamentally, other than a few mods to the exterior & interior, more power and better engine/gearbox parts, the car felt very similar. It drove similar.
In terms of pure driving, it still had inherent understeer through a corner when you started to push on. This meant that you still had to carry brakes deep into the slower/medium speed stuff in order to get the desired rotation. If you were to jump in a Gen 1 and straight into a Gen 2, from a driver’s perspective, the only thing you would notice would be the power output.
Watch my onboard at Le Mans in 2017 in the Gen 2.
992 Porsche Carrera Cup Cup
Finally, it’s time to say hello to the 992. I was fortunate to get to test drive it last year for Porsche UK at Thruxton and I have to say, it was a really enjoyable experience on track. I only had 2 x 30-minute practice sessions to get used to the car, but it did not disappoint.
Immediately the car just looks meaner than the 991’s. It has an obviously different rear wing, bigger, fatter and brackets that go over the top, as opposed to underneath. It looks like a 991 on steroids. The interior is a huge upgrade as well. The steering wheel is simply loveleh. It’s such a nice-looking thing. The dashboard on with all the timing screens, and extra information you need such as tyre pressures, engine maps etc…that all looks super big and impressive.
As far as the look and feel goes, it’s a big upgrade to the 991 and looks like a proper mean beast. It isn’t as fat and wide as a proper GT3, but I would definitely say it’s clearly bigger and better looking than the 991.
Moving onto the actual driveability – the front tyres are bigger than the Gen 1, meaning there is more contact patch and therefore more grip at the front. This means the front of the car should have a bit less of that 991 understeer that I talked about.
Both 991.2 and 992 have 4 litre engines with 8500 rpm as max revs. The 991.2 could hit around 485bhp and the 992 can get around 510bhp.
What does all this really mean?
Well, the car has more power, not an awful lot more but a bit. The car looks different as we explored, and the interior feels a lot different. If a driver was to go from a 991 cockpit, straight into a 992, they would definitely notice the difference.
In terms of how it felt to drive in vain around a circuit. I could definitely feel more front grip on the car. The car had a tad of oversteer as opposed to understeer, which I really enjoyed driving. I also noticed the car took the kerbs a bit better than the 991. It felt like it gobbled them up a bit cleaner. Perhaps the better suspension on the 992 accounts for that.
991 vs 992 – Onboard with me in the 991 at Austria in 2021. This isn’t the cleanest of comparisons, but does give some indication of the differences.
Is It Better?
In my opinion, yes, it is. I loved every second of the 992 and whilst the 991 was an amazing car, the 992 felt like an upgrade. Maybe it was purely because it was something new. Maybe I was just blown away by the looks of the car, that the smile could not be wiped for the whole day of driving the new car. Perhaps the fact that Thruxton isn’t the best place for me to give a final decision seeing as it’s mainly a high speed circuit which would suit the 992 more.
Having worked this year and last year with drivers who I have coached in the 991, their feedback is that it perhaps doesn’t feel as ‘pure’ as the 991. But with that being said, it’s clear that Porsche have still managed to produce and epic race & track car and continue a progression of the best single make series across the entire world.
I can’t wait to get my hands on a 992 properly and push it to the max. I’ll be sure to get a side-by-side comparison with onboards and analyse for you on here. Check back to see it this year!
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