911T vs Emira

[seriously]

Speaking of polar moment the cayman is even more mid-engined that the emira. The emira while technically mid-engine has a lot of weight over the rear axel. Theoretically this is ideal for launching the car. No wonder the i4 with DCT posts such strong 0-60 times.

911s also launch really well due to all the weight over the rear axel.

 

[Ohio Enthusiast]

The closer to the center more weight exists, the more neutral the car becomes whenever you want to rotate it (i.e. turn under acceleration or braking). In the 911's case, the weight is more unevenly distributed and further away from the center

You're explaining fore-aft center of gravity position (better known as weight distribution) and polar moment of inertia. These are completely unrelated to center of gravity height, which was what you claimed the Emira has much lower one. Also, both the 911 and the Emira share a similar weight distribution (~40/60), so that's unrelated as well. The only difference between the two is the polar moment of inertia, which will explain the difference in handling between cars in different engine configuration, even if their weight distribution and center of gravity height are the same (front, mid and rear engine). (neglecting other things like suspension type, curb weight and chassis tuning).

If you have center of gravity height numbers for either car, I'm sure we'd love to see them as they are extremely rarely published by manufacturers and rarely measured by anyone else.

(rear engine sits on top of the rear axle). This is why it's tail happy (in general).

The engine is not on top of the rear axle, but behind it and only slightly higher than the hubs (as opposed to the Emira and other transverse mid engine cars where the engine does indeed seat on top of the rear axle). The tail-happiness of a 911 is mostly due to the high polar moment of inertia with the heavy part being in the rear (the same thing that promotes understeer in front engine cars - high polar moment of inertia with the heavy part in the front).

911 (991):

Emira:

 

[NorCalEmira]

Fun fact. The 911 and Emira have the same weight distribution (approx 60% rear, 40% front).
If you want something close to 50:50 the Cayman is near perfect.

The difference from the 911 is that the Emira puts that weight ahead of the rear axle.

 

[F1 SML8R]

I was paraphrasing for purposes of simplicity. However, I like that you attached the diagram which further reaffirms my point. the engine is further away from the center and to your point behind the axle making it exceptionally easy to getting the tail to slip. My whole point is getting more weight towards the center is better. The emira compared to my old Carrera T accomplishes this better than the T.

 

[ShootingSight]

When cars turn, they do not rotate about the center of the car. They rotate about a point on the line you get from projecting the rear axle out some distance, so the effect of weight on polar moment is a little more complicated than people are discussing. Also, oversteer/understeer is really a discussion of the amount of grip the tires get, which is only partially influenced by static weight distribution, as you rarely corner under a completely neutral throttle. Braking or accelerating shifts weight on or off the wheels. You need to drive a 911 slower into a corner, and apply more acceleration coming out of the corner. Coming into a corner under breaking will lead to oversteer.

I think Lotus got this right. Porsche probably never will, as the marketing department still hold sway over the engineers. The 911 is tail-happy, always has been, but it is the flagship of the Porsche brand. They tried replacing it once, with the 928, but that flopped. Since then, they have stood by it and defended it's tradition. The Boxster and Cayman have a much better design from a weight distribution POV, but have been relegated to being the poor man's Porsche with less powerful engines, lest they start outperforming the 911. Only recently has the GT4 been given a 6 cylinder, and it is still downsized from the 911.

 

[Tomwa]

I bought a 2019 911T last May, and a 2025 Emira last week. I got the 911 used with 30k miles, and paid about the same as I did for the Emira.

Dunno about outright acceleration, as I am still breaking it in, so cannot go above 4k RPM, but the driving is better in the Emira. Suspension has a little less sway, steering feels lighter, cornering is flatter. I like!

Just an FYI if that's what you read or dealer told you, it's a misinterpretation. You absolutely should "explore the rev range" and do some hard engine braking while in break-in miles.

If you read the manual it just says no "sustained" revs over 4k this means don't cruise down the highway at 4200 rpm in 4th gear. Not "don't crack over 4k". Your ring seating will be better if the rings experience engine loads.

 

[cedricchew]

Speaking of polar moment the cayman is even more mid-engined that the emira. The emira while technically mid-engine has a lot of weight over the rear axel. Theoretically this is ideal for launching the car. No wonder the i4 with DCT posts such strong 0-60 times.

911s also launch really well due to all the weight over the rear axel.

Braking benefits for the same reason. Because of weight transfer, each brake handles a more equal percentage of the load, so there’s less likelihood of exceeding the amount of grip available from the tire.

 

[allenyao09]

I thought about getting a 911 T instead of Emira before, but nowadays Porsche is going for crazy high prices, which I don't think is really worth it. 130k for a base Carrera and 140k for a T without any options? No thank you.

 

[seriously]

I thought about getting a 911 T instead of Emira before, but nowadays Porsche is going for crazy high prices, which I don't think is really worth it. 130k for a base Carrera and 140k for a T without any options? No thank you.

Same. Porsche has gone nuts with the pricing. More like $100k base.

 

[R1272]

I own a 992.1 T and it's pretty hard to break the rear free. You can of course, but you really have to try. The mechanical diff and Porsche torque vectoring really help keep things balanced.

@allenyao09 is correct on pricing. A base car with no options starts at $130k.