I'm starting to really like it, and would like to swap thoughts with anybody that has ordered one, or is planning to order one shortly. ze_shark, did you finally get one?
i want to test drive it... never buy a car with out driving it o a nice ong test drive...the seating position on the 996 didnt suit me s i never got one..also i would like to do a head to head with the new vette to compare the two..also keep in mind that porsche has had some reliablity issues with new releases such as the earily boxter and 996s,....
I thought the official launch date was the 28th? Perhaps that is when they are coming into dealer showrooms, and first deliveries are consequently expected on the 31st?
I agree on the test drive, however there a number of people on Porsche forums that have already ponied up, and are expecting to get their deliveries in September. Was curious to know if a few people on this forum have done that as well. As for a head-to-head with a Vette, I respect the comparison based on performance figures, however a Vette just doesn't do it for me, so I'm going to pass on that one. Finally, I agree with you that there is always the potential for problems on a new model switchover, but I gain comfort in the fact that (1) the 996 to 997 switchover is more evolutionary than the 993 to 996 (which I would actually classify as "revolutionary"), making the potential for teething problems like the 996 had a little less likely, and (2) most of the problems (I believe) with the earlier 996's were sufficiently covered under the PNA warranty. Unlike Ferrari, Porsche actually takes care of its customers, so hopefully this will be the case here as well. Thx.
Porsche sent me a cool invitation to the 997 opening party at our local Porsche dealer... it was a poster of the 997 with my name on the liscense plate. We are gonna check it out, but probably not buy one. I want my dad to get an Aero 8 for about the same price as a 997 Cab. Aero 8s are sooo friggin cool!
Yeah, I read about that on some of the Porsche-enthusiast forums. Very nice. I'm going to talk to some of the dealers towards the end of the week to see what they say. I think the official launch in the US is August 28th, so these should be rolling into dealer showrooms fairly soon. Stay tuned.
Vik, I think lot of people will be getting the 998 turbo when that comes out. The 997 I would think is mostly going to people who either really like the new design, or are just trading in their current Carreras or boxters.
very true, and most people who will be buy a 997 probably wouldnt buy a vette no matter how fast is was
Why would someone want to wait another 6 or 7 years for the next model Porsche to come out? From what I remember of all the articles I've read and such Porsche plans on running the 997 for a full model cycle featuring all the normal variations and maybe a GT3 variant. Or am I missing a few key pieces of information?
They are already being delivered here in Alberta. I saw my first one Saturday. What a great looking car....except for the hideous 19" wheels on the "S". I pity the poor dealer who had this thing in stock though..........a Carrera "S" with a MSRP of $145 CAD ($115 base "S"....add $11K for PCCB but why ??? and about $20K for a bunch of other marginally useless stuff including the wart on the dash)........you can get a low mileage 2003 996TT for that kind of money. I'd order an "S" without the overpriced options and force my dealer to take back to wheels at cost and sell me something nicer......keep it under $120K. Which is still really rich for a normally aspirated 911 IMHO.
Give me different wheels and the Sport Chrono performance features without the wart, lose the LCD screen and the fake quad exhaust tips, and I'll order an S. One more thing... until they bring production numbers down, I'll need to get a 10K discount from MSRP to help offset the keys-dropped-from-a-Learjet depreciation. I guess I won't be ordering any time soon!
I agree with Eos here Ryan. The 997 is a full upgrade, and Porsche will be running this body style / platform for the next 6 years. The variants -- GT3 / Turbo / C4S -- are already in various stages of development and will be rolling out over the next 18 months. Not sure people are going to wait a full generation for the 998 Turbo, especially since few details have been released about the 998 aesthetics. Was it just a mistype? Or are we just not understanding your point?
Hey Vik, I was just saying from what I had learned on 6speed. Initially the reports were that the 997 variant wouldn't have a turbo version. Thus everyone was going to wait till the 998 turbo came out. I haven't followed Porsche that much over the last few months, thus have missed the fact that 997 will go through a whole production cycle. My apologies.
It seems from all of the commentary on the "S," the 19" wheels and the Sports Chrono wart are the two most brought up. I'm actually partial to the wheels myself, but agree with you and 911fan that the Sports Chrono should have been offered with the "Chrono-delete" option. There's always next year, right? The other point your post brings up is the PCCB brakes. I understand why Porsche is rolling out a Seal Gray C2 and a Black C2S to all dealers, but why include a very niche-specific -- and very expensive -- option on the C2S like the PCCB's. I'd spend US$8K on the a pair of brakes only if I was tracking the car weekly. It just doesn't make sense why Porsche is jacking up the price of the car with an option that will really interest about 15% of the buying population. If I was a conspiracy theorist, I might say that including the PCCB option creates a sufficient dollar difference between the C2 and the C2S. If the different was $8k less, there is a risk (which I know Porsche is very fearful of since they want a 50/50 split) that most owners will gravitate towards the C2S. This will obviously work only for the initial delivery cars, since factory orders can all be customized. C'est la vie. I'm still keeping an eye on prices.
