Hi fellers, Well...my stepson just bought a 1987 Porsche Carrera coupe, and I had a chance to drive it yesterday. Since I have a 1987 328 GTS, I thought I would give y'all a quick evaluation/comparison of the two marque's products of that year: The first thing I noticed was how LIGHT the doors are on the 911! How did Porsche get away with that when Ferrari had to put in all the steel bracing and crap for the U.S. Market?! My 328 door feels like the door of a bank vault by comparison. LOL! Overall, the Porsche is lighter or, at least, seems that way. That being said...the Ferrari is a WAY better car; it is faster, handles better, brakes WAY better, sounds WAY better (though I do like the vintage air-cooled Porsche; more for nostalgia, I think, rather than actual "spine chilling" sound like Ferraris) and is, of course, far more beautiful. No matter what 911 model (or variants) I see, I can always detect the Volkswagon genetics in them; i.e., if you take a VW and squash it down...well there ya go... The Porsche is fun to drive, but it doesn't rev like our cars and, while I can feel the racing pedigree in the car, again, I can also feel, see and hear the VW pedigree, as well. I like the Porsche and, in fact, like Porsches, but you can lead a Ferrari man to a Porsche...and make him drive it, but you can't make him switch teams! LOL! The Porsche is a cool car and would make a fun daily driver. BTW, my stepson is thinking about having some non-turbo mods done to the car that would boost HP to around 300. The cost for such an undertaking? All of $1,500.00! Can you imagine trying to boost obtain an 80 HP boost on our cars?! You could BUY another 308 for the price! One reason to love Porsches, I imagine ;-) I will also say that you can REALLY feel that ass-engined bias in the handling of the Porsche; that rear end wants to get happy. I know that Porsche has really gotten this odd design flaw under control in recent years, but back in the 80's...whew! Anyway...just thought I'd pass this along. My best, Scott
I had a 3.2 Carrera for a while and know the drivetrains well, and let me tell ya, $1500 will not go far. Pistons and cams will set a person back nearly as much as in a Ferrari. Getting 300bhp out of a 3.2 is very expensive business. Cams and pistons alone will not do that. This is one of the reasons I got out of Porsche. I saw the cost to upgrade was entering Ferrari-like levels, so i decided why pay Ferrari prices without the Ferrari! That being said, I really loved my little 911. A little light in the front end over 100, but otherwise great. Funny thing is, my tuned carb 308 feels just as fast as any stock 3.2 Carrera, but I know it's not. Driver satisfaction is of course way higher with the Ferrari. No doubt they are two completely different cars though.
One of the 1st things people notice (and comment on) with my car is how solid the 3x8 sounds when the door closes "ka-thunk".
I have had many different years of 911 models. They are in no way related to or have any engine parts from a VW. Yes Dr. Porsche designed and built the VW and yes he used some parts in building the 356. The 911 uses overhead camshafts and dry sump lubrication. VW used pushrods. Congrats to your stepson, it sounds like he has a nice 911. He can get a performance chip which is good for 10HP.
"my stepson is thinking about having some non-turbo mods done to the car that would boost HP to around 300. The cost for such an undertaking? All of $1,500.00! " Tell him that whoever's trying to sell him 80HP for 1500 bucks (unless it's nitrous) should be selling used cars and real estate (and probably is). He MIGHT get 10 HP for his 1500 bucks. You can't get 80 HP on a Chevy for 1500 bucks.
I have to comment on the Ferrari's bracing in the doors for the US market. There is *maybe* 5-7lbs of extra bracing in both doors combined. The bracing consists of one bar. The Ferrari door is obviously heavier than the Porsche because it is indeed so much longer.
"I can also feel, see and hear the VW pedigree" When I drive and old VW beetle or bus, I can feel the Porsche pedigree and drive them accordingly. The reason I can tell they are race engines is because they need head work done after 25K miles (the way I drive them)
