Finally chose a porsche

Nah.

 

Taking into account your drive-off depreciation alone, you might have been better off getting a 360 for fun driving and a Mini Cooper S for the everyday routine stuff.

Anyway, congrats and have fun with it!

 

nope

 

I had a GT2 for a while as an antidote to Ferrari- after having had two 550's (among a number of other earlier ferraris), there was nothing for me on the production side (forget the Enzo). The Porsche was terrific in many respects- small, tossable, reliable, easy to park and not worry about, and low on the radar screen for most people. I drove it to the city (NYC) many times without any worries; the GT2 was also exceptionally fast- i didn't have the need for an occasional backseat, which was good, since there wasn't one, and what little room there was got consumed by the rollbar and rigid racing seats. All in all, a terrific ownership experience- the only real let-down was the interior, which was, in my estimation, cheap looking and feeling. I also prefer a NA engine to the turbo, but the car was quiiick!
I got rid of it recently for a 6.0 Lambo that is, in many ways, the exact opposite- big, nontossable, no lag, a worry wherever you put it, never drive it to the city, linear power from the get go, marvelous interior, and Bling-in off the chart on most people's radar.
enjoy the porsche. I'm thinking the next P car i buy will be a late 930 T-bo.

 

Porsche's are fun cars but never excited me enough to go for one. Rennlist is a good P-Car site if you haven't checked it out. Have fun and enjoy the drive.

 

Why choose? Does it have to be either/or? No need to feel conflict.

 

Whart summed it up well. I am fortunate to own both. My 996 turbo is ultra fast (it is a non X50 with ECU upgrade, exhaust, and other modifications with H.P. well above 550). It scares the hell out of me. It's quite reliable and driven regularly during the fall, winter and spring. It will blow the doors off of my F cars, particularly in a straight line; but it doesn't give me the thrill, the feedback, that the F cars provide.

What disappoints me about my Porsche is the interior. For the money, you would think they could provide better. It has a cheap feel to it. Maybe it's just my imagination, but even the smell inside is different -- not as appealing -- as the F cars.

 

no conflict here...i have both. both tremendous cars but the p-is a no worry, kick everyone's but racer that happens to civilized enough to drive daily!!

 

Hmm why suffer over it, just drive both

 

No conflict. Ferrari ownership is not for everyone and that in itself is okay.

I had both, found that I liked Ferraris better and sold the 911. No big deal either way. Buy what makes you happy, that's what matters.

 

Well to bad but if thats what you like I guess its ok. I hope you can find it in the parking lot with all of the other ones on the road. I think they are more like german chev's because there's so many of them. Good luck on the other chat site.

 

Day to day driving, Parts and Maintenance the porsche will be a better car. But every doctor, lawyer and indian chief has one, so is it really special?

Plus they make a SUV, why not just buy american and get a vette?

 

Speaking of other sites, i liked 6speedonline. Stephen from Imagine Auto was also a very knowledgeable tuner of TT's and was always willing to take my calls. He posts there frequently. I don't know where in NY you are, but there is also a guy near me, in NYack, named Rick Demann, who runs a Porsche racing shop. He works with a guy, Nick Longhi, who is a professional driver, and a good teacher. They do track days which are much less crowded than the Porsche Club days, although it will cost you more. They are worth getting in touch with, though, if you are thinking about putting your car on the track, since they can help you with everything from DE to trucking to track support.

 

The interiors are not good on Porsches? I would think Porsche would be making great improvements to compete with MB, BMW, ect. as they grow. Now they have a SUV, I would think good interiors and gadgets would be a key draw for the female crowd.


As for "everyone" having Porsche, eh. Porsches aren't cheap. A 911 model still is the premier "I've made it" sports car. Cars aren't the best way to gadge a net worth, because of the financing and leasing access.

 

Its a matter of simple perspective. Porsche makes less than 100k vehicles a year. Ford makes more than 4 million. Porsches make up far less than 1% of total car production per year. Porsches are very special.

 

Thanks for the stats. Kinda like Ferrari, when everyone complains about the rising yet super expensive, and extremely limited production volume. Porsche is increasing volume, but they are adding lines by doing so. The Cayenne is accounting for half of it. And remeber, the cheapest models (the Boxster and Cayenne) will cost you around $50,000 (including taxes, ect). Not cheap. The Cayman is price higher then the Boxster.

 

Have fun with it.

 

The interiors on the original '97 Boxsters and '99 996 were considered by many a big disappointment, probably the most disliked feature of those cars. Check one out sometime - uninspired design, cheap materials, lots of shiny ovals, many called it a Taurus interior.

The materials improved over the years, but the Gen 1 Boxster/996 interior design never won many fans. Personally I thought it was just wretched. The new Porsches (new Boxster, 997) have (IMHO) great interiors, they finally got it right.

 

Just have fun with the P-car !

 

Interesting, I've been in 2 Boxsters, one a 1998, the other a 2002. I thought both were very nice. I liked the 911 interior as well. Maybe you get jaded if you look at is a Lexus or something like that. I always liked the gauge cluster - Ferrari doesn't have anything like that. I almost considered a 911 too but ended up getting a F355 - at least partly because of the rear weight bias (on the 911) and also that (at least) around here, it is the everyday man's exotic.

Scott

 

My favourite F v P story comes from a guy here who races both, he says:
"Driving the P is like commanding a troop of crack SS guards - you know they're always going to do exactly what you ask, no more, no less.
Driving the F is liking stroking the naked bum of a beautiful woman - you're never sure whether your going to get a slap across the face or something wonderful, but the times when it's wonderful make all the rest of it worthwhile!"

I think that says it all!

 

Porsches always had a stark interior. From the earliest ones up until the 996 (which was considered a great improvement on the interior, despite the posts above.) From us in the automobile industry, we always smirked at how Porsche was able to spend so little on their interior and the public chocked it up to "it's a Porsche". The truth is that is really non-sense. Porsche was able to sell and satisfy their customer base without lowering their profits by spending money on their interiors. If you are disappointed in your Porsche/Ferrari because of interior, you are expecting too much. If you are disappointed, you probably spent too much time driving Japanese sports cars. Porsche was able to provide such low-tech interior, because they could get away with it. Albeit far from the ergonomic Lexus, the gauges were well placed and thought out.

 

I disagree with those of you who find the GT2 interior acceptable for a 200k dollar sportscar. The switchgear is cheap, the unrelieved vinyl/leatherette/leather makes the car's interior look like a much cheaper car, little things, like the plastic turn signal and headlight stalks feel flimsy; the plastic cd storage tray is a joke.
This isn't about being accustomed to Lexus-like quality, but having raised the issue why can a manufacturer of a 50 or 60k dollar car do better? My BMW M3 uses far better materials in the cockpit, and it is evident, visually and tactilely.
Stark is OK in my book- strip it down, just the necessary gauges and controls in high quality materials would be fine. But that's not what Porsche did in the their top of the line 996. I know they have improved the interiors of the 997 series.
By contrast, most modern Ferraris are of much higher quality interiorwise- the leather in both of my 550's was top rate, and the dash material on the later one was of high quality carbon fibre.
MY point, overall, was that the Porsche was a great car, but the interior was a letdown. I don't see how you can argue otherwise.

 

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, what would you rather have in your garage, another Porsche or a Ferrari?