Sell 997 Turbo S for California 30, is it a good idea?

You should make sure to get the HS package that is talked about at length in many threads. Will take away the softness you are worried about. Tough to compare Porsche to Ferrari, but in my opinion the Ferrari has far more of a soul. There is just something special about driving one that I've never felt in a Porsche (noting that I've never driven a GT or 918)

 

Hi Owen... Welcome to F-chat. I was in a similar boat, although a notch down and a generation earlier. I own both a 997.2S and 1st gen Cali. As mentioned above, the HS package seems the way to go from the owner's comments I've read on F-chat. Hands down, Ferrari wins for sound and sense of occasion. IMO, Porsche 911 is more of a sports car - steering is better (however, this is the difference between great and sublime) in the Porsche, it's more of a sports car and the Cali is more of a GT. At least given the way I typically use them. Porsche grips the road better in twisty turns than Cali. The Cali accelerates unbelievably, even my first gen. At 100+ mph it's just getting comfortable, and its obvious there's much more pull to go. The Cali will certainly get more attention than the Porsche if you're in a town with few high end cars, as I am. If this matters at all, the 911 back seats are much more useful than the Cali back seats. My 30 lb terrier fits and just barely. It's great for luggage and groceries though!

If it were me, I'd ditch one of the SUVs and use the Porsche more for DD duties, airport runs, etc.! Keep the Cali for fun. [emoji3] Then keep an SUV or pickup truck for when reality or bad weather intervenes.

T

 

I have owned both a cali 30 HS and a 911TTS,.. Try the cali you will like it I sold mine when I bought a 12cyl Ferrari then I purchased a 911TTS ..I really miss the cali30HS ....
will probably eventually buy another cali or its replacement.. great car..

 

I owned a 14 991tts for almost three years and traded it for my 17 Cali T HS. Don't miss the Porsche at all. The Cali T is plenty fast but obviously not as fast as the Porsche. The Cali T sounds better, drives better and it's not difficult to get in and out of. All around, it's the better car IMO. In this case both are turbo. In the Cali 30 case you get a NA engine and the car isn't as fast as the Cali T and won't push you back the same way because it's not a turbo. You will notice that for sure. However, it's got the NA sound so that is a plus.

 

Great point on egress and ingress. Definitely easier in the Cali. That being said, once in, the 911 seats are IMO a scoche comfier for longer road trips.
T

 

You have to see the window sticker or spec sheet. Only other way to tell on the 13/14s is you could also elect to get the front grill in silver

In terms or ride height I had mine dropped almost an inch to make it sit better and I haven't had any trouble with bottoming out but I try to be careful

The normal ride height provides pretty decent clearance

In terms of sound you can also have the vacuum line disconnected for cheap so it maintains the sound at lower RPM

 

Leaving the car in "comfort" mode when you're leaving the neighborhood helps a little bit. The Cali 30 is a great car, you want to make sure you get Magneride, the HS components can also be added later.

I have not found the clearance to be any different from any of the numerous 911s I've daily driven -- my car has not been lowered, though. You just want to be careful.

The sound of the car with the top down is wonderful compared to the Porsche, no doubt. I look for any excuse to drive mine, and yes, it's great to look at in the garage, too.

I sent you a PM : )

 

I still have to be careful about driveways but it's higher than curb stops so they aren't a problem whereas they were with the Porsche. Overall, it's a little easier in terms of speed bumps and bumpy roads. What I like about the HS package on the T is that the magneride button allows a smoother ride on bad roads, i.e. many of the ones in Austin. Here is my comparison photo. The clearance on the Porsche was about 4" while on the Cali T it is 5" as close as I can tell. Another benefit of the Ferrari is that you can open the hood and look at the engine and the V8 sounds better than the boxer IMO.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The Cali does not have a separate "bumpy road" button like the 458 has. To stiffen the suspension, you need to turn the manettino to "sport." Not sure how to be certain the car has Magneride except to have the dealer run the VIN through MODIS and get a readout of the options. It is a worthwhile option to get, however. The Cali T has that button.

FWIW, I found that the original Cali (mine was an '11) lacked excitement. It wasn't slow, but it seemed like it was mostly noise, and there was no sense of a rush to the redline. It handled fairly well despite more body roll than you'd expect in a sports car (so it's really more of a GT). The Cali 30, esp. with the HS package is much better.

But the depreciation curve was getting pretty steep, so I bailed on it and got a 991 turbo for my daily ride. It's much more a driver's car than my '11 Cali was. I sort of daily drove my Cali, and found the 991 better at that, too. If I were to get a Cali today, I'd either get the T, or a 30 with HS.

 

Looks like no on the magneride, if I am reading your screen capture correctly.
Congrats on the new Cali.
T

 

Magneride is included with the HS package.

 

The lighter quicker steering is part of the HS package which also includes the magnaride
I felt that the engine had a better sound on my 2013 cali HS ..it sounds like you found what i would consider a nicely equiped car...

 

+1

 

congrats! great spec... setting off car alarms should give you a sense of pride, unless you like your neighbors

 

Interestingly, I drove a 2015 911 Turbo S cabriolet on Friday. Low miles, loaded, perfect car. Right off the bat I noticed that the steering felt much heavier than my Cali 30. The car is seriously fast ... with no drama whatsoever. It sounds like ... a watercooled 911 with a turbo. Very different from the normally aspirated Ferrari, of course. Wastegate sighing, turbos whistling. The exhaust makes these deep popcorn popping noises when you are down shifting or even taking your foot off the accelerator -- I found this to be annoying. On a regular 991.1 you could turn off the sport exhaust and get rid of that. Can't do it on the Turbo. Interior felt spartan but the ergonomics are very good -- but I am accustomed to 911s, having drove them daily for years. Car felt solid, super competent and very quick. Was really considering it ... I could put snows on and use it all winter, could valet park it with no worries, drive it anywhere without thinking twice like I do with the Ferrari. Then I got back in my Cali 30 and 300 yards from the dealership I just said out loud, "Oh, hell no ..." the car felt razor sharp, all that good naturally aspirated power was under my right foot, the engine was roaring, exhaust was burbling and triple blipping on the downshifts with the rifle crack on the upshifts ... forget about it.

But if anyone wants a 991.1 Turbo S cab (black over red), you can get a good deal on a nice one if you contact Jamie at Ferrari of New England.

 

LOL!

 

A quick way for me to identify if a car has the HS package is the dedication plaque on the rear part of the armrest.

Picture here: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I am facing the same issue, I used to own a 911 turbo and I replaced it w a 488... the turbo was a good DD but the ride was very hard and no passion when u compare it w an F car... but for one reason or another I do miss my 911... so now I am thinking of either buying a turbo s or a Portifino.... I am afraid that I will regret buying a turbo s because of the uncomfortable ride abd because of the lack of passion !!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk