Quote:
Originally Posted by roybotnik
I had a Porsche 997 turbo before I got my BRZ and NSX. 36k miles, 6 speed, cabriolet. It was OK but it had a horrible clutch and the shifter is just as horrible. I spent ~$10k in maintenance and repairs in a year and eventually got rid of the car because I couldn't make it 'right'. I had a $2000 tune, a $6000 exhaust system (yep), and all sorts of money spent on little bushings you can only get from one or two aftermarket shops. All the exhaust systems sound like shit and the interior creaks a lot and the electronics are fucking dumb.
I'd never even consider 997 Carrera S. The engine placement in the 991 is so much better that the 997 is basically a dinosaur. There's many better cars for the price. A new Mustang GT is probably better than a 997. I actually had a 2011 GT while I had my 911 turbo and only got rid of it because the new mustang with IRS was coming.
Looked great but drove like shit at anything other than highway speeds. NSX gets way more attention...
Oh yeah, and the PASM sucked. On sport mode it was so hard you couldn't drive it on public roads. On normal it was so soft the car squatted and bucked in stop and go traffic. TPC Racing makes a replacement computer to fix this, and it's been fixed in newer 911s, but I'd stay away from anything older than 997.2 for that reason alone.
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I do appreciate the feedback. I actually quite liked the clutch as it actually had a little weight unlike the BRZ. The shifter is your typical cable actuated shifter; never gonna be as good as one connected directly to the transmission but it was good enough. I've owned a half dozen MR2's so I'm used to it. The shifter is certainly less notchy than the BRZ's. I didn't get a chance to play around with the head unit but anything is bound to be better than the idiotic unit in the BRZ; at worst, I can swap it out for a Pioneer Appradio which I planned to do on the BRZ anyway.
I'm sure the 991 is considerably better than the 997 however I'm not playing with 991 money, so it's really not a fair comparison. It's not an entirely fair comparison between the 911 Turbo cab to the 911 C2S, if I'm being objective, however you would think more expensive faster car is going to be better than the more basic one. All I can say is that I drove the BRZ 2hrs to get to test drive the 997S, and in the 10-15min I spent in that I was happier with the drive. The seating position was better thanks to rake adjustment, the visibility marginally better (the only car with worse visibility than the BRZ I've driven is an Elise IIRC), the ride softer (although it did roll around a bit), and the power certainly more enjoyable. Could I make the BRZ more comfortable with a better seat, quieter with more sound deadening, better sounding with a better stereo, more powerful with a turbo or supercharger, and ride more compliant with a good set of coilovers? Yes, but that's sounding like I'll be into it enough where I could be talking about buying an Aston Martin instead...
Just curious, what the heck cost you $10k in maintenance? Did you pay a dealership or an indy shop, or do it yourself? My Audi RS6 hasn't cost me more than $2500 over the past year-and-a-half, and that's including front brakes (which I will say I got for a steal compared to the normal $1000+), 75k and 85k service, new Koni shocks and front control arms (all 8 of 'em with hardware and sway bar endlinks). I did everything myself as it would've been 2-3x that amount to pay someone else.
I actually like that everything is prohibitively expensive for mods on the 911's. It means I won't modify it; apart from the Koni shocks I've managed not to travel down the slippery slope of RS6 modification, as that's arguably worse!
Other cars I've considered in the $40-45k range: 00-02 911 Turbo, 07-09 Boxster S, 10-12 Audi S4, 12-13 Audi TT RS, 09-11 BMW M3. I wonder if you can lease an Alfa Romeo 4C...