No it's not a joke. I noticed that the addition of a glass window in the MY02 996 Cab required the tops of the back seats to be pushed forward. I got the 996 as a "4 seater Corvette" so I could take the kids while preserving driver grin . Would the coupe, TT, 4S, etc. have bigger back seats for the kiddos as they get bigger? I of course just want the most practical family car out there!

 

you might want to consider an m3 then

 

I believe all of the 996 Cabs (i.e. inclding those with plastic rear windows) have the tops of the seat backs leaning forward.

None of the coupes have this design.

 

Hey Dock - You are correct!

I have noticed this as well. All coupes seem to have the rear seats leaning slightly backwards which looks normal.

The cabs on the other hand, have the seats close to vertical/slightly leaning forward which makes them look odd and possibly uncomfortable.....Note: I have not spent long stints in the rear of a cab.

This charateristic may have something to do with the roll-over protection bars which are mounted behind the seats.
As they are not required for a coupe, this would leave more room behind the seats in the coupe allowing the seats to lean back wrt to a cab.


Costas

 

You are all correct but I would not consider a M3, a top car. But to a complete novice - looks no differant to the next 3 series.

But, going back to the cab issue. The seats are leaning forward slightly, and the child seat for my 18 mth son seems to tilt forward slightly. Which is not good as if (when he falls asleep) his head leans forward. I have only done one journey with him in the car for over an hour and I did not feel right and good about it. The solution is to remove the rear seat, which part seems easy, with a velco base and lower back section. The tilting section is more difficult and you may have seen my thread on this - asking for help, I beleive this will solve the problem.

As for the car and overall family thing, it works well as I only do small mileage in the 911 and short distances with him in - very rare. The other car is used for everyday.

When he's older the seats will be fine - as for owning the car, I wouldn't change a thing.

For your information I decided after a lot of research to purchase the Recarco Child seat as it has a lot more support than the Porsche model, and seems better made.

Good luck.

colin

 

"but I would not consider a M3, a top car"

i didn't see any reference to "a top car" in his requirements and am not wholly sure how much more of a "top car" the 911 is vs. the m3 anyway. what i did see is:

"I got the 996 as a '4 seater Corvette' so I could take the kids while preserving driver grin...I of course just want the most practical family car out there!"

personally i wouldn't consider a vette "a top car" myself and it's actually listed specifically as what he'd want if a 4 door.

"But to a complete novice - looks no differant to the next 3 series."

i didn't see him stating (even accidentally) he was insecurely seeking status as part of his requirements. again, he listed the vette if only it had 4 seats. rather, i think he wants the car to "take the kids while preserving driver grin" vs. "impress everyone by making sure they know i have a 'special' - ie: not an ordinary 3 series - top car". if he really is an insecure poseur looking to impress and entertain strangers (instead of the enjoyment of his kids and himself) so he can feel important and "better than", i stand corrected.

ps. a friend of mine opins that his 996 (cab) is great for very young kids and older kids but kinda cruddy for in betweens.

pss. to a complete novice, the 911 looks no different to the next boxster (front half of the two cars is nearly identical).

psss. just remembered my wife and i can't believe just how everyone looks (and comments positively) on her M3 while seemingly no one looks or comments on my 996 cab. to us, it's just another plentiful 3 series with a slightly more aggressive look, but for some reason it attracts much more attention.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I didn't realize the plastic window Cabs also had tilt forward back seats. Must be because of the anti-roll hoops then and not the inflexible new glass window.

Interestingly, I did actually narrow the choice down to the M3 and the 996. They are not in the same class as far as sports cars, but also as far as price. Had the M3 had a V8 or had the BMW man had one available for a test drive, I'd likely have gotten it (it makes 333hp with a six). The upcoming M6 convertible will be a fourseater with a V8 and possibly the V10 BMW is putting in the coupe version. Very tempting. You are right to say that an M3 might be confused with a lesser 3-series. Fortunately, I drive for me and my kids and don't give a rats *** what other drivers think of my ride. The 996 just attracts a lot more T+A I can't touch lest my wife should throttle me. The 996 is fun as hell though and I bought it mostly to see what all the 911 fuss was about, same reason I had a Vette.

For the Vette bashers, I know it's a Chevy but the Chevy garage is 5 miles away and there's a lot of them around, Porsche's nearest garage is 100 mi. away, and that damned check engine light goes off every time it rains...... Take off the nameplates and take a hard look at what the Z06 offers for a lot less than a 996 costs. True value IMHO, but sadly no back seats....

My ideal car? If Ferrari made their 456 2+2 with it's sweet sweet 12 cyl in a rear mounted configuration with a hard-top convertible I'd be in. And while I'm delusional and dreaming, could you shave off $100K Ferrari? Basically anything that has 8+ cylinders (or the power thereof), seats four (not midgets), and goes top down is what I like. The go-kart reflexes of the 996 can't be beat also. I wrote this post to see if the 996 coupe had any more legroom or just seat backs that tilted the way their supposed to since I've not sat in the back of all the various models. Thanks again for the input....

 

Ben

Are you saying the M3 is not a top car ?
and sorry but you may have jumped to conclusions, regarding your comment of "securely seeking status", or I didn't explain well enough. Basically in the UK every other car is a 3 series, (really) myself included - interesting I have M3 wheels on mine too (riced).


As for the "to a complete novice, the 911 looks no different to the next boxster (front half of the two cars is nearly identical)." you're dead right -

But, I love driving it, like drsmeal says " The 996 is fun as hell ".

Drsmeal, I will take some pics to show you how it looks before and after. How old are your children ?

Can't comment on the Vette - coming from Europe, mainy Euro cars here.

Good luck with your choice

 

"You are all correct but I would not consider a M3, a top car."

colm, you'll have to forgive me - i'm iliterate. i didn't read that sentence with the comma the first time. iow, i thought you were saying the m3 wasn't a top car :-)

and yes, 3 series are very very common in the US too.

btw, what the heck is it about the m3 that makes me drive it so much more aggressively than the 911? maybe it's just because it's a coupe and 911 being a cab leaves me much more exposed to embarassment should someone see the arsehole driving the thing like that than in the m3 coupe :-)

 

No problem Ben.

Colin

 

Wakejudge, my girl is 2 years old but she's big; about as tall as the four year olds in the neighborhood. I jumped the gun saying "kids" as the other kiddo arrives Dec. 1st. The law here is that kids have to be in car seats or boosters until age 8, I believe. At her rate of growth, I don't know how I'd even keep her in one, since she fills it now...at two! How many of you guys remember riding on the back window shelf as kids?