First thing to come to mind after the drive, God I love my car!

The stats: 2007 997 with a GT-3 aero kit.
Full leather int, sport seats, sport shift, chrono pck, 19" sport wheels, PSE, PSM

Likes:
The seats were incredible! The fit was so perfect for street sometimes track. The headrest was sooooo high. They were manual adjust but adjusted well.

Shifter: WOW! this was the Porsche sport shifter. Needless to say my SSK is going in ASAP!

extra power: Nice but not mind blowing

PSE: ahh....having GHL on my car I was like....HUH? They sounded tinny. Maybe if the wire hack was done to keep them open 100% Since when I got on it and she opened up I liked them. But not nearly as deep as mine.

Looks: Aero kit looks killer!

Not so likes: There was nothing the I disliked about the car other then the suspension feels floaty compared to mine (I swear something must be aftermarket on mine)

Overall feeling: Well here it goes. While I liked her, I LOVE mine. There was nothing there that WOW'd me to the point of OMG I need to modernize. I have learned that this will not be the progression in my Porsche ownership.
I foresee that either I would

1. Supercharge mine
2. Find a 996 GT-3
3. Look into GT-2's

Reason being I love the RWD cars but could use some more ponies.

In the meantime it is great to have had the chance for the drive and to remind myself........

How much I LOVE MY CAR!

 

Great post, thanks!

 

I still don't see why your 996 is better than a 997 in anyway,
and why it made you love your car that much more.
If anything I thought it'd make you trade in your car.

 

The problem is, that when we, (996 owners) are ready to upgrade to 997's, we already spent time and money into making our cars special: carbon parts, aero packages, wheels, tires, painted console and other bits... the next upgrade (money wise) is a base 997 from 2005 or 2006 (to make a progression and not a jump... if you can swing a 2009, then, you don't need to keep reading!!! LOL!). The basic 2005 997 is just that. A 4 year old car with an improved look and feel but pretty much the same without those personal touches of bits of color and carbon or else. So the emotional shock is hard (thinking that you have to let go your prized car that you have already all sort it out, to start all over again from scratch). Now, if I can find a car, tastefully upgraded, with the wheels/tires, exhaust, painted bits, carbon fiber for my car plus $10K more, I would do it!
joel

 

Price delta is the reason.
My 996 was $25k
Asking on this 997 $62K

For 37k delta.......I would take my car.
I really prefer function over lux items. So let's see what things I could do to mine to equal or better the 997 likes.

Seats: I could drop 2-3k for seats to equal these or better them.
Shifter: I can buy a 997 sport shifter for $300
Engine: <10k and supercharge mine making a lot more hp over the stock 997
Aero kit: I am in process of getting mine painted so MK1 total was 1500
My 996 handled just as well maybe even slightly better then this stock one but I will probably go for PSS9s anyway so 2k

So for 17k if I went all out I still would be saving 20k.

Like I said......not worth it to me. Now moving to a TT, that's a whole different story.

 

exactly Joel....you got it!

I should have taken a 09' out.....maybe the WOW factor would have kicked in.

 

A++ Would Read Again

 

I agree completely with your assessment....
And it is a good thing you did not test drive a 997 TT........you would have been blown away

 

The 997 does handle better than your car stock for stock, but that doesn't mean that the other car had the suspension "setup" or it wasn't as agressive as your settings. The car will handle better than a 996 with the same mods.

at the end of the day with your mods.. your 996 is still worth $25-28k.. the 997 is still worth $65+ so the 17k you put into the car is for your enjoyment only...no resale value

 

Yoops: yeah, there is a reason my butt hasn't sat in a TT. The mind would shutoff and hands would be signing documents that I really shouldn't be signing right now.

Bruce: No doubt that the potential is there to have a much better car mod for mod. But not quite enough of a gap (for me anyways). Also 100% agree with you on mod vs. resale.......I take mods on my car like an in ground pool. Do it to enjoy it...not to get any $$$ back at sale. I just mentioned the mods as eating into the delta of the cost.

Now if I was in market for first pcar, and it was an early 997 in the 40 range. Then I would op for that over a 996 in a heartbeat.

 

How much would you spend in mods to set this stock 997 up to your liking? Maybe it would just be suspension and SSK?

 

I would probably just do coil overs and sways. The car has the sport shifter put in (Porsche OEM version of B&M). It didn't have active suspension so normal PSS10s I guess. $2500?

 

I'll try to go with your logic. Now, why did you get a 996 instead of a 993?

The 993 was lighter, faster (with the M 64/21(23) engine), more "traditional" in driving feel, and in today's market worth more if in good condition.

+ it looks more like a 997.

 

Uhhh......cause I was an idiot.....

Knowing more now then I did then, I could easily see myself in a 993.

The Porsche came into being for me like this.
I wanted a "fun" car again that would share commuting with a 91' Jeep Wrangler and a 95' Ducati Monster 900. or a car that would take 90% of the commuting and dump the Jeep.
A buddy at work had 2 brothers selling some rides 1 with a 2003 BMW 5 series the other with a 99 Boxter.
I am a major DIY guy so I was intrigued by the BMW for going with a larger sport sedan but hated the repair capabilities. I have always liked Porches but thought the DIY was not going to be possible. Then I found Renntech and the vast amount of DIY info. I then ruled out the 986 since the 2 seat limit (still have 2 kids) I then realized that a 911 was in my budget. Test drove a 996 and loved it. So started to shop 996. In hindsight the 993 would have allowed me even more DIY possibilities with even full engine rebuild capable (I have shop available)

But overall I am still thrilled with my purchase and look forward to every moment behind the wheel.

 

good read...makes me feel LESS crappy that our poor little 996s are in the low 20s right now. Ugh....