I bought a 2002 996 GT2 last summer, triple black, 30,000 miles, excellent condition, $75,000. I added a few standard mods, GIAC tune, carbonetic LSD, diverter valves, it had a GMG exhaust already. Took it to Willow Springs for a track day and had a great time until I hit gravel on the track in turn 6 when someone had gone off on the previous lap, causing me to spin off the track into the infield. This car has enthralled me.
My wife decided she wanted a Porsche, so last week we bought a 2003 996 Cabriolet, Tiptronic, 15,000 miles, triple black, $35,000. At first I gritted my teeth at buying a Porsche with an auto, but have since changed my mind and like the Tip. I still get a little annoyed that it starts out in 2nd gear and make a lurching shift into 1st with heavy throttle when I want to accelerate hard from a stop. The easy solution is to put it in manual mode and use the rocker switches to shift into first at a stop. We have been having a great time driving the Cab, it helps that it was in the mid-80’s last week in SoCal. My favorite is to drive with the top open in the evening with the heater and the seat heaters on and the windows up to create a cozy warm bubble with the open night sky above. Handling is quick and very neutral, one would have to be hamfisted with a clubfoot to spin this car. Acceleration is surprisingly strong and entertaining. Everyone in the family just loves to drive this car.
Then I get back in the GT2…
The black *****, as I lovingly call her, is an intensely challenging experience. Before your turn the key, you had better bring your “A Game”, or else she will try to kill you. Every curve is a complex calculus equation, intersecting lateral and forward acceleration along with an increasingly boost and power curve to see how close you can get to the edge before flying sideways or backwards into the trees. Even accelerating in a straight line it squirms as it fights for traction at it hits 1.2 bars of boost. I could drive it relaxed, but then it seems to mock me, “drive a Prius if you want to drive like the eco-nerds driving at 5 mph under the speed limit in the fast lane.” Demanding, intense, and addictive. My wife is intimidated and will not drive the GT2.
It is hard to believe that the two cars share the same DNA with two completely different driving experiences. Glad to have both in the garage.

 

Pics needed or I don't believe it. Need sign on the car with your username.

 

Great, now I want a GT2 even more now. Maybe the house can wait.

 

Too funny, your description of the GT2 seems to match it's nickname = The Widow Maker!

 

Precisely why I got the GT3 Well, not the only reason.

-td

 

Love you falling in love with your car, then getting one for the wife. I had a slightly diff car setup, but wife was jealous and wanted one so I got her the truck...

Slower of course but we love having 2 in the garage!

Enjoy it! Drive safe in that black *****!

 

Thanks. I like cayennes, test drove a new 2011 turbo a few months ago. The salesman told me to punch it hard on a freeway onramp. It was quite a rush and the salesman asked if I had ever felt acceleration like that. My son in the back seat quietly told him I have a GT2 and the sale man just said, oh...
Cayennes are very impressive but the depreciation is brutal.