When I say trounced I mean in street races, magazines, etc. I do think the Porsche has a world class chassis. It handles, & brakes with it's competitors. The big flaw is the engine. When I first was interested in the Porsche (993) it had 282 hp (vs. the Corvette's 300 hp), then the 996's hit (eventually 320 hp vs. the Vette's 350 hp), not it is the 997's (325 hp vs. the Vette's 400 hp).
Notice the widening disparity ? The 911's used to be very competitive with the Vette's. Even now the 997 S will match fenders with the Vette but Porsche's model lineup of charging us an additional $10K for it is ludicrous. Like caf said it's being competitive with cars being introduced, not being on your own little schedule. The Vette went up 50 hp from the previous iteration, the Mustang Cobra went up 70 hp, the MBZ E55 a whopping 114 hp, the new M5 104 hp, etc. It's taking a look around and noticing that your competitors are increasing at an exponential rate, while you are dropping 15-20 hp every 3 years.

The notion that if you can afford a Porsche, or if you just like them you will get one is right & wrong. When i got my 911, at the time if I just wanted more hp I would have just gotten the C5 Vette, but like you said I did like the status, & looks of the 911, and subsequently got it. I felt the interior of the Vette was not good, and the exterior look only decent. I also think this is wrong in the fact that while I still very much like the 911, I do realize the current "standard" 997/911 is not anywhere close to being competitive from a price/performance value. Does that mean I am going to go out and get a Evo, no but I might want to see the new M3, or the SLK 55, New Aston Martin AMV8, etc.

Also the notion that Porsche can not use materials such as aluminum because they are a small manufacturer, and it would cost too much money for R&D is debatable at best. The new Ferrari 575M replacement (code named Monza) will be aluminum body based. The Jags (who like some people have pointed out is owned by Ford) has their cars aluminum based. Hell, even my current car (about $30K) has some aluminum body panels. If they were able to drop weight (instead if constantly adding weight) for the Porsche cars I think it would be going back closer to what Porsche used to be about, the not as much hp, but lighter cars of days past.

 

It may be right and wrong for you for reasons that mean a lot to you.

However for me, it is right. Plain and simple.