My 997 may be the end of the move up line for me. May even step back a little after this one. Prior to this car and after my 993 and 930 Slantnose garage queens, I drove an MX-5 daily, for everything, for three years. At that point in time I wanted something that felt great to drive at real world neighborhood and highway speeds. It was great -- sort of that slow car fast is better than a fast car slow scenario. Ultimately I wanted to get back to a Porsche for a number of reasons and bought my 997. It has the look, the power, the quality of materials the MX-5 did not, but I have to say real world speeds still are not its forte. It's better to drive in these conditions than the 993 or 930 but you could wind out the MX-5 and still be legal, it was great fun. It was also inexpensive enough that I never worried about it at all. It's size made avoiding door dings easy and, basically, it was disposable. Not so the 997. It's new (to me) so I worry when I park it. I can't wind it out in normal driving. It's gorgeous, I love it, but...

I may move to a Cayman S or maybe even a Cayman next...something more nimble, less powerful again that I can drive with spirit on my normal commutes and still stay under the radar...more or less.

 

thanks for the thoughtful posts. insight gained and experiences shared in this thread defintely get me thinking more about my next car. kudos to all repsonders.

 

I had a Cayenne S for 3.5 years, got impulsive and bought a Boxster RS60 Spyder, and kept it for about 4 months - just too small for me. So I went for what I wanted to begin with - a 997.1 C2 - and I've put a few minor mods on and will probably stop after a sport exhaust system of some kind (hoping for Cargraphic). Other than that maybe some 19"s and that's it. It's my only car, but w/ only 18k miles so far, she has tons of mileage left in her.