Originally Posted by teflon_jones

Well as a guy that's driven both a 996TT back to back with a 997S, and having a buddy that was on the opposite end of that, the 996TT is way more of a car than the 997S. His car has a nicer interior, but there's no comparison in power.

I've also done some driving of the 335 and it's a very fast car. It's leagues below a 911 though in every aspect other than the interior. I actually bought another STI instead of the 335 or an M3 sedan because while the Beamer is a great car, for the money, my STI Limited still has leather, heated seats, sunroof, an amazing gearbox, awesome suspension, and a motor that I can easily tune for another 70hp/tq for cheap money (and maintain reliability). Of course I live at 8000' on a switchback mountain road so I need the AWD of the Subaru, which is way better than the BMW AWD system. If I lived at lower altitudes, I'd probably have an M5.

Here's the key thing:
Try and find somewhere to drive the 996TT and the 997S back to back. That'll show you right away the differences.

Originally Posted by seattle_sun

I had a 996 tt and a 997 C2S. I would opt for the turbo. The engine is dry sump and bullet proof. As said above, the turbo is so much faster- esp with exhaust and flash.

Comparing reliability, the two cars are probably equal. The interior of the turbo is a little nicer, since it's all leather, but the 997 inside styling and stereo are better.

Just have to figure out what's important to you.

Good luck!