Have never really warmed up to the 911's but I know they are wonderfully engineered cars. I guess that's what pizzes me off. Why cant such a wonderfull piece of engineering look more exotic? Lets take the very unaffordable Carerra GT. Its a Rembrandt and when I first saw it, my first thought was "Great, Porshce is changing their body styles" But then I saw the price and I said "You mean I have to fork up $400K to get a nice looking porsche?" But I figured Porsche will eventually get around to doing something nice with the 911. A few years later and the the 997 model isnt that much different than the 996 or the model before that. And the 2012 Model isnt that much different

OK, I am not hear to criticize the looks. In fact, I am trying hard to warm up to it. Why? Because soon I will have to sell my Manual Transmission Lingenfelter Twin Turbo Corvette due to the fact that a medical condition is making clutch work increasingly difficult and I will have to give up the manual gerabox. Its going to kill me. But I know thrills dont have to end after my Manual Gear days are over with. It so happens that I have a 2011 AUDI S4 DSG and its a wonderfullly fun and very balanced car. Its actually more balanced than my vette, although the TQ/HP isnt in the same league. Still, the S4 has taught me that performance and fun comes in other forms, especially when its an AWD, and since the 911 Turbo is also very quick and comes AWD, I figured I might end up with more smiles than my Twin Turbo corvette.

So here I am, possible about to make a major change in the next 6 months (I would say) and I am hoping I can get good info from this forum. Next order of business is to find and test drive a 2008 Tiptronic Cab or 2010 PDK Cab, although, a 2010 is a bit pricey. I am pretty fussy about color combos so RED Cab with with sand beige would be my choice. Maybe yellow as a 2cnd choice as the Yellow 911's look nice too. I dont know if I will end up with a 911. Even a pre-owned 2008 is a pretty pricey car and I must admit, although I could swing it, in the end it might bother me too much to lay out $$$ where $30K will get flushed in 3-3 years. The more you pay for a car, the more that will get flushed. Its a very psychological principal with me. Time will tell. But I am hoping the forum provides some good info that will assist me in making smart decisions.

BTW, The R8 spyder and its r-tronic transmission was tops on my list ( i love that car's looks) but they still are quite pricey and I have heard weird things about the R Tronic. One of the issues is its not a dual clutch trans like my S4 DSG. AUDI claims that the R8 (V10 version) has too much tq and they could so far only accomodate it with a single clutch tranny so it get quirky in trafffic. Ofcourse I have never driven an R8 R-TRONIC SO I cant speak from experience. But in any event, they are very pricey

 

Good luck finding a replacement. Honestly doesnt sound like a 997 is going to be the car for you.

 

IMO if you have to "warm" up to any car you should look elsewhere.
That's like to warming up to "fat" chick with great sense of humor.

 

Maybe a automatic vette?

 

I feel that the car's understated appearance is part of the charm .
Have you ever driven a 997 ?

 

I love the appearance of a 911. If you don't, you should look elsewhere.

 

Yeah..you don't sound like a guy who will like a 911. Borrow one for weekend and test drive one before you go hunting. Then you will know the combo you want too.

 

Not a 997. Have an appt this weekend to drive one. I drove a slantnose many years ago and I actually liked the slantnose look but it had too many miles on it. I would prefer something more modern nowadays than the old slantnose but I still like that look.

 

Reading the OP's first paragraph, all I can say is that, if you're looking for a 911 that looks radically different than what a 911 looks like, then it won't be a 911 but something else. Then a 911 may not be for you. It wasn't that Porsche was changing the looks of its cars when they came up with the Carrera GT - that was a different, new car model altogether.

 

I was gonna suggest the same thing. If you don't think the 911's look that good and you think your money "will get flushed," then don't get one!

 

911 looks awesome, it is so unmistakable - and that is a large part of its appeal. The only other cars worth considering are Ferrari or Lambo, neither of which I would drive so free heartedly.

 

first, go look at it to make sure u like the look of a 911. (every dealer i went to, i only saw couple of 911s i really liked)

then test drive as many variations as u can (2wd, 4wd, S version, turbo, cab version, tip, pdk, etc) since they 'feel' different. Make sure the test drive has some turns in it. I was sold the first time i test drove a cab..

u can pick the color combo u want later.

i would recommend 2009 with PDK and sports chrono plus. Its the 1st year with DFI, PDK, LED and upgraded PCM. Not sure why u r thinking 2008 or 2010..

i dont think u will be impressed with Tiptronic.

 

Beer helps in this regard.

 

The 2008 year I believe was the 1st year of the 911 (997) Turbo CAB and I have always been big vert guy and cant see myself without a vert, especially in South Florida. Also, the interior gage arrangement in the 997 models are really sweet (probably the sweetest in any sports car I have seen) and a CAB serves to show that off. So if I did go with Tiptronic, 2008 would be the earliest year because of my CAB Prefence in the Turbo version (Turbo is another must for me).

2010 was when I thought THE 911 Turbo received the PDK (thats what a Porsche salesman told me at Champion Porsche in South Florida.) I have also seen 2009's with word Tiptronic in the inetrior. Are you saying the PDK went in during 2009 (Mid year perhaps)? And did they put in a CAB in 2009?

Logic tells me the PDK will be a good fit as I already have a feel for a dual clutch tranny in my S4 DSG and I have heard the PDK is a superior tranny to the DSG. But your suggestion to drive both trannies is a good one. I dont like the fact that my Manual Days will soon end (I Think I sam still in denial). Its hard for me to fathom driving a High perfomance car of any kind without roarin through the gears. There was a time when I would have said that buying a high perf car with any auto tranny was a waste and I dont mean to offend in stating that. However, some things in life we have no control over and I dont think that the end of my maual driving days due to a neurological deficit should mean the end of thrills in a well engineered car. High performance seems to be part of my genetic fabric and I suspect I will be go into serious withdrawl without having such a car.

Tks for your suggestions

 

I drive both a 993TT and an S4 avant (auto). Perhaps you should look at a used, low mileage GTR. Don't try to talk yourself into a 911. Either you're a Porsche Guy or you're not. Plenty of other cars to chose from. And the GTR has a very slow depreciation curve