porsche carerra

[marlinspike]

Originally Posted by stevesrt8

My friends car is very quiet (windows up), rides pretty good, but still has no cargo space and no interior room. That's what I mean by one dimensional.

Ah, I see. I thought you meant one dimensional like a 2.7RS is one dimensional, i.e. it'd be a big pain to drive around the streets.

Yeah, roger that on the cargo and room. I guess a lot of it is my dad first got the SRT8 just after a period of time when we routinely used 4 seats, but now with my brother out of the house and me out of the house 9 months/year the Porsche just makes sense, especially since it isn't the only car.

[Model 57]

Did you miss that I said he owned both? He had a silver steel SRT8 for about 3 months, sold it while it was still holding the resale value well enough that he got basically what he paid for it, and 4 months later he bought a 2002 996 Carrera 2 coupe. The SRT8 was fast, but you had to get on it, and obviously the handling dynamics are very different from a 911. What I'm saying is, I don't think he'd be surprised by an SRT8 giving him a run.
Richard
Marlinspike; thanks for that post. I remember that your dad was waiting for the SRT8, I didn't know that he had sold it. He must really be into sportscars.

[stevesrt8]

Originally Posted by artichoke

Is the water-cooled version of the 911 still expensive to maintain? When I had mine the main cost was periodic tuneups that involved adjusting the valves. Now that there are hydraulic lifters that's eliminated, and the water-cooling means less expansion and contraction so the time between rebuilds should be much longer than 80K.

Why get a 911 when for less money you can get a Viper? Is the 911 that much easier to live with on a daily basis?

From the small sample I have, Vipers are pretty reliable and cheap to maintain. I have NEVER seen a Porsche that did not have a very high cost of ownership even if it was fairly reliable mechanically. But I look at the Porsche as a scalpel and the Viper as a bludgeon! My experience in a Viper is racetrack only and was extremely satifying as a driver but I cannot imagine wanting to tool around in one for pleasure. Hot, Noisy, etc.!!!

I have a client base of about 4800 that includes some very affluent individuals. Since I'm a bit car crazy we inevitably end up discussing cars. Most of the German car owners say it's a fairly expensive ownership experience. This is in line with my own experience as well.

Your mileage may vary.

[marlinspike]

The 996's don't have the valve problems of the 993's, though they do have rear main seal problems. Reports say that the latest fix for the rear main seal seems to be working. It seems like they are the kind of thing where maintenance isn't bad for a while, then bam all of a sudden you lay out $3k.