how and at what rate would you have Porsche proceed...

- I would have them make the car have great aero Cx's as well as less balnd styling. I esp. would have them cut the damn wt. down on these things. In short I would have them proceed faster towards the future of sports cars. I blame the overall problem on Dr. Wienie King, who is a terrible bean counter. He is killing the company in order to sxave it. It makes sense to keep the family out of the biz - but the downside is that PAG thus lost the Piech DNA -- he seems to be the one who is most like the old man based on all the biolgraphies I've read (both as to engineering accumen and irrascibility). Anyway, things will get better (and I don't mean just the 997). The C-GT can serve as a development platform that PAG actually gets paid for (like the 959). And PAG is getting a new chief designer.

What about the GT3RS. Is that not an acceptable car as far as weight is concerned. I understand about cutting weight down and all, but if they cut out an air conditioner, back seat, probably electric and heated seats and etc., that may turn off alot of potential buyers. I know I wouldn't drive a 911 for everyday use if it did not have the creature comforts offered by other cars. I also need a back seat for the kids and that kind of cuts out me getting GT3 seats because I need easy access to the back seats. Porsche also has to comply with crash testing and will get heavily criticized by car mags if they don't build up a car to withstand impacts to a certain point. Porsche does still offer lightweight options/cars. We may not be able to get their best lightweight efforts though such as GT3RS, but that may not really be a Porsche issue as much as an American DOT issue.

Acceptable? To me a 2,200 lb. Boxster with 250 h would be acceptable.

I take your point re A/C and kid seats (see above posts) - I live in Oregon, don't commute by car, and have something else to drive with A/C, so it's easy for me to not have it.

A couple of guys over at PCGB weighed their cars with equal fuel on board. The mk1 996 GT3 was the same weight as the current 996 GT3RS. Things just keep getting heavier & heavier.

Here's the quote;

uhh... i'll take 250hp in my SC, too... it's over 2200lbs, though.... it doesn't have power windows or air, either... that's what a '67 S weighed, and that was the 'lightweight' package...


does that make every 911 built since the late 1960's 'unacceptable'? even those were underpowered, eh

Back to the corvette thing, the 67 and the 04 and still water cooled front engine rear wheel drive 2 seat fibreglass car. No other car has held as true for as long. The 911 stopped when water hit the block.

No "Harm" in that. ;)

Just curious. What does the weight of the mk1 and the GT3RS generally run.

What direction would I take Porsche?

BACK TO THE FUTURE.:)

Hybrids are nothing new, back in 1908 Porsche designed a series of race cars that were so ahead of their time, they outlawed them and excluded them from racing.

One version was AWD, electric hub drive, or as they called it an electric transmission (a diesel version was later used on WWII's most lethal tank the Tiger II) with a gas engine generator.

Yet another hybrid gas/electric car, was FWD, again with the motors in the wheels/hub. The first racing ban was on 4WD/AWD, but they found a way to ban this awesome car too. Who said racing was about a level playing field? They suck!

BACK TO THE FUTURE, before the Japs do it first (NSX proposal).

http://www.drivingtoday.com/afronet/greatest_cars/archive/ssk.html

http://www.supercars.net/cars/1901@$Lohner-Porsche@$Phaetong.html

5axis: those are some sick wheels. Who did them for you?

I can't believe this thead is still going. Anyway

Joe. I would like to take credit for them but can't. They were on the car when I bought it. I still spend a day re polishing them each summer. It is high maint look for a car I drive very, very little.. too much work and no play.. waaaaaaa

search wheel polishing, there are many who have done their own.

They look awesome. What type of polish do you use. I have been using mother's on a set of mine. Its okay, but I am sure there are better.

What about the GT3RS. Is that not an acceptable car?

Yeh, come to think of it is. Ship it over and I will accept.

In the thread they don't actually list the numbers (that I can find).

Here's the thread in question. Not sure if not PCGB members can register for the forum or not. Worth a try as it's an interesting read.

i agree to a certain extent that there is a cost issue - perhaps i would own one over my '86.

but i would not take a NA 996 over a 930.

the older cars are "prettier".

yeah... good thing he didn't design the 993 or anything.... he must be a really crappy designer...

sorry, silly to be that hung up on radiators. i'm assuming, then, that you foam at the mouth over the coilovers in the 964/993, and sleep with an extra 915, cursing out those damn borg warner synchros in the G50? hydraulic clutch?? A/C that (sort of) works?? where did porsche in the late 80's get off??

honestly, the sound changed, but that's it. it's still a performance engine, and not some 1.8 liter econo unit. you don't like the quiet? my SC is bone stock... it's not going to scare anyone into hiding, either.

so, you've got a 4 seat (if you squint), flat six powered, rear engined, 2 door, steel sports car that's still capable of beating the world.

it happens that the company, through a mixture of low finances and stubbornness, kept an ancient engine design around until the EPA killed it.

Ouch, what was that for?

Here we go again.

Let's hear what people that have never driven a 996 at 270km/h for extended periods of time have to say about how the 996 handles. I love it

OK, I'll make the 100th post in this interminable thread... we aren't good prospect for future PAG sales. Market research shows you need yuppies and their even richer cousins. That is the reason for the 996 and the slight variant the 997 with its 3.8L engine (which do nicely in a Boxster BTW). For sheiks, rich Euro-princes and the like, you can sell 959s and C-GTs. It's all good -- we will inherit either the used cars, or the engineering. It's trickle down all the way.