Excellence Article

So what do you guys think about the new Porsche Turbo loaded with every option known to man and auto trans kicking the crap out of the 959 and every other venerable Porsche air cooled? Almost seemed like an advertisement aimed at this board.

JE

I posted this before. You can complain about the looks, the water cooling, the accesories, and whatever else you don't like. What that article makes clear is that you can't argue about the cold hard fact about technology. That article made me think that maybe that should be my next car.

------------------
8 9 9 1 1, The last of the line.

I got no qualms with the watercooled engines. All's good in the name of technology. I do however have some problems with some of the so called "advancements" that porsche has made. I think that they are straying from the original theory or the sports car. This SUV is horse ****. And to think that they are cutting race budget to please american yuppies. Sure they are making money, but at what expense. Porsche is and always will be the greatest car engineering company in the world. They should be the leaders and not the follower in the industry. I hate to say this, but with all those ammenities and extra weight it might start to get mixed up with those italian pieces of engineering crap. (sorry boys) I think they shoulda had the GT2 street car at that test, that is a Porsche. Perhaps if they left the luxery to Mercades and Bavarian Motor Works they might be better off.

Okay, venting is over, I still love you Porsche but get your priorities straight.

Adam Roseneck
(I'll look at this tommorow and ask myslef what the hell I was doing I'm sure)

Personally what ever Porsche needs to manufacture that will allow them to pay the bills incurred racing is fine by me. I think the style of the new cars grows on you and that they are beautiful cars. Probably the same way it was in 68.

I must admit, at first I thought Porsche had lost it when they introduced the Cayenne SUV. Now, I have to respect their decision. This SUV will bring in a lot of revenue for them. The Cayenne will also claim the "hottest performance SUV" category from the Mercedes ML55 and BMW X5. Thats good news in my book. Who knows, Porsche may even drop the price of their sports cars because of increased sales. Maybe a 911 Turbo is in my future...

Bill

------------------
William Armentrout
1973 911T
2.7 carerra rs specs
www.geocities.com/william_armentrout

How did a thread about a turbo that goes 0 - 60 in 4 seconds get onto a SUV? We are talking speed and performance.

It's pent up SUV hostility. I personally am NOT convinced that Porsche WILL make money on the SUV. Maybe it'll gie them enough to make another air-cooled car? :-(

I think this is probably a bad place to start venting about American yuppies, who are the people who financed Porsche to make the wonderful cars that all the world gets to drive.

No offense to non-Americans, I just get a little pissy with people that use the word "American" as a derogatory. I don't say anything negative about people from other countries, and I'd appreciate the same respect from others.

Anyway, a little more on-topic: The new 911 Turbo is a different breed of auto than the "good ole" 993 TT or 964 Turbo or 959. Keep in mind that the 959 was the testbed, or first generation, for many of the technologies found in the later cars. What do you expect? The 959 isn't some holy grail of Porsche, it's just extremely rare, aside from being a pinnacle of technology for that era.

Of course the new car is faster. That's why benchmarks exist. Without benchmarks like the 959 or 993 TT, Porsche wouldn't have any limits to surpass.

------------------
Mark Szabo
1986 911 Targa 3.2
1987 Escort 5-speed 1.9
The Porsche Owners Gallery

I wish to appoligize to Mark because my comment was misinterpreted. I am not an american (i'm canadian) but I didn't intend on pointing the finger at our buddies next door. The Canadian yuppies are just as bad. I sould have said North American, not american. My bad. My problem is that Porsche is CUTTING race budget for this "car". I hope all works out well but i'm a little worried about where this is heading. Anyone have a pic of Cayanne? I haven't seen it yet.

Adam Roseneck
The sometimes ignorant Canadian

Heh, Adam, don't worry about it. It's not you that I'm lashing out at. It's usually European folks that tend to speak rudely of their colonists.

I don't think Porsche actually cut the race budget for the Cayenne and the Cayenne only - I think it was actually partly due to the development budget for the C-GT as well. If you remember correctly, Porsche was developing the C-GT in parallel with the LMP car, and when the LMP car didn't simply blow everyone's expectations out of the water, they cut the program, but kept the road car on its way. I'd say the development costs for a new vehicle are about the same no matter if it's the C-GT (new engine, chassis, interior, platform!) or the Cayenne (new chassis, Boxster interior, Turbo engine).

I think we're going to see some cool stuff come out of Porsche this year. Since they're going to make the Cay no matter what *I* think about it, I hope they make it the most mindblowing, ass-stomping SUV out there. It has to absolutely dominate the market, and dominate the races as well. I hope they make the Explorer look like a minivan. (No offense to Explorer owners...no, wait, go ahead and take offense. Your vehicle is ugly and stereotypical. )

------------------
Mark Szabo
1986 911 Targa 3.2
1987 Escort 5-speed 1.9
The Porsche Owners Gallery

Check out the latest issue of Automobile Magazine. They have a Cayenne pic. For a SUV, it looks and specs to be all Porsche. Except that it shares its chassis with VW. I actually love the look of it for an SUV and would consider buying it. But then again, I own a gas guzzling Dodge Durango to pull my boat and haul the familia to the river.

That "automatic" turbo definitely surprised me. Technology just keeps getting better. I'd love to drive that automatic here in congested SoCal!

Signed,
A slightly grown yuppy

Here's a pic of the Cayenne..
I like it!!!
Pete

Sorry. That pic's an admitted fake. When Porsche releases pictures, I'll believe it...better yet, when they show a running platform, like they did with the Carerra GT.

------------------
Mark Szabo
1986 911 Targa 3.2
1987 Escort 5-speed 1.9
The Porsche Owners Gallery

Well, I guess its not too horrible, but I still can't help but feel betrayed. My only hope is that it (as mentioned before) is the most unbelievable SUV ever created, especially in the performance stats. Gotta go before I get all hot and bothered again

Adam Roseneck

Hey Mark..
Do you know anything about this pic?? It's supposedly VW's version.. The Colorado. BS or what???
Pete

I think they will have to really pull a rabbit out of the corporate hat to out-do the Lamborghini Cheetah a.k.a. LM-002 from 25 years ago with the Miura V-12 and $1200 Pirelli Scorpion tires! That was the European 'Hummer' of its day, as far as panache went in social circles!!!

------------------
Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

I think that they were too cautious with the 959 and didn't even push it to 8/10th.

nickb
'70 911 E

Well I was personally wouldn't have minded the SUV so much if P-cars hadn't pulled so much money out of racing... They dominated for SOOOO many years. SUV, well whatever, but let's build some more sports cars, and air-cooled for cryin' out loud!

Seriously though, Porsche has been through much worse times than this, ala WWII troubles and Doc Porsches 'internment' in France. They will persevere!

Wouldn't it be great if they made a lightweight version of the 996? Then I would buy one. I have seen the 996 up close at autocross events and club racing. The low center of gravity and balance is very impressive.
I think they have really missed the boat on the SUV bandwagon. It really started in the mid 80s with the Range Rover and the horsey set. They are 15 years too late....