New 2002 911:

[88_944]

WOW!! SWEET 911!!


Exciting new 2002 model year Carrera versions are to receive a radical new look borrowed from the flagship Turbo and GT2 models in the range. The front end will get the most drastic treatment, with larger, rounder headlamps which are both more efficient and distinctive. Besides resembling the classic 911 models, the new look has been created in response to customer criticism: buyers and enthusiasts had complained that the outgoing car – launched in 1997 – looked nearly identical to the Boxster, which was available for half the price. The problem became even greater when the Boxster S was launched, narrowing the performance gap between the two models. Porsche has finally realised that the component-sharing program may have saved money on parts, but was actually a loser in the long term as many potential 911 buyers swapped to the cheaper Boxster instead.

Under the new lamps, the complete bumper assembly has been redesigned as well. The longer, more pointed moulding is aerodynamically superior, while increasing airflow to the brakes and improving stability at speed. The rear end has not escaped attention, either. Again taking its cues from the Turbo, new Carreras will have a bigger, squared-off rear bumper and twin oval exhaust pipes instead of the old car's smaller round pair. A selection of fresh wheel designs and paint colours complete the 2002 look.

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PORSCHE There is no Substitute!

[This message has been edited by 88_944 (edited 06-05-2001).]

[Leland Pate]

Still ugly...but I must say that the turbo is how the Carrera SHOULD look.
The front end just looks plain CHEAP!

[kumma]

how about round headlights and bigger rear end?






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Craig 73T in many pieces

[82SC]

and a shorter front overhang...looks like a GT car instead of a sports car...

but actually it looks kind of like a beetle

has anyone noticed how much the back end of a 996 with the GT2 wing looks like a 928S I think they reviving the push to replace the 911 with the 928S

[This message has been edited by 82SC (edited 06-05-2001).]

[Jack Olsen]

I never get tired of talking about this.

As a guy who would buy one of these things if it even looked as good as the 993, I have the following problems with the current model's looks:



A) The sidewall is smoothed out like a Ford. No indication of where the wheels are at all. Even a Mitsubishi has a sexier bevel to it. And the overall shape of the car body's profile has been changed. The line of the side used to echo the line of the roof -- all essential components of the 'fastback' look that made the 911 the 911 from 1964 to 1997. Now the thing's wedge-shaped in the other direction, a line fighting with the roofline (which now comes off looking goofier than an RX7). Why reshape the thing so it looks more like a Ford and less like a Porsche?

B) The headlights. There are two ways to go. Either you're a 911, with round headlights, or you're a trendy current car with sloping horizontal lights. This is a compromise between the two and it looks almost as stupid as the old, hockey-stick-shaped ones. Jeep corrected the Wrangler. Why can't Porsche correct the 911?

C) For some reason (maybe it's a minimum height law?), Porsche keeps letting the headlights and taillights slide up and toward the center of the car. Maybe the designers thought the car looked too long and they wanted it to appear shorter. Whatever. One effect of this is that both of the bumpers now look enormous. The front one makes the car look like it has an enormously swollen lower lip. The effect is that the new 911 looks more like one of those hand-held vacuum cleaners than it does like a sportscar.

D) Same problem in back. The taillights should visually define the end-point of the car. That's what we expect, at least. With Porsche, that's no longer the case. Now you get the taillights up and high, like they're riding in a rumble seat, with an enormous piece of cheap-looking plastic dangling behind and below them. Remember what a statement the rear "PORSCHE" reflector made when you first saw it? Porsche's modern-day answer to that is a big flat piece of cheap-looking body-colored plastic. What a great way to electrify future generations.

The damage of Porsche's 996 (and later, apparently) redesign is that even the retained 911 elements (the roofline and the rear quarter window) now look out of place. What was once a conspicuously proud-of-its-rear-engine design now looks like it's doing its best to hide that fact.

And that air intake on the front bottom. It's a given that people attempt to anthropomorphize the faces of cars. The Miata pulled this off beautifully. This time out, we've got eyes and a nose, and then a mouth that looks like it's got one of those pencil-thin moustaches on it. Ugh.

Porsche needs to continue to update the lookof the 911 so long as its their flagship model. They did an awesome job of this with the 993. Ferrari has demonstrated that contemporary designs can also be gorgeous. Why does Porsche settle for something that's so ugly?

And why are 944 owners -- more than anyone else I've heard from -- such big fans of it?

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Jack Olsen
1973 911 T (3.6) sunroof coupe
jackolsen@mediaone.net

[This message has been edited by JackOlsen (edited 06-05-2001).]

[paulhagedorn]

At first glance, I liked it because I saw the changes to the headlights and it was distinguished from the Boxster. Then I looked at it and said, "Oh my g*d, it looks just like that Pontiac."
So I had to find the picture of the Pontiac, and here you guys go...a comparison of it.



Just look at how the front of the 996 pushes out past the car and look at the Sunfire...it disgusted me!

[This message has been edited by paulhagedorn (edited 06-05-2001).]

[Jack Olsen]

[paulhagedorn]

At least you picked the fast contour Jack! That is the SVT Contour if I am not mistaken.

[cegerer]

Porsche did an excellent job incorporating the 550 into the Boxster. Why couldn't they have put a similar effort into incorporating the classic 911 into the 996? Perhaps they didn't want to. But if the goal was a completely new model, than it should have been a clean-sheet of paper design.

Bottom Line: The 996 reeks of "design-by-committee" rather than "design-by-Butzi".



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1971 911T - 2.5L Big Bore

[Randy W]

Well said Jack.

[RaF944]

You guys are funny.... I cant believe you dont like that...well most of you are the old generation which doesnt like change..I am part of Generation X...and The new 911s look good...I DID NOT like the old Teardrop headlights...but The Turbo/GT2 ones look Good
If you think this is ugly....you should go *****slap yourself

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85.5 Porsche 944

[cegerer]

It's got nothing to do with change. I was driving alongside an F355 yesterday and it looked fantastic! The 996? Well, yeah you can tell it's something special coming down the road and I don't think anybody's going to mistake it for a Contour or a Pontiac, but it has those generic design elements shared with many other cars of today. Is it a Supra, a Mitsu, a Porsche, a .......? That question is never asked of a 911.

[geoffbaltz]

It is unfortunate that the 911 is becoming more and more like a Japanese luxury sport coupe. I think it looks ok, but I do have to agree that it just doesn't do as much for me as the 993s and prior.

Oh yeah - Jack, I own a 944. Sorry to disappoint you.



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Geoff Baltz
'86 944 Turbo

[88_944]

Originally posted by RaF944:
You guys are funny.... I cant believe you dont like that...well most of you are the old generation
If you think this is ugly....you should go *****slap yourself

LOL!! I wonder why they didn't like the new 911. I sure Love it!!


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PORSCHE There is no Substitute!

[FRED/LI]

Feeling's mutual. It's no longer a car that will be instantly recognized. What ever happened to fender flares??!
Gone are the days of the true enthusiast. How many of these 2002's are going to be driven and cared for some twenty years from now? Will any of these ever be found lingering in a barn awaiting a rescue and return to life? I think not.

[Matt Holcomb]

The whole concept of the 911 has been disbanded. Does anyone know what it is anymore? Does Porsche?

All I know is that Porsche has lost its nerve. But does it matter? Those that buy 996s have no interest in stuff like animality and purity. As long as it's quick, comfortable and leverages their status and sex appeal, I guess.

Hey, if we just want to distil it to pulling chicks, wouldn't you go for something like this?




Matt Holcomb

I can't resist this thread any longer. I have to comment.

Do I like the 996? Yes I do.

Do I see it as a new 911? No.

Why? Looks, sound, interior.

The 996 hasn't got the aircooled cars' special appeal. The aircooled models makes me feel as if they were built exactly to me. Not because they are aircooled, but because the whole "package" comes so close to my personal idea of what is PERFECT.

[L Sjoberg]

Having owned 911's, 944's and 914's, the 911 appeal for me lies in its distinct design and layout. A "real" 911 should be air-cooled, rear-engined and sans traction control (or yaw control, stability system or whatever the hell P-people call it these days), ABS, cup holders, cell-phone holders, heated seats; etc. It should handle like a rear-engined car and be dangerous for those who like to lay off the throttle in the middle of swift turns. It should be a pain in the ass to shift smoothly. The engine should be loud. So on and so on.

The 911 became a legendary car b/c of its mystique and distinct driving characteristics. So I think the new 911 is the 2-door coupe that Lexus would make if only Porsche wasn't already making it. If I wanted another new sports car (besides my Mustang GT daily driver), I'd get any one of a dozen cars other than a 911, since the 996 simply does not deliver $70,000 worth of performance. And I frankly don't care whether or not my neighbors know that I could afford to spend $70,000 on a new car, which is about the only reason I can imagine for anybody buying a 996 instead of plunking 1/4 the price down for a good late-80's Carrera.

Lee
'83 SC Targa

[sander]

I think the other thing to remember is that this is not the last 911 that will ever be built (I hope).

People keep mentioning Ferrari and it may not be a fair comparison, but I never liked the 348 that much and didn't think it was a worthy "successor" to the 328's solid lines (someone in the design studio tried to mix it with a Testarossa). But then the 355 came out and that was a little better. Then came the Modena, which I think is the most beautiful 8-cylinder they've made in a long, long time. So there was a "dry spell" for 8-cylinders between the 328 and the 360 (IMHO). Maybe Porsche is going through the same thing.

The other thing I was thinking about is the fact that, in this day and age, the market will decide what direction Porsche follows. For better or for worse. When Porsche tried to do away with the 911 altogether, it was the market that made them change their mind, as the 911s were still their best-sellers. If they continue to let the future 911s slide toward the dreaded Mainstream and people stop buying it, they'll change their tune pretty quickly.

But I'm worried that the hard-core "elfer" is in the minority now, and that the core of the Porsche target population are those people who simply want a touring sedan with the Porsche crest on the front.

I forget what magazine it was in, but I read an article comparing the Subaru WRX Impreza to the 911. I have a friend in the SCCA that races one, and there's quite a few of them at every autocross. Sometimes I think that those Impreza guys are like Porsche guys would have been thirty years ago. They have a car designed for a single purpose with very little compromise.

One last comparison: the 911 is just like Marlon Brando. A 2.4 911S, for example, is like the ass-kicking Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront". A 996 is like Marlon Brando in "The Island of Dr. Moreau" where he's so fat he has to wear a dress. Somehow they're the same guy, and somehow, they're both 911s.

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'71 911E with Webers
Golden Gate Region PCA
http://www.geocities.com/edrecinto/

[This message has been edited by sander (edited 06-06-2001).]

[Jdub]

On the plus side, this car will unseat many 911s sitting in garages everywhere, each of which will end up in the paper/sales lot for those of us who seek the older models.

Jw