Wow...I read this thread when it was first posted. I didn't know it was getting so heated.
Why is everyone uptight over a guy buying a 996? If he's honestly looking for info, he'll post a pix of the new ride. If he's not, who cares.

A guy I worked with asked me this after I bought my car.

What’s the difference between a porcupine and a Porsche? With a Porsche, the pricks are on the inside.

He was joking but I get that attitude from some people that don't know their Mini Van is worth far more than my car. The comments on this post however seem to confirm the preception of porsche owners.

Zip (if that is your real user name):D Post a pix of the new 996...and get that thing on the track. Those things fly at the track....maybe that's why everyone is uptight. All the 996's passed them at the track.???

zip:

I've just spent an hour trying to elegantly express my thoughts on this thread, the 996, and Porsche in general. Then I scrapped what I wrote and nailed it down to this:

The 996 rocks. Get you one!

"Reversetronic" is absurd. Skip that option.

The 911 is dead. Long live the 911.

Seriously, zip, I think most of the attacks you've received here are just a byproduct of the frustration with Porsche that all the old-school porschephiles feel, myself included. Any company that bails out of top-level motosports to build a rather ugly SUV is gonna stir emotions.

Best of luck to ya.

-zuff

<i>"Parking Assist"</i>

On a 911? OK, somebody please tell me this whole thread is just some kind of cruel joke to snip off any remaining small threads of hope I might have had for Porsche as a sports car company ..... -- Curt

Zip -- Get the car. Get it in a cool color. Get a tiptronic. Get all the gadgets and parking electronics you want. Get the Champion Rims, they are the best looking rims on the 996 out there.

Steal the car as much as you can for your wife. If you can't pry her out of it, get your own. Enjoy the car, flash other porsches (with your headlights) and enjoy.

Someone passes along, and sees the love we all have for this marque, and the enthusiasm and support we offer each other, and wants to be a part of that. Then you go and **** all over him. I don't know if it's jealousy or what, but jesus, get a freaking grip.

I keep writing stuff and deleting it. I'll stop. Just be nice. All this guy wanted was some advice.

I remember too. The poor guy hadn't learned how to post pics yet and that further classified him as Tabs, et al. And then he posted pics, he did have an RS. It's a wonder he came back after the post the VIN, show me pictures stuff.
I think here it's best to treat new people respectfully, even if you doubt their sincerity, or think their a troll. It's like really, so what if they are, this an Internet BBS, it's not like your accountant or something, having you on. As the guy with RS demonstrates, not every new user, with money, or a special car is a troll. And if you've nothing good to say? Then don't say it!
:)

This has never been an easy audience.

Let me summarize this again for the billionth time.

Porsche doesn't support racing.
They're building an SUV
The 996 is intersecting Lexus as we speak.

Porsche officially died in 1998 when the last 993 was bought by Seinfeld.

It's not about watercooling, it's about everything else that came with it.--parking assist. PARKING ASSIST DEAR GOD PLEASE KILL ME. That's just one more thing I'll have to remove someday, when I have that 130k mile car! Jesus, it never ends.

What I said is key. When I have that car someday. See, the problem is, now I won't want it and that is bad for the new buyer.

Porsche is status, but now, that's all it is.
Porsche earned it in the trenches--back when they were a family operation that really just wanted to win races.

The new Porsche is a spoiled 17 year old child who's had everything handed to him all his life by daddy who was a self made man. Junior knows nothing about being in trenches. He wants an easy buck, and he's cashing in on his surname.

He wants to be Lexus if Lexus makes money. He'd want to be Ferrari if Ferrari made money, but Ferrari didn't.

Porsche IS about status. Porsche will NOT be about status when every Porsche is a 928.

Here's the upshot kiddies. I was looking back to 1984. Trade in values on cars. The 928 trade in range is appoximately 1/8th that of the 911, but the 928 cost more new.
In fact, the 944 trades in for slightly more than the 928 for that year.

In the future, 996s will hold their value like 928s, not because they're bad cars, but because the racers will have no clue how to remove "parking assist"...parking assist.
It should be "kick ass and take names" assist. Who cares about parking.

I am really quite surprised that some of you are so mad. I understand the purist philosophy and appreciate it. My hobby is home theater and movies and I hate it when I go to rent a DVD and all I can find is the Pan and Scan full screen hack job version. I would be willing to bet that some of you prefer full screen because you don't like the black bars above and below the picture on your 27" TV's.

But, are you actually saying that just because someone decides to have power seats or a radar device to keep from backing over a kid, that the car suddenly becomes undriveable? That is really a little like saying that if I choose a color for the car that you don't like that the car will not be enjoyable to drive.

I can see the reasoning that Porsche is becoming more like Lexus and other luxury car manufacturers by adding electronic features that appeal to a certain segment of the population, but IT IS AN OPTION and if you don't want a car with those things, great! You don't have to drive my car and I won't drive yours :)

Our allocation date on the car is August and we should have the car some time in October. I will try to post pictures when we get it (If I am courageous enough).

zip/phil,

please come back and post pics of your car when you get it... many of us would love to admire it!

unfortunately you seem to have hit on a rather sensitive subject for us pelicanheads. but the bottom line is that we're all porsche lovers here. get the car you want and enjoy it! you won't regret it for a second!

cheers,

Paul

-just be sure to give fellow porsche owners a flash or a wave when you see them. especially those in the older models!

Zip,

I hope my comment about "air cooled engine" wasn't taken in offense. While I personally do not care for the Boxter and 996 and what Porsche as a company is becoming, my comment was made tongue-in-cheek. Buy whatever suites your fancy. If air-cooled Porsches were for everyone, then you'd see as many 911's on the road as there are Honda Accords.

Zip, you're the man. It's cool that you step back into the ring. Sucks that it IS a ring, but cool that you step back in.
There was also a "violet blue metallic" offered a year or so back that was a dark blue from a distance, but a really deep purple up close. I saw it with a tan interior in a showroom, and it was beautiful. The lighter color would probably work better though.

If you can take some time off, I'd strongly suggest picking the car up at the factory. You can cruise through western Europe, and end up in some port on the atlantic. From what I understand, Porsche can arrange to have the car shipped to your local dealer, and you can take a plane back across the pond. If I were buying a new car, it would be on my short list of must have/dos.

Just kidding...get what you want, and while you are at it buy me one as well.SmileWavy

zip get the car you want.

But, after you get it, go to a PCA event (preferably Driver's Ed, Auto-X or Driver's Skills Training), and ask somebody for a brisk ride in their early 911. You might think 'this is an old POS', but you just might think 'holy *****'!! You might just see the beauty of light weight.

The reverse helper gizmo might only add a pound or two, but it is indicative a a couple thousand similar-minded decisions that sent the 911 from 2200lbs to 3400lbs. Many here think that the extra 1200lbs (!) killed the purity and feel of the car, made it 'common', Mercedes-like. Hey, progress is progress, something beautiful always gets left behind, and to some extent, this board exists because of the greatness that was, more than what the company is today.

ps: I just read that Porsche isn't going to race the Carrera GT. Forget it, boys, its over.

pps: PCA isn't the anti-Christ, they put on a lot of driving events up here, which are great, they just have a lot of wine & cheese, too.

ppps: I like wine & cheese, just when I'm in a Porsche situation, I prefer cigars & beer. Or, gatorade, chips & Piloti shoes.

The thing to remember, Kurt, is that some people don't see your 911 as a real 911! If you know what I mean - and I'don't think that, BTW. You've seen the "real 911s ended when they put plastic bumpers on them" stuff before? If we're measuring it by performance, 996s are damn well balanced and quick - and what about the GT2? I've driven a few and, although I love the older cars, I can't deny the fact that they are really good, fast, great handling machines; have you driven any? The Boxster S is quite something too - again, bear in mind I LOVE the older 911 and I'd probably stick around the '68 - '75 cars any day.
Making broad statements about the current 911 not being a real one is a slippery slope. It's been going on a long time and yours, and probably mine too, have had collective head shakes and utterances from the more traditional (and narrow minded?) folk of, it's lost it, and is getting too comfort/optional extra based - hard to imagine that said of mine though, but compare with a 356A?
Mark my words, in 25 years time, here, or whatever the format for the equiv. of here will be, there will be the new 911(??), and some pretty stuck in their ways folk with 996s, telling the new 911 owner it ain't a real one....

There was a time, I have read, that the 912 was desired (by purists) over the then new 911 because the 912 had the "real" Porsche motor and Porsches were supposed to be 4 cylinders. Consider that before bashing the latest model.

Phil/Zip, I can understand being a gadget-freak, but usually these people are not attracted to Porsches. Even with the long option list on a new 996, it is peanuts compared to say, a new Cadillac. Several of my friends have these, (they have made a strange comeback w/ the rock and roll crowd, but that's another topic), some have night-vision, fer chrisakes! I don't get it; people have been not backing over little kids for a hundred years w/o sonar on the friggin' bumper, but whatever, dude. Just look behind the car when you get in it and while backing. Don't trust a "gadget" to take the place of being a safe, responsible driver.

As for the rest of you 'player haters', :D , in 1969 one could order a new 911 w/pneumatic air-suspension,(?), a sport-o-matic, air conditioning, (hooked up to a 2.0 liter overheating, oil-leaking POS motor), power windows, electric sunroof, in an ass-ugly color, etc., etc. You get the picture. Anyone who thinks that all Porsche ever sold was 'pure sports' cars is very ignorant of the mark. Even the weight issue; in the late '60's/early '70's, 911's were on the HEAVY side of sports cars offered, (compared to Alfas, MGs, etc. of the day), they only seem light in comparison to modern cars. ALL small cars were a lot lighter then. 911s were NOT considered light by auto journalists, EVER!

Yes, Porsche has a history of motorsports and winning races, but with a "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" angle, just like the Big 3 and NASCAR. Sorry. Doesn't take away from the greatness of the cars, but some of the people around here seem to think that Porsche used to be this benevolent organization dedicated to the weekend hobby-racer. HORSE*****!. They have always been about selling extremely expensive cars to the Zips of the world, using their racing success as a marketing tool.

If the enthusiasts around here had their way, Porsche would have gone nipples-up in the early 90's, instead they are the most successful auto company in the world right now. Not sure about their latest gamble, (ugly pavement-scorching station wagon), but the 996 was a winner! :D

Okay,
I have to get in on this. ZIP buy the car and join PCA. Best thing I ever did. The people are outstanding. I personally don't care for the "new 911". But I would consider the Boxster S. If you want a gadget laden GT car then go for it. I think Blue is the best color for cabs. And your option list will vary greatly from mine.(mine would be a long list of option deletes):)

Zippedy-DUDE-ahhh
 

Congrats on the upcoming purchase, zip. Nice choice. I'm also interested in your other hobby: home theater. My wife and I just completed construction on our new home, but we have a lower floor that is currently unfinished. There's space for a large recroom and a decent-sized home theater. The designated room is 18x21 (feet) with no windows. I need help with the room design--angled walls, sound insulation, speaker placement, seating placement, lighting, etc. I'm planning on a DLP front projector and separate screen. Do you know of any good books or Web sites that can help a beginner out (not new to home theater, just to building one--or having one built). Lance.

Denis, you make a couple of good points ;) . But the 911 has NEVER been so utterly conventional in both looks and mechanicals as it is today with the 996. <u>That</u> is the problem for many. Anybody can jump in a 996, get the Big Gulp properly secured in the cupholder, set the Big Mac on the console, grip the wheel with 2 fingers and go fast - really fast. That's a tribute to Porsche engineering. Pretty much takes the driver right out of the equation. Me? I like a challenge. I like to attempt to tame the car, not the other way around. But of course my car is a weekend fun car, not a daily driver. Maybe if I were getting groceries in it, I'd have a different opinion. -- Curt

Phil/zip,
Not trying to be rude but as it was stated before .. this is an bit of an antiquated crowd here we love our simple optionless 911's .. Hell you would know more about the many options offered and what they do better than 98% of the people posting replies.. this very well may not be the perfect crowd to answer that question. I do think it's nice of you to think of us all as being a group whose opinons you would value. thanks! sorry we are not of very much help.;)

Eric Mckenna
78SC

Curt, just how many water cooled, rear engined cars are there....? ;)