The 2014 "water pumper" hate seems to have entirely died off.

[sugarwood]

5 years ago, when someone would ask about a 996, they would be met with a barrage of "water pumper" name callling, not a real Porsche. 5 years later, I rarely hear this anymore. Have the last of the old codgers died off? Have they changed their tune and decided that the new cars are superior? What has changed? In 2019, if someone yelled "water pumper!" at someone in a 997 or 991, that'd just look foolish.

[Matt Monson]

The value of good meds cannot be overstated here.

[NYNick]

Matt Monson;10637718]The value of good meds cannot be overstated here.

...or the lack thereof.

[Unobtanium-inc]

I stand by my original description of driving a 996, very sterile. A friend who works for Porsche said the joke there has always been the 996 was the car the accountant's built, one look at the interior will tell you he's right. Before I bought my 993 I drove a 996, a stock Anniversary Edition, and it reminded me of driving my dad's old Mistubhishi 3000, sure it made noise and all the gauges moved accordingly, but it was more like a video game, than a sports car. There was no fear of it getting away, no raw power, very refined, and very boring. I didn't buy it, and found my 993 a few months later. Now that car feels like a Porsche should, raw power, great handling, but just enough fear to keep you sweating in a curve.
And I'm talking about normal 996's, not Turbo's or GT3's, the normal ones that everyone stares at for $20,000 and says, "Wow, that's cheap for a 911."
There's a reason they are so cheap.

---Adam

[matt930s]

Yawn.

[juanbenae]

I think even 5 years ago the hate for the 996 had subsided. by 2014 they had long proven they were junk, just like shug's efforts to start epic threads.

[Vaive]

It wasn't designed by accountants, It was designed by engineers who understand their job is to produce a product that will sell a lot of units and make their employer a lot of money.

996 wasn't a "real" Porsche to the Porsche cool kidz. Just like Caymans, Cayennes, Boxsters, Panameras, Macans (and probably Taycans I assume) aren't "real" Porsches.

Meanwhile Porsche is printing money by the fistful selling fake Porsches, as the most profitable car company in the world.

I see 996s, 997s, Boxsters, etc as Taylor Swift. The purist snob music people look down on it as they listen to obscure Norwegian punk rock bands. Meanwhile Taylor sells out 80K seat stadiums nightly.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by Unobtanium-inc

I stand by my original description of driving a 996, very sterile.

Had a new 4S back in 02. My review back then would have been that it handles ok and the brakes were really good, but it’s not *that* quick. People were too busy hating on the Cayenne to worry about the 996 interior.

The real reason people stopped moaning - imo - is that even the 996 is 20 years old.

The pool of people wanting an air cooled porker. is graying out. Of course I’m in that pool because I want either a 76 or an M505 coupe, but still there are fewer people every year.

Way too many people I work with gush about plug in cars...

[brianvb]

I have a number of air cooled P cars, but my 996 with fab speed exhaust is amongst the funnest car. I beat the pizz out of it and I takes it. It’s light and loud and I love it .
By far the best 20.000$ Porsche you can buy. Not a race car or a show car. A good old fashioned Porsche you can drive and abuse, like air cooled used to be, before they went to pricey.
I think people are realizing that now.

[Rawknees'Turbo]

Originally Posted by Vaive

. . .
I see 996s, 997s, Boxsters, etc as Taylor Swift. The purist snob music people look down on it as they listen to obscure Norwegian punk rock bands. Meanwhile Taylor sells out 80K seat stadiums nightly.

Proof positive that the sheep of the world are easy to please.

[Matt Monson]

I don’t care what anyone thinks. I’m gonna listen to my favorite band and go jogging with my friends.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tvVoY-PTf6s

[Rawknees'Turbo]

^^^

This would be a more manly selection for you, M2, and inspirational. too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MjyGPp__-w

[Vaive]

Originally Posted by Rawknees'Turbo

Proof positive that the sheep of the world are easy to please.

There's always a subset of people who will look down on anything popular. Even if they secretly like the things that are popular. It's OK you can admit it, you think 996s are kinda cool. I won't tell anyone. I promise.

https://www.headstuff.org/topical/love-hate-popular/

For the record, I took my kids to a Taylor concert last summer and it kinda rocked. There I said it.

[Rawknees'Turbo]

^^^

I would not kick a 996 Turbo out of bed - anything with the brute acceleration that those supposedly have (have never driven one) can look anyway it wants to (except if it is some nasty flesh tone, excrement, goofy green, yellow, baby blue, or pink color it is going to get re-painted). I'm not one of those peeps that says a slow 911 is good because it "feels visceral and connected to the road" - no power equals big zzzzzzzs for me!

Taylor Swift is easy to look at, but I do not listen to pop music at all (couldn't name a song of hers) - obscure hardcore metal groups are my thing (some not so obscure, too, such as Slipknot - one of my favorites).

[sugarwood]

It's ironic that the purists used to scoff at the 996 as a "fake" 911, yet their biggest gripe was of the cheap plastic interior.
Yet, a purist driver would not give a damn about the interior. A race car does not even have an interior. Funny contradiction.

The other thing is that at track days, there are barely any air-cooled cars anymore.
There are tons of "water-pumper" Porsches like 996 & Boxster.
Water pumper to air cooled is like 10 or 20 to 1, at this point.

Anyone yelling water pumper now looks silly and clueless,
since "real" air-cooled Porsches are most often gathering dust,
while the "water pumpers" are out on the track, where they belong.

[Vaive]

Originally Posted by Rawknees'Turbo

^^^

I'm not one of those peeps that says a slow 911 is good because it "feels visceral and connected to the road" - no power equals big zzzzzzzs for me!

Amen to that. If I hear one more person use the word visceral to describe old slow Porsches, I will cut a b**** right there and now.

Don't get me wrong, I think they're very cool and fun to drive and the look is timeless and classic. But when a Camry can out accelerate it, don't give me the visceral bovine excrement.

[Vaive]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

It's ironic that the purists used to scoff at the 996 as a "fake" 911, yet their biggest gripe was of the cheap plastic interior. Yet, a purist driver would not give a damn about the interior. A race car does not even have an interior. Funny contradiction.

Heh. I owned a 996 for a couple of years before I started reading boards like this. It was only then that I realized how much I was supposed to hate the interior. I hand't even paid attention to it, since, you know, it's a sports car and all.

Not sure if I'm supposed to hate a 997.2 interior or not. I know the Porsche cool kids say it's the bombiest of bomb water cooled. But the interior is still Taurus-like, I believe.

And then the same cool kidz will turn around and complain the 991, has too many creature comforts and isn't pure enough.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by Rawknees'Turbo

^^^

This would be a more manly selection for you, M2, and inspirational. too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MjyGPp__-w

I’m a distance runner, not a sprinter. That puts my heart rate way out of the right zone straight from the start. Though we did have them play Metallica at our wedding.

[sugarwood]

The VW Beetle is also visceral and full of "soul".
Rear engine sweetness singing behind your head, no radio needed.
Only $3k instead of $30k !

[Rawknees'Turbo]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

I’m a distance runner, not a sprinter. That puts my heart rate way out of the right zone straight from the start. Though we did have them play Metallica at our wedding.

Here's a more long distance pace appropriate selection, but still big on badassery. PS - I've probably said before how much I love the fem-fronted hardcore bands - there are many of them that are successful in Europe (play huge stadium festivals, sell lots of albums, etc.) but are not even known in the US, for whatever reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kJdWJXxF3Y