This thread is helping me too. I am now considering dialing back the racecar-ness of my build to ensure ease of use and driveability. Maybe instead of full carbon buckets, I'll go with seats that are sporty but can be adjusted for comfort and also allow access to the rear seat area. Instead of spending $$$$ on EFI I will just overhaul the CIS to make it 100%. And I recently decided to actually install AC after being against it for years. Florida summers will do that to you.

Making the car more streetable really helped me enjoy it more. A few things I did to facilitate this were, removing the roll cage, installing stock type early reproduction seats, factory retractable seat belts, replaced most of the body panels back to steel, toned down the exhaust a bit, and new street tires to name a few.

Another thing that helped is fixing all of the small items that I used to live with. horns, reverse lights, turn signal indicators on the gauges, working visors, e-brake working properly, misc. oil leaks etc. Now the cars almost 100% and its much more enjoyable to drive. I'm even considering a suspension refresh with less aggressive t-bars.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1690480784.jpg

Getting back to the original question, for me the answer is never. I am the original owner of my ‘88 Carrera. I never get tired of driving it and in fact I enjoy every time I get into it. I also have a newer 911 but the ‘88 is my favorite. So for everyone the answer will be different. For me it’s something that I will never do!

This question is one I think about often, as I have 3 cars (4 total at the house), I park them tandem, and the 911 gets the garage (back of the line). so to get to it I have to move an i3, a Macan Turbo, and a Vanagon. As a result, I almost never drive the 911 for a quick trip, as it takes a couple of minutes just to get it out, and that's assuming there's on-street parking for all of the other cars.

Compounding the issue, is I almost never drive during the week: I walk or bike to work, the grocery store, and bars/restaurants. I just don't drive my dream car all that much!

However, this thread inspired me to go for a nice sunset drive last night. It was simply a delight. Every time I take the car out, I'm reminded that this is all the sports car I'll ever need: good power/weight, great size, easy to work on, fun to look at.

I think the bottom line is: when you're not having fun with it anymore, cut it loose! It's just a car! About 5 years ago I sold my B5 S4 that I thought I'd never sell, and I think it's more fun to reminisce about it than it would be to still own it.

OP, I'll give you $40K cash no PPI just clear title and transfer documentation. :)

Sorry, guys. No Miatas. If I abandon German engineering for Asian, I'll get an A90 Supra. (yes, I know it's mostly German)

Sounds about right. At least plugs are an easy change. I'd open up the gap before replacing the plugs.

I drive it 4-7 days a week.

Trying like hell to not be that guy.

Yeah, this gearbox needs sorted to my satisfaction...assuming that's even possible. It's getting fully gone through after Rennsport. If it doesn't cut the mustard for me, it's all going. I don't think it'll come to that. But I am 15,000% frustrated with this gearbox.

A great group indeed, partly due to fine folks like you. ;)

I'm glad my transparency is helpful for others. The best part of the forum is learning from each others' experiences.

She's a beaut!
Funny enough, I have working everything, no roll cage, and no widebody. It's really mostly the 915 that I just hate.

An original owner is rarified air these days!
Congrats on 35 years of ownership. That's super impressive.

A B5S4 and a Vanagon! That's a lot of self-loathing behavior! I kid. (mostly)
I did consider a Macan before settling on the Q5 and occasionally wonder if that was the right move. A Macan on coilovers with a sticky square setup would be a hoot in the twisties. Enough to replace a 981/997? Hard to say.

I bet you would.

I come from a competitive cycling background; I raced domestic Pro for years and for about 18 years I trained between 10-20 hours a week. Yeah.

There were long stretches where every time I got on the bike I was doing a workout, looking at power numbers, crunching data, obsessing about new equipment, etc... to the point that my relationship with the bike became work, except that I wasn't getting paid enough to not also have a real job. I grew to loathe the bike and contemplated quitting racing many times if not walking away from bikes all together.

The key for me was to recognize that state, to identify that pressure and to build in releases. I would drive out to a new road, leave the computer at home and just go riding for myself. I'd take random turns, get lost, eat at little dives, and try to reconnect with what made the bike feel so amazing and seductive; freedom and exploration.

It allowed me shed all of the baggage that came with racing and just enjoy being on a bike. And that was enough to carry me through the next chapter until I needed another break...

I don't think that you should sell, Chris, and I think that part of your frustration is a relentless and fierce pursuit of something that may not exist; a unicorn of a car that meets all of your wants and needs. But I don't think that the effort and pursuit of that goal is the problem... I think that it is what drives all creative and uncompromising people; the unattainable. It forces us to be better, smarter, more creative and work harder and out of that comes no only self discovery but the betterment of ones self.

As a cyclist and artist I long ago learned that the hunger and drive matters and can be powerful enough to propel you for a long time... but when it starts to wane, it's dangerous as that delicate fire can be snuffed out.

Maybe it's time to go for a solo camping road trip- a long weekend with the bike and car to just drive and ride and remember what you love about the car... or maybe it's time to tarp it and focus on your house projects and forget about the car until fall or winter. I don't know what recharges you but it sounds like you're overdue to come up for air.

You could even get rid of those RS door cards, and install factory ones with horrible things like armrests, storage, and map pockets that hold beverages perfectly, but it would add like half a pound so you're drivability would be ruined.

:D

Chris wrote: "Sorry, guys. No Miatas. If I abandon German engineering for Asian, I'll get an A90 Supra. (yes, I know it's mostly German)"

It's a fine point, but I'm not suggesting you "abandon" one for the other. If you like an A90, then get that instead of a Miata. But own and drive both for a period of time, and see which one you keep coming back to. Maybe neither. In which case, buy a minivan. :eek:

If you're selling this to get into a 987 or 997 to tinker, then I think you'd be pretty disappointed. There's really not that much to do on the modern cars in comparison to an aircooled car, and when you do do it, you're just like every other 987/997 at cars and coffee with the same wheels, coilovers, cobb accessport, and exhaust.

You just described 2 guys I know. Same mods. Slightly different mesh wheels. Cars are great but ultimately forgettable.

As a former owner of a 997.2 4S, I was going to write this exact same thing.

I did the exhaust improvements (then decided it was too fart can sounding and went back to stock), the DSC controller to improve the damping (which took all of 5 minutes to unplug the stock controller and plug in the DSC, and then had custom wheels made which was nice but there's no good reason to go past the stock 305 rears IIRC, added a Numeric shifter which was a slight improvement and took maybe 2 hours. Just isn't much you can do to make them better or personal.

In the year I had the car, only one person ever came up and asked me or commented on it. And the 997 colors are for the most part yawn inducing.

Sold it for my 69 hotrod, and have zero regrets. Literally every time I drive I get thumbs up, people smiling and waving, people coming to ask about the car in every parking lot, lunch stop, and gas station.

My first Porsche was a 997 C2S. My second one was a 993 C2S. My third was my '89 Carrera. My fourth is the '71 hot rod.

My overall enjoyment increased with each successive older car. I will say the '89 was a real sweet spot though. It isn't as nimble or as wild as the '71, but it had that core analog feel that these cars have and required very little wrenching. I was totally comfortable putting 100 miles on it in pretty much complete comfort.

Man, that's a wild machine. Don't sell it. It's way too unique/cool.

I like the 997.2's - however my wife passed the edict that they "have no soul." At the monthly gatherings, I will say the air cooled older car guys are the only cars with their engine lids up and fully engaged in the actual car. Their is a Mandalorian ethos - "this is the way." Having said that, the Cayman and Boxster folks are more involved in the Driver's Ed weekend warrior driving - in comfort with AC. It DOES tug at the heartstrings, so I get that. What I have always liked about the G body cars is they are in someways legos or tinker toys. You can be as creative as you want to personalize the car - track beast, retro, Singer wanna-be, factory only as built puritan, or as wild or as subtle as you desire. But no RS door cards so as not to offend anyone :)... At the end of the day, I have had 32 cars in my 42 years with a license, and none make me smile the way a 911 does. So this one will be for the long haul - I have learned my lesson. Of course, unless I stumble across a must have no sunroof coupe some day.

Thanks for the kind words....and to add to the conversation, I previously had a 997.2 and as others have said, while being an amazing car it lacked the soul of the air cooled. I guess I knew this intuitively which is why the Black car is gone and the Yellow one is still here. SmileWavy

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1690514775.jpg

170 ish cars
997, 914, 911 (84)

Guess which one makes me smile the most

Just drive it

Now should any of you want to sell a driven 993 manual trans coupe for the price indicated in Excellence Magazine Buyer's Guide for "average" (or thereabouts), shoot me a PM. :)

I guess the answer would be when you need the money to feed your family. Otherwise the money can’t replace the soul of a 911. Even parked in a garage and not driven you would be hard pressed to substitute.

yup ,same here as most boys..i have mine for 27 years it went from Germany to Finland after LA where i got it in 1996(bank repo for 9K )..went to France now in Czech and soon back in the USA with it......if my legs are working the 911 stays..The price of 911 Carrera in Europe is nowadays 75K euros..still not enough to replace the feeling of driving it...

Ivan

Have you ever driven a 911 with a 'good working' 915? If yes then were you satisfied with it? If not then perhaps ask around if there's any pelican folks that would let you drive their 911 with a 'good working' 915 gearbox.