Henley1

I started the porsche slippery slope with a x50 tt. Was great. I'd have to agree with the above posts. I found myself driving my mint green 76 with 3.2 euro/915 way more. Sold the x50 and bought another old aircooled car. I just really enjoy. Love the simplicity, with most things being over complex these days. It's nice to turn of the phone stuff it in the glove box and just drive.. tere was a post above about the Nintendo experience. . I test drove a mclaren 570s a few weeks back, just to see if it should be on the "short list". After a great 40 min drive. I got out of the car looked at it and felt underwhelmed. Awsome, fast..you felt like you were not even in the real world is the best to way to describe it. Then I started telling the story to friends about the car and was saying it felt like a video game. Had more fun driving my old 911 there.

GothingNC

I have never driven a water-cooled Porsche, am I missing anything?

dhc3

Ok I am going to offer the opposite opinion. I have an '87 3.2 I have owned for 18 years. I have put 125K miles on it, driven it to both coasts from the Midwest multiple times, drove it everyday the first few years I had it, and have put over 150 track days on it as well. It is an awesome car, and it is not for sale. Ever.
I also own a 996TT that I have put 35K miles on. Drove it everyday the first year I had it. While it is "more boring" it is still an amazing Porsche. An ideal car for everyday, it has way more power, greater comforts, and is a truly aazing ride. It is a great car for everyday, but when I wanted to do a track at a track that was 1000 miles from home, it was easy to drive it there, do a 2 day DE, and drive it home. And cleaned it up and went to dinner that same night. Spouse and I did a 2 week, 5 city vacation that included a search for excellent food and music and race cars and was a total of about 3000 miles. And it was a perfect car for that. So while the 3.2s are awesome cars, don't discount the prowess and convenience of a more modern Porsche.

Drisump

If you see yourself as disagreeing....have at 'er but I know I wouldn't see that I disagree with your points. I do like the water cooled cars and within a certain lifestyle, and use they check many boxes. Personally i don't have time, room or use for a modern 911. For what I do and where I live, I require a truck and a 12 month car. The 911's are for tours and track during our six months of decent weather. Modern 911's are great in most ways but don't appeal to the same elements of my personality as my air cooled cars do. The same reasons you describe, going from a track day....cleaning up then going for dinner, silly as it may sound, is the reason they don't offer the same experience. What's funny is it's hard to forget what you're driving down the road (even 200 miles into a trip down the interstate) when you're driving an a/c 911 but it's awfully easy to forget what you're driving in a normal water cooled 911. Cheers

Drisump

Yeah, they are comfortable, fast, quiet and effortless in comparison to our a/c cars. Amazing engineering and I can see the appeal for most people. I'm not dissing the modern, just confirming how unique an experience our old ones are. Cheers

911Dave

I found it boring because there's the same level of involvement as driving a Camry. Even track driving at a DE was boring.

Edward

^^^That's exactly what I figured.

FWIW, I used to have a 77 Alfa Spider ...stuuupid fun car to have! Not fast, solid rear axle, and sounded 3x faster than I was actually going (webers + no cats = heavenly tone!!!) Plus it's a convertible so...
I loved that car...got hooked to track driving because of that car, and only sold it (reluctantly, but with no regrets) to fund the acquisition of my now current trackmeister SC.

"Performance" is as elusive as reaching for that pot of gold: tomorrow there's always something better and faster; this has always been true. Driving for "us" types here clearly is an irrational, emotive quest for smiles per gallon. There are precious few cars that reward the driver this heightened level of involvement than an aircooled 911. But on this forum, I am merely preaching to the choir

Edward

breaqnaway

Great comments from everyone, thanks. If I was ever on the fence before, I'm now fully in the a/c camp. Now I just need to track down some test drives around Albuerque and get ready to sell the 997.

7391420

I've also had both; most recently I went from an 86 targa to an 08 c4s.

I'm feeling the same way in many respects. I was planning on making my 997 a year round car, and it's die finitely capable. My feeling was that this was chance to drive a 911 all the time. The thought however of driving it in our salty winters makes me cringe... And as posters here note- the newer cars don't have the same soul. I'm looking at 3.2 g50 cars right now. One big consideration- how much will the car get used, I think I use the 997 more than the older cars because it has great ac and so I can drive it to work- the older cars - not so much as on a 90 degree day, I don't want to sit in traffic in one.

Maybe this will pull me to a 993. But I get it - the 997 doesn't make me as excited to use it because it's not the same experience

NikosF

I've had a '05 997 C2S for four years now, and six months ago added a 83SC.

I can only echo what others have said - but be aware the SC with the 3.0 engine is NOT a fast car - still corners wonderfully, but when I took it to a track day I was seriously underpowered on the straights.

The other point is that I suspect in 50 years there is no reason the SC will not still be on the road (CIS aside), but with all the computers and PASMs on the 997, it will probably have become uneconomical to keep running (my '67 Alfa will keep going for a long time as well I think).

Love, love, love the SC. It is also the generation I lusted after as a youngster and I needed it to truly scratch the itch.

SOAZ

Do it. Yes, you're crazy, but so are we.
This last week it was about 111F and I took my daily driver to a lunch appt. With no AC, I was sweaty, but I just didn't care and neither did the clients. We talked about cars because of it.

Do it. Do it.


(yesterday)

r911

Old vs. new Porsche comes down to various factors:
- your age
- WAF (wife acceptance factor)
- usage on blue hwys & back roads vs. long trips on freeways

You can make an older 911 more comfy by getting rid of all the hotrod things you did to it years ago, such as wide tires, polybronze bushings, and stiff t-bars and sway bars. Put an old "comfort package" on the car (but using new materials, e.g. new rubber).

gerry100

I've driven too fast for 50 yrs but I never really learned how to do it right until I tracked my '86 3.2 in the last 15 yrs.
One can reach high speeds with 207hp and stock tires when applying learned fundamentals and experience.

Now I drive a line and hit apexes in my truck and reach speeds that surprise onlookers

if I had more horsepower and grip I could lose my license

Quadcammer

wtf? now a 997 is a camry?

Please expand upon this revelation. Did the steering, brake pedal, shifter, etc not give you enough feedback? Did you not turn off PSM? What was it that made it similar to Toyota's venerable sedan?

tcsracing1

My first 911 was in 2009 with a 997GT3RS (i still have it)

I have since worked my way down into the 993 then the 964 and now the 911 SC and longhoods. 356 too.
I am going slowly back in time for the purist experience.

Porsches are like fine wines. Some years are better then others. Some age well and some are ready right now.

I love all of the model years. They each off unique experiences. You got to try them all if you can.

I wouldnt say one is better then the other, as they all get more advanced with each year to be fair.

I would say sometimes it is refreshing to go back to the start when there were no computers or abs brakes etc.
Less can be more on occasion.