5CHN3LL

No, I don't have nearly enough self-loathing to be Tavarish.

I have never understood the anti-996-interior hate. Sure, it's got plastic in it. And carpet. And vinyl. And maybe some leather if you're lucky. My '96 Corvette, "America's Sports Car" from close enough as matters the same era as the 996, is full of soft-touch-coated plastic that peels off, terrible leather on the seats, exposed screws holding on the A-pillar trim, and squeaks and rattles a-plenty. Compared to that interior, the 996 is pretty damn nice.

But the real "wut?" moment is when a 70's-era 911 owner rags on the 996's interior. 70's 911 interiors look like a set from Gilligan's Island.

Until the 996, Porsche refused to install cupholders in their interiors - it seems obvious that the interiors were meant to be utilitarian. The 996 interior is just that - utilitarian, with one or two niceties and some really odd crap like the whole wiper delay setup. If you need a place to sit down, shift gears, and watch the world go by at ludicrous speed, the 996 works just fine. If you want a rolling living room, buy a Bentley. Or a Winnebago.

Schnell Gelb

Jake ,please ignore those who bait and vilify.Note they seldom offer any help to the rest of us -unlike you.They do not read links that provide relevant technical information, they just vandalize an otherwise enjoyable, interesting Thread with ad hominem nastiness. Please don't let them win.They only do it to get attention. Sad.Ignore them.

TonyTwoBags

Agreed - both before and after owning one for a bit. If you get a decent center console and a bit of leather inside, it's pretty comfortable in my experience. The car is still pretty small relative to the new ones: there simply isn't room enough for the myriad controls and driver aids of the 991 stack.

Being over 6' the option to center console delete is a nice touch that most cars don't offer - a clear throwback to the old utilitarian style imo. It's one of the few cars out there with a quality steering wheel that isn't over-designed, the tach is prominent for easy gear selection. Both the steering sensitivity and the generally utilitarian design with a few leather touches reminds me of the early 90s Saabs I grew up driving.

I'm not sure if people realize this but you can refresh the interiors for relatively cheap. I've replaced most of the worn stuff in mine for a fraction of the retail cost by browsing dismantler sites for good condition pieces in the right colors. A few more pieces of better quality trim, a console delete and I'll be done with this one.

Gonzo911

Jake doesn't need you or anyone else sticking up for him. He's a big boy.

TonyTwoBags

Sometimes I wonder if he's aware how much the silent majority appreciates his inputs. There will always be an irascible, intolerant minority that attempts to troll prominent figures into exhaustion. The people that matter read, listen & benefit a great deal from his experience. Never hurts to reinforce that sentiment.

mrjonger

This has taken an interesting turn. I definitely appreciate the input, but I'd be lying if I didn't say knowledge of the 24 modes of failure doesn't sully the experience a bit. It's why I'm wondering if the 997.2 is more reliable.

TonyTwoBags

Aint no way to get a cheap, reliable 911 you don't need a rainy day fund to maintain.

Buy a DFI engine and you'll get higher upfront cost, more depreciation, and possibly the need for a top end rebuild before you'd expect.

Buy a 996 for cheap and you get low upfront cost, negligible depreciation and may require a rebuild depending on the engine's condition and your maintenance regimen.

For me, looking at the entire class of 991 GT3/RS engines as throw-aways that have some cars on 3rd or 4th engines puts it in perspective. The new GT cars will have an RSR derived heart that's geared towards durability, so obviously there are some serious issues with a wide swath of the P-car lineup. Go in eyes open and enjoy whatever car fits your life circumstances.

Seems like it's either go with a mezger design TT or GT 996/7 or accept the fact the engine will have expectancy of a rebuild near 1.0 over a 10 year period.

mrjonger

The 997.2 has been out since 2009. They're in the $40s, I think I'd take a serious look if they start dipping into the $30s. Reviews seem to be mixed, Rennlist leans towards bulletproof, Renntech is more checkered. My indy has told the 997.2 seems to be the way to go - conflict of interest I know, but these guys really don't need my business. What I don't want is selection bias, is it 1% or 10% of cars impacted?

I'm looking to relocate and I'm not sure I want to hang on to the cab for a combination of reasons.

Quadcammer

The corvette, specifically the C4 corvette, was known for having one of the cheapest and worst interiors among sports cars. Comparing anything to that is setting the bar extremely low.

The air cooled interiors are utilitarian and old looking. But they are classic and THATs what people love. Its the same as comparing a Omega Speedmaster pro with a G-shock. The G-shock is more useful and more accurate with more features, but a classic, it is not. The traditional 60s style interior is a major draw for me for the 993.

I have a 993, a 997, and a 986 (with even cheaper interior materials). The design is just so painfully dated. Just like 60s muscle cars are dated but cool, yet 80s cars just look painfully dated. It was porsches first attempt with a new style, and it was organically shaped in the same bad way as the 90s taurus. Weird ovals and odd swoops every which way. Its not the worst interior in the world, but its hardly an example of porsche at its best. FWIW, the 997 interior, while looking much better in my eyes, is also not really a high quality unit. My w220 S-class interior assembly quality blows it out of the water, and that was not considered a high point for MB.

Some people may not care about interiors, but its where I spend my time while driving, so its important to me.

Spork

The whole interior thing cracks me up!

Is the 996 interior that of a new Bentley or Rolls? No, but it is a 20 year old interior design! To bitch about the interior of a 20 year old is a bit ridiculous.

If you want a nice interior I'm sure you can get one in a brand new Camry or Accord but you'll pay a lot more than a 996 price.

These are old cars now. Mine is a '99. What other 1999 cars in the $15K to $20K price range can give you the same driving experience that would have a nicer interior?

I don't daily my car and only use it for occasional blasts on country / mountain roads. I really wouldn't care if the whole interior was made of cardboard!

Oh, and I don't care about the headlights ether! I can't see them when I am behind the wheel. I also believe 100% that if the Boxster had different headlights no one would care about the 996 headlights!

5CHN3LL

There is - or should be - a distinction between "classic" and "never bothered to improve it."

Quadcammer

E46 M3 has a much nicer interior and a pretty damn good driving experience.

But why improve what works. To porsche, the classic interior provided excellent view of the instrumentation, a shifter, handbrake, and thats it. Because the focus was driving, not fiddling with hvac controls, cupholders, radio, etc. Thats not to say they didn't improve the comfort and useability between the 60s cars and the 993, but why fix what wasn't broken?

Woodman71

Yes, but...are your ***** sticky?

VivG

E39 M5 would fit the bill too, though it has a more muscle car feel than the 996. It'll outrun our cars in a line and mostly keep up in the bends, so I'd put it on the list.

The E46 interior is one of my favorite of all time though, even my F30 isn't as nice. So I might just be biased.

beetleything

You just need to wash your **** with some soapy water and it's not sticky then