MotoJB

...and yet you're on a Porsche enthusiasts forum. I guess since you can apparently easily afford 15 cars, they're now no big deal to you? Some of us mere mortals truly love the pride/joy of owning an amazing machine...and the thrills that can come along with modifying/driving it.

I'm sorry, but IMO a true "car guy" doesn't say sports cars like a 911 turbo are "just a piece of metal that drive down the road".


Then, there are people like me:



Let me guess, you're concerned about me??

Dock

hear, hear

uschoice

...

Quadcammer

car guys with any perspective at all will say exactly that.

There is nothing special about a 911 turbo. Its simply a good mass produced, high performance grand touring vehicle. Thats it. Just steel, rubber, leather and plastic.

MotoJB

Actually, there are a bunch of things special about MY (modified) 911 turbo...and I disagree...we obviously have different fundamental definitions of a "car guy".

What you describe is a "things" guy...not a true car guy.

Quadcammer

there's nothing special about your car either. Just because you bolted some stuff onto it doesn't make it special.

i consider car guy as someone who enjoys cars and appreciates the mechanics and driving aspects of them.

What makes the 911 turbo special? Its fast, handles well, stops well, and looks good....just like any number of other cars. Whats the big fuss?

MotoJB

I disagree...what I do to personalize and modify (and significantly improve the performance of) my car does in fact make it special. Especially to me. That's the point. What's even more "special" are the people on forums that often come along trying to take that away from others.

There is no fuss...there is just a difference of opinion...and what you're saying is in fact different. One guy says car's aren't special at all...just a hunk of metal going down the road...and people that love their car are "douchy". Then you come in, claiming the 911t is not special...my car isn't special...then in the same breath you say the 911 tt is in fact special. Well, what is it?

As a self-proclaimed "car guy", I think ANY car that is fast, handles well, stops well, and looks good is indeed special. Some are just perhaps more special (exclusive, rare, expensive, etc) than others.

leftlane

I am obsessed with cars. I get all the magazines, I browse all the forums, I swap cars like crazy, and I drive my wife crazy by constantly talking about what car I'd like to get next or which car I regret selling. I wish I knew how to work on them like the real men on here - then I would be complete.

They might be just a collection of plastic and metal parts, but man do they stir something inside me. I appreciate all kinds of cars too, not just Porsches (although I have always felt a certain connection to the 911). If I won the lottery tomorrow, I think the first thing I would do is to start accumulating the dream rides on my list - muscle cars, exotics, trucks, whatever moves me. It's visceral and there is no rational explanation for it, so I don't even try. Just let me be so I can play with my toys in peace.

996tnz

Every car is special in it's own way (even got a kick out of a Lada Niva back in the day), but the 996T is more special than most, with the UK motoring press having described it, on release, as the fastest point to point car in the world, over their B-roads. And that was in its stock, sedated, form - where it needs to be driven very hard to start showing much of its character.

Those who can't feel that character - and want to - could consider:

Driver:
Doing a performance driving day
Doing some cheap car club gymkhanas/autocrosses
Track days
Attacking a twisty, well-sighted, road

Car set up:
Alignment: Less toe in up front. Zero front toe, or even a tiny bit of toe out if you like her lively.
'Disable' PSM (or pull plug to DISABLE - note, risk of death etc, so better have advanced car control skills if pushing hard)
Disable ABS (pull plug to DISABLE - note, risk of death etc, so better have advanced car control skills if pushing hard)

Car power mods:
Tune
Tune and exhaust
Tune, exhaust, turbos, fueling etc etc

Car handling mods:
ROW (rest-of-world ie not base US) suspension
Stiffer sway bars
Monoballs(Heim/Rose joints), starting with front lower control arms
Adjustable shocks
Adjustable dogbones, strut perches etc etc

But even just neutral front toe, PSM button pressed to off (so still active under brakes), and (ideally perhaps - haven't tried the US one) ROW suspension are enough to make it obvious to almost anyone they are driving something special - provided they are driving her hard through some twisties. These cars respond to really being driven. Tiptronics in particular are adaptive, and only come fully alive when the car is seeing the sorts of rapid inputs and high Gs you'd see on track so the transmission runs its most aggressive/sportiest map.

I drive stock Integras in a race series too, and those are special in their own way but ask much less of their driver - being forgiving to the point where I was left wondering how anyone had ever managed to crash one on road. Many things go towards 'specialness' - and the 996T is for instance pretty low on visual drama in the cabin - but the ability to deliver a relatively safe yet involving near death experience is pretty high up there for what makes a supercar special. And not many cars are as involving as a 996T that's set up to go...

Road King

For many of us, this IS it. Not only is the 996 Turbo special, it's a helluva deal compared to what equivalent new cars cost, which matters to many of us that don't have unlimited auto budgets.

I'm very similar to leftlane, pretty much obsessed with cars (since childhood). Leftlane, if you lived in the Bay Area near MotoJB and I, we would definitely be hanging out !!!

Sean in NorCal
2002 996 Turbo
2010 Lexus RX350
2012 Lexus LS460 Sport
2010 Harley Road King Classic

Fishey

I got nothing except that I have worked on a ton of Sports/Exotic/Racing cars and the 996 Turbo is one of my favorite cars.

I am odd though because things like a Lamborghini Super Trofeo is basically a pile of garbage in my mind.

Dock

It seems like you are attempting to apply the word "special" as if it must be a consensus thing; an assessment that would be recognized/accepted by all drivers. But in reality, "special" is a subjective assessment made by specific individuals.

My 996 Turbo is in fact very special...to me. There isn't anyone who can change my mind on this, and there isn't anyone who can tell me that my opinion is not valid. I would also never demand anyone else feel the same way I do about my car.

Road King

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that for the vast majority of us, our 996 Turbos are pretty special (to us). We may not agree on each other's personal taste/preference/mods, but that's what makes us and the cars different.

Similarly, all those Vipers, Vettes, Mustangs, Subies and Evos are special to the guys who own them. When I owned a Viper/ 3 Mustangs / 2 Subies I sure as hell thought my car was pretty special, as did most enthusiasts.

The one thing that I would never do is tell anyone that their car isn't special, it's simply not polite nor gentlemanly.

Yinzer

I agree with everything said here.

"02996ttx50

1. of a distinct or particular kind or character.
2. being a particular one; particular, individual, or certain.
3. pertaining or peculiar to a particular person, thing, instance, etc.; distinctive; unique.
4. having a specific or particular function, purpose, etc.
5. distinguished or different from what is ordinary or usual.
6. extraordinary; exceptional, as in amount or degree; especial.
7. being such in an exceptional degree; particularly valued.

number 7 might be questionable, and yet.

anyone that would accept a random dictionary definition of "special"; which by definition is subjective, would have a hard time arguing against the notion that all porsche twin turbo's were not indeed "special".

911's are special. twin turbo's are extra special