After experiencing everything Porsche has to offer from a couple AC cars (1978 911SC & 911E) to a modern turbo charged car (992 C2S) to a NA GT car (992 GT3 Touring)…. I’ve come to the conclusion that AC classics are pinnacle 911.

I did not have a ton of seat time in my 78SC as it needed a bit of work, so I’m hoping I can pick some of the brains from experienced owners in regards to the driving experience between a late year g-body 3.2 compared to a MFI longhood car?

Long story short. I loved the simplicity & engagement that I had in my 70E during my ownership. My current 992 GT3T will be my last modern Porsche & I’ll be buying an AC car to replace it. My next car will be my last.

Would a 3.2 still have a visceral feel like a 2.2 longhood?

Will a g-body be too refined with some of the standard creature comforts my longhood didn’t have? Re: leather interior, power seats, power windows, power sunroof, AC… my longhood had none of these & was my favorite part.

How does the 915 compare to the 901 dogleg?

Finally. Which would be the best choice between these two examples:

1985 3.2 Carrera, GP white, burgundy leather interior, 32k original miles, AC, power: windows, seats, sunroof. 1 owner. Lifetime California car, no accidents, original paint. Mechanically sound. Matching numbers. $60k more than 70E.

1970 911E, light ivory, black leatherette, 148k original miles, no AC, manual everything. 4 owner, Lifetime California car. One accident (fender bender), resprayed front & rear, 60% original paint. Mechanically sound. Matching engine with replacement gearbox. $60k cheaper than 85C.

The 85C has a ton going for it. Pristine condition with no maintenance needed, low miles & I know it will last a lifetime. However, I prefer the overall look of the longhood inside & out, but high on miles & will require more maintenance. Im leaning heavily towards the 911E as I know what a great car it is. I am just making due diligence of my choice as I will be keeping this next car for the foreseeable future & will be a car I pass down to my son.

TIA everyone.

 

Lots of views, no answers. I have experience with more different Porsches than most, and I have no idea how to address your questions. Everybody has different experiences and processes those experiences in very different subjective and personal ways. You seem to have two alternative specific cars in mind. Why not just go out and test-drive those two cars and buy the one you prefer?

 

I’ve driven both, the 3.2 was a test drive & the longhood I owned over 1600 miles. Just wondering how the 3.2 will feel, over long term ownership. That is where I was hoping to get experienced comparisons. I want my car to be as raw as possible. I guess the simplest way to put it would be: what separates the 3.2 to the MFI longhood cars? Will it feel as analog & raw as the early 911’s? In the short time I drove the 3.2. It felt similar to the longhood other than the added refinement in the cabin & the weight you can feel in the handling. I can’t really extrapolate that over many years of ownership like many have done here with just one test drive. In the past, I’ve received tons of helpful insight. Just weighing my options to make the best longterm decision.

 

From driving dynamics I much preferred the early 911s I've owned compared to the 89 c3.2 i owned. But getting either sorted to the point they are well setup, you need a lot more patience and money for the early 911s. IF you get one well sorted, which requires access to someone that knows them well, I don't think there's a more rewarding fun experience driving an old slow car fast and in anger. It will be much easier to get a c3.2 sorted and functioning reasonably well. Said another way the avg c3.2 is a much better driving experience than an avg long hood. If they are both EXTREMELY well sorted a long good is an out of body experience and c3.2 can't compete. Anything short of extremely well sorted LH is just a huge PITA ownership experience. C3.2 is safer bet you enjoy it. LH: you either have lots of patience or money or both!

 

Having owned both a '72 and '76 the biggest difference in feel, assuming all else is nominal is going to come from the wheels and tires

My '72 felt like my '76 when I put the same 7 & 8 x15s wheels and low profile tires on the '72

similarly the light feel was further reduced on the '76 when I went to even wider wheels and tires, currently 225/255 but tried 235/275 and 215/235 previously

 

Keep the 992 GT3T and buy the 3.2. I have a 992 GT3 and a 1980 SC. The 3.0 and the 3.2 are bullet proof.

 

This is very insightful. Thank you! I fully understand the out of body experience in a well sorted LH. I’m ultimately trying to figure out what I would be giving up, if anything; if I choose the 85C.



The 911E is actually the same car I sold earlier this year. When I received a call from my dealership to order a GT3 Touring, I felt it was an opportunity to good to pass on. I ultimately let the GT bug bite & sold both my 911E & 992 C2S. It proved to be the wrong decision as the GT3 still doesn’t provide the same level of rawness & engagement as my E. I had hoped it would provide a best of both worlds experience… raw & engaging in a modern package. The lack of back seat & power beyond usability. I’ve decided to go back to an AC car & stay there.



I unfortunately don’t have the time to keep both. I find it to be more enjoyable to bring the entire family along in my car rather than joyriding in the Touring. The mantra of it being more FUN to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow is real.

What really sealed the decision for me was on a trip my wife & I took to Monterey Car Week. Had to leave my 3yo son behind while we saw all the beautiful classic cars. It was an experience I could of had with him if I kept my E.

I won’t be keeping a modern Porsche in the garage going forward. That’s not saying it’s not an incredible car. It’s just not a longterm answer & not really for us.

 

I agree with this --- everyone has a different perception and are looking for different things.

I will share my own personal experience - I drive my '72 much, much more than my '82. I love my '82 SC and will likely keep it forever to be passed down to one of my kids, as I have owned it for close to 25 years and my kids grew up in the backseats. However, these G-body cars do not feel as nimble and visceral as the early longhoods. Driving my cars back to back are completely different experiences. Now, my longhood is a hotrod and very well sorted, so that is clearly important and likely a reason why I prefer the experience more so than my SC. Bill's comments re the tire sizes is also very true - part of the reason I have stayed with stock sizes on my '72.

The modern Porsches are amazingly beautiful and in a different stratosphere for performance, but they just don't do it for me. There is a reason why there is such a strong following amongst the air-cooled community -- just look at events like Luftgekuhlt.

 

you need to drive and see what you want. some love the oldness of the older chassis, some dont.

here's my assessment having owned several examples of each generation:

Long Hood: less power, less weight, light 'feel', less traction, less good brakes. With power added, all the 'less' become more fun, and these cars feel much more modern than their contemporaries (you can see my build thread in my footer on "tang" which is an EFI hotrod project). I LOVE the 901/911 gearbox and the dogleg over the 915.

Short Hood: As they got later in the cycle, more power, more weight, more tire, better brakes, better trans, more luxury, AC that actually kinda works, easier to live with, especially with the G50 transmission and EFI, they feel and operate like a pretty modern car. more comfortable. less fun (for me) to drive in the canyons compared to the long hoods.

 

My prior 911 was an '89 3.2 Carrera and my current car is a '71T with a built 2.7 with Webers that weighs probably 2100 - 2200 pounds.

The '71 is simply more exhilarating to drive. The steering is lighter, the chassis feels easy to toss, and the cat-less carbureted 2.7 howls in a way the 3.2 doesn't. That said, the 901 transmission makes it finnicky in slow moving traffic or where there are stop signs and red lights. I try to avoid major roads for fear of being rear-ended from a stop whereas the G50 car could be driven like any modern manual. Also, carbs look and sound great, but changes in the weather or a little bit of crud can cause it to run funny so there is an ongoing diagnostic/maintenance concern whereas my 3.2 was just turn key and go. Also, old mag cases are simply more prone to leaks and it's part of what you accept with an earlier car. My 3.2 never dropped a drip of oil in 7 years of ownership.

I would put 2 - 3 hours on my '89 at a time without a second thought. I would not do the same in the '71, but it is a hot rod, and it's not quiet nor does it have any luxury features (no stereo, no ac, no power anything). The compromise of the G Body is that it simply is a more comfortable, more mannerly, more modern 911. Both are fantastic cars.

 

I drove a huge number of 1960's & early 1970's 911's back in the day and my favorite model, by a mile, is the 911e. I never drove a 911e that I didn't love. On the other hand, I never drove an early (pre-1973) 911 "s" that I liked, because the "s" didn't have any low-end torque, and it felt slow at anything less than 10/10ths driving to redline (I'm sure a lot of the early s's have been retuned now to drive better, but that's how they were in period in my experience). The early 911 "t" were nice to drive -- more low-end torque and much better drivability than the "s", but nowhere near as fast as the "e".

The 911e is the high-water mark for driving feel across all of Porsche's history for me. I owned a 1974 911s, and I daily drove a 1987 3.2 Carrera for many years. Both the 1974 and 1987 were nice cars, but in no way did they have the "lightweight sport car" feel of the early 911e's. The one that came closest was my 1969 912. Despite the 912 being significantly down on power versus the other 911's I've owned, the 912 is the 91x car Id want to hop back in for a drive the most (the stars never aligned for me to find a rust-free 911e back in those days in humid Florida, so I bought the rust-free 912).

Between the two choices of a 911e and a 3.2 at a $60k premium, I would grab the 911e without any thought at all. If the 911e was priced much higher than the 3.2, I would still buy the 911e. The only exception would be if you were going to drive daily, but as a fun weekend car, the 911e wins hands down by a mile in my book.

The car that I've found that best duplicates early 911e "lightweight sports car" driving feel is .... (wait for it) ... the 996.1 (coupe/6-speed/2wd). At 2901 lbs, the 996.1 is lighter than the 993 and 964 models that came before it. If fact it weighs only 35 lbs more than a 3.2 Carrera. Needless to say, the 996.1 weighs much less than the models that came after (174 lbs less than a 997.1 and 285 lbs less than a 997.2). Obviously, the 996.1 weighs much, much more than an early 911e, but 300 horsepower + power steering makes the weight disappear in driving feel. The 996.1 is 9.8 lbs/hp versus 13.2 lbs/hp for the 3.2 and 13.5 lbs/hp for the 911 SC. The 996 has to be a coupe/6-sp/2wd to get the driving feel. My first 996.1 was a Tiptronic Carrera 4 (for my wife) and I never liked the driving feel (Tip and 4wd add 230 lbs in addition to having other significant impact on driving feel). She kept talking about the 996 after it was gone, so I bought another one, this time a 996.1 coupe/6-speed/2wd. I wasn't expecting much given my experience with the C4 Tip, but the C2/6s/Coupe is a totally different car in driving feel from the C4/Tip. I think the 996.1/coupe/6sp/C2 probably the best car I've driven from a "lightweight sports car" driving feel perspective -- I love it for the exact same reasons the 911e is my high-water mark for all 911's.

 

Early 3.2’s weigh another 110 lbs less than a g50 and is much closer to it’s roots. Let’s not get into the looks or WC stuff. 🤓

 

Early 3.2’s weigh another 110 lbs less than a g50 and is much closer to it’s roots. Let’s not get into the looks or WC 996 stuff. 🤓

 

Good info. Back when I bought the 3.2, I was searching only for G50 with slight power bump from the earlier 3.2's -- I'm certain I was aware of the weight difference back then, but was far less weight focused (ok, obsessed ) than I've become now. It's good to be reminded about the weight differences of the earlier 3.2;s.

They all still weigh a lot more than the 2,249 lb 2.0/2.2 911e. Looking at the numbers, I'm not really sure why my 1974 911s at 2,370 lbs didn't feel closer to the earlier 911e, but it didn't.

 

Which does your wife prefer to ride In? Longhood or g-body?