Originally Posted by rsabeebe

you can see from my sig i have some M-car experience (not nearly all are listed) as well and was always a big fan of the e36 M3. fantastic all-around car, even with only 240hp. here's the thing i hear you saying that will be the rub - the older cars are slow and certainly will be compared to a 992TT. i love the late aircooloed cars for what they offer - a somewhat modern feel that has the lineage and direct connection back to the early aircooled cars. that upright windshield, being able to reach over and touch the pass door, the iconic dash... it's all still there. thing is, they are also not fast. quick maybe, but they're momentum cars just like the e36 M3. the good thing is, you can wring their necks on the street and enjoy the powerband.

i sold my 997S for similar reasons to you - too composed, you could never really explore the limits, and even the 997 felt a bit large. you clearly like the turbo/WB look, but only the 993tt will offer something to combat the lag of the single turbo cars. it would seem the 993tt is the best conclusion. many say that the 996 GT3 has the 'feel' of the smaller aircooled cars and offers much better performance. i agree with that and the 6.2 GT3 is a perfect compliment to my 964 and 993WB. not sure if that was on your radar at all, but it might be worth a consideration. not to mention, it would only take half your budget, so you can still add a sweet 964NB to the party.