john981

As a native german who has been living in the US for many years, I have always wondered why people discuss here all the time about how "fast" their cars are and about milliseconds for their 0-60 while in reality they can only drive 65mph? Everyone wants to have the fastest GT version and talks about "not fast enough" for cars with over 300hp? Again, maybe I missing something but unless you track your car, the base porsche (whether 911, boxster, Cayman etc.) should be sufficient enough to enjoy the porsche ride. I see it kind of waste of money to invest in ultra fast version of any porsche. It is definitely different when you track your car or live in Germany: even with my "slow" Turbo diesels in germany my average speed on the autobahn was around 210km/h and if I would have had a faster car, I would have gone all in and taken full advantage of the power. Once I rented a M3 with 475hp and went all in on the autobahn, it was kind of scary but you can do that over there and it is fully legal.

Just for the records: I have a base 981 and I love everything on this car and think that I don't need one horsepower more and get the full Porsche experience with it without being afraid to loose my license.

I am not trying to be provocative here just would like to understand the point of aiming for faster and faster cars without having the ability to drive it fast. Thanks in advance for your answers.

ekam

Yep, that's why I have a Boxster and not a Turbo.

There are plenty of race tracks people take their cars to.

alvitdk

Well, first of all...move to Texas, we have 85mph highways as well as COTA in Austin to track the car. We also have the twisted sisters, one of the best roads to get your blood pumping, either with my Porsche or bike. Having said that, I also "only" have the base for the same reason you mentioned. However, my next Porsche will be the S.... for no particular reason other than getting exhilarating fast onto the on-ramps and on track. But I have been there, also from Germany and in the US for the last 22 Years, going back once in a while I take any advantage I can get to go onto the autobahn, even though the parts without speed limits get less and less every time.

To make it short, there is no good reason to have a faster car, but damn it's great if you have one, just for the sake of stepping onto the pedal once in a while for no reason other than listening to the exhaust and pressure into the seat!!!

venom51

Well...while I bought a GT4 it wasn't necessarily for the HP or outright performance. I bought it because it looks the way I would like one to look, it has enough performance, 3 pedals and a wiggly stick so it is fun to drive and hit a price point I was willing to pay to have one. I have spent the better part of 3 decades racing on 2 wheels so heading to the track with it is not top of the list. I have actually gone backwards in the HP department since high school. My first car was a 500+ HP 66 El Camino. I'm lucky to be alive.

ZDan

I had a '94 FD RX-7 with a 550hp 6.8 liter LS3 for a while. Trackable street car. It was fast... I did 185mph in the standing mile with it with previous 6.0 LS2 engine. Hit 160mph on Andretti Straight at Mosport. 150+ before the chicane at Watkins Glen. Never had anyone to RUN with at the track though! One day at Palmer MA I broke the driveshaft :O, thankfully at near-zero mph. A friend let me drive his 318ti track car for 2nd day of the event, and I had a BLAST mixing it up with the slower cars driven fast, and the fast cars driven not-so-fast I bought a BRZ last year and tracked it exclusively, then sold the RX-7. Recently bought '11 base Cayman with the proceeds. Looking forward to taking it to the track now...
Fast was a lot of fun, and challenging to get the most out of it, but in the end I'm not a pro driver, and the car was not a full-caged race car and not maintained by pro crew. I kinda miss it, but not nearly as much as I thought I would...

Code

My guess is that for some people it's just about bragging rights. For me, I enjoy lateral g-forces more which doesn't always require an insane amount of horsepower, hence the quote in my signature down below.

f4 plt

I have a 2012 Boxster Spyder and a 2018 GT3, I'm almost 77 and have never had a ticket . No you can't legally drive the cars to max on the public roads, as I could in Germany in the '70's but that does not concern me. Both are nimble and fun to drive.... I love on ramps. The cars are comfortable for long distances as both have sport bucket seats and I just enjoy them. By the way I also tow a small cargo trailer with the Spyder. Because the car has lots of horsepower doesn't mean you have to exercise it all the time

Noah Fect

Americans who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s lost a lot of regard for highway speed limits due to the Federally-mandated 55 MPH maximum. When the law does not respect the people, the people will not respect the law.

Enough said.

Semitone

First, almost nobody drives 65mph. Second, when you are doing 90 mph it is nice to have a car that is stable and handles well.

I also found that we can go faster on our secondary roads in the US than I could when I was driving in Germany. Speed limits in Germany were lower, and cameras are everywhere. As far as driving on the autobahn, well, when there isn't construction or traffic, I didn't find it all that exhilarating driving in a boring straight line, speed limit or no speed limit. I can find much more fun ripping around secondary roads in the states at 60-70 mph. Lots of elevation changes. The closest I found in Germany was,IIRC, the Schwarzwald Hochstrasse. We have roads like that all over the place...( without the cameras!)

In addition, we do have a lot of tracks, where anybody with a car and some money can push their cars a bit

Then again, there are a lot of GT3s going on the 3rd owners with only a few thousand miles on them so, maybe it doesn't even matter whether we have streets, never mind speed limits.

fast1

You present a very rational case for a base 981. I live in the country in northern Maryland, and even in my area there aren't many places where anyone could safely approach triple digits. So my 981 BS is perfect for my area. Actually a Miata would be my preference, except for the fact that almost every vehicle in my area is either a SUV or truck driven by distracted drivers.
To answer your question, I know six guys who own very fast Porsches: GT3, GT3RS, and GT2RS. All of these guys are accomplished drivers, and five of the six are instructors. So in their cases they do get to drive their cars as Porsche intended, since they spend a great deal of time on tracks. In addition to the enthusiasts, cars like the GT3RS and GT2RS attract investors, who hope to make a fast buck.

Type_A

I specifically got an S: faster acceleration, bigger brakes, painted calipers and a six speed transmission. None of which you need the autobahn to take advantage of. I hear they hold their value a bit better than a base but Ive not researched to see if thats true.

Semitone

By the way, no one ever said, "Hey, my car has too much torque!" ( except in the snow, LOL) Probably more important to many of us than, hp and top speed.

kiznarsh

For a lot of people, it's not about top speed, it's having more power to enjoy on freeway onramps, to pass others more easily (even with additional passengers), and the benefits that faster cars provide in terms of options, since typically the higher trims come stock with things like better brakes and nicer wheels.

I'll admit I miss the ridiculous grin on my face when taking off in my tuned C63 (540 hp), but I was always chirping the tires and rarely went WOT. After I sold it, I regretted tuning it because the stock 457 hp was more than enough for my purposes which did not include any track days.

Also, bragging rights is 100% a thing. Whether it's hp, how many beers you can drink without pissing yourself, or telling the bouncer that you deserve to get into the club because you paid $500 for your sneakers.

HenryPcar

The autobahn is fast, but its not what the Porsche is build for. In fact, the autobahn type of driving is the most boring form of driving. Give me a canyon road and a torquey 911, then you are in your element.

schell

I does baffle me why somebody would buy a GT3 and never track it, I own a Cayman S and love the track even more after every visit, it is really nice building confidence with the amazing engineering that these cars have, and grinning ear to ear and leaning more and more each lap, yes my car has over rev's