pbeezy

This thread is pretty amazing - the OP likely made his decision close to a year ago - and yet the group continues to opine on one of its favorite topic - German sports cars!!!

It’s also interesting to read how many rennlist’ers have cross shopped/cross owned these models. I’m in that group too. My DD is an F80 M3 Comp and my for fun car has been a 991.2 GTS PDK which I’ve decided I am trading in for a 991.1 S/GTS manual.

The M3 is a torque monster, twitchy and a little dramatic at times but ultimately a good choice for moving multiple people/family around without having too big of a footprint. A big plus is that you can fit 3 car seats in the back. For the power, it is very reasonably priced. And I haven’t had an issue with mine - not one.

The 991.2 GTS PDK is so polished, so fast that it’s almost numbing. The thrills come from the speed which is mind boggling yet you can only get so much of that kind of fun on public streets. The limits are so far from everyday use.

I’ve owned a 991.1 PDK a few years ago and want to get back to that - a more organic experience with its naturally aspirated engine and manual transmission. They seem to be holding their value well these days.

To me the biggest difference between the OPs original propositions are the instantaneous torque of the M3’s forced induction versus the aural character and linear torque curve of the NA 991.1 with its superior handling.

Upscale Audio

I'm with you on that combo. In 1982 I was 24 I had a BMW 2002 and a Porsche 914...I could not afford to keep a 911. Great fun. Had a E46 M3 and a 996 911 Cab. Loved it. Love M3's and I have a 2015 GTS PDK which as you said sings beautifully. Was looking at a 991.1 TT S just because they have depreciated so much but would lose that sound you mention. I have not followed depreciation of 991.1 vs 991.2 GTS and have heard people say what yu just said about the last naturally aspirated engine but in truth they do make the GT3 and GT4.

DHL

Completely disagree. Drove this car (MB AMG GTS) before I bought a 2017 991.2. Pretty looking car but the driving dynamics (ie tuning) of the brakes, steering, throttle were way over boosted. And that hood is a mile long, making the car feel like a land yacht. Great if you like the old Jag XKEs. A five minute test drive in the 911 was enough to convince me that was the car for me. I have owned BMW M cars since the mid 80's (starting with the original E24 M635), but would not buy another due to reliability issues and very poor resale value.

manifold danger

IDK, the F8x M cars seem pretty solid and at this point a new buyer would benefit from the depreciation. I couldn't fault someone for deeply considering one right now.

E92 and below, I'd steer way clear... although the E46 non-SMG cars seem to be reaching the bottom of their depreciation curve and may not be too terrifying to "restore". I was actually looking a little over a year ago, and it seemed back then that for less than $25k you could get a well-sorted e46, whether that was from finding one very well taken care of with low miles, or a decent example and doing the work to get it up to spec. I wouldn't fault anyone for going that route either, because they are damn fine driver's cars.

I'll never try with another E36 ever again... I've had two and each had their own amount of pain. The last one was traumatizing.

No one could really argue that E30s aren't holding their value. You probably couldn't find a decent one for less than $50k I'd imagine by now (I've done no research just guessing; they were fetching no less than $30k a few years ago and are only getting harder to come by).

APEX GT3

Go with the base and get the options that matter.

I owned a 991.2 4S and now I own a 992 base. I went with the base because these 992 Carreras are simply amazing and extremely fast stock. With the extra money $$$ by going with the base you can get some much desired options such as:

upgraded wheels, sport Chrono, sport design front and rear along with the sport design side skirts, body matched side mirrors, metal or glass sunroof, nicer interior maybe colored seatbelts and colored speedometer and Chrono. And if you really wanna stretch for it -go with the ceramic brakes! The power is there in the base model and if you really need more just do a OBD ECU tune to the car. Before seeing the car I was worried that it wouldn’t be low enough and there would be substantial wheel gap in the base model and that the brakes would suck. Both we’re not a problem. The car sits plenty low and handles like it’s on rails and the brakes are amazing. My only regret is not getting the PCCB because of the brake dust and steel rotors. The next 911 car I will definitely get ceramic.

as for me: I’m putting sport cats on the car from Fabspeed and doing an M engineering ECU tune along with BMC filters. The performance upgrade will put the BASE car faster than the S/GTS model with a very simple OBD two programming and easy to install bolt on sport cats for more sound (like the gts has with less sound deadening I’m hoping).