Or are they GTs? I usually read Car and Driver which I think is the best of the crummy car rags. In the most recent issue, they revisit the age-old 911 vs Corvette rivalry, except now they use a Cayman GT4 instead of a 911. In their words 'the 911 has realized the 928's goal of being the ultimate sports tourer'. They aver that the Cayman GT4 is Porsche's sports car now. When did the 911 stop being a sports car? I don't anyone would say that a 997 was a grand tourer. Therefore it must have started with the 991. I do think the last version of the rivalry was a 991 vs a Corvette. Thoughts?

 

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/1211...you-agree.html

 

I would argue GT cars aren’t true sports cars since they are so singularly purposed and excel more so on the track and what makes it great on the track works opposite on the street unless one equates extremely harsh street manners as good. A sports car historically is made for the street but can excel in competition too. A 911 while slightly larger than a Boxster/Cayman have an even higher performance envelop until you get to the TT variants, then it is substantially more. I more think of a Panamera as a grand tourer. In the end, it matters most what Porsche thinks. Not a bunch of pundits.

 

Thanks to modern technology, the lines are completely blurred. GT cars drive like Sports cars and vice versa. And as I get older, I'm totally OK with it.

 

Thanks garfunkle. I try to look at RL 991 everyday but totally missed this

 

Who cares what someone wants to call them. Personally I consider mine a sports car that is comfy for cruising.

 

Well said and totally agree

 

I take what has been called a "classic sports car" out for a ride at least once a week through the beautiful Chester County, Pennsylvania country roads. Vague steering, harsh ride, noisy with a lot of intake and exhaust sound (popping zooming due to a fast road cam), all the best that a British car has to offer!. I row through the four gears and pop it into OD with a flip of a switch. Forty feels like Seventy. My ride along two lane country roads is lot of fun. The 45+ year old car "sings" - dual carbs roar when the pedal is pressed to the metal and and the ride is seat of your pants. It's a fun car and over the last 21 years, I've replaced, rebuilt, restored everything from the interior, entire electrical system, to the suspension, engine and transmission. Top down: I can't hear the radio over the car noise, but I get to relax and appreciate the country roads.


I'm 66 and the driving effort gets old after an hour or so.

I like my MG, but I love my Porsche where 90 mph feels like 40!

 

Sports cars are relatively lightweight cars designed with two or less doors, two or less seats, are rear wheel driven, have a low center of gravity, and are low to the ground. Sports cars are compromised for general practicality in preference for nimble handling and driver control.

I'd contend that the 911 never was a sports car. A sports car doesn't have 2+2 seating.

Does it matter? GT cars are usually a more powerful, more "grand" car not so much meant for blasting down tight country roads but for hammering high speeds down winding highways for hours on a weekend vacation.

 

You’ve absolutely nailed it. Yet I know there are lots of cars that are as comfortable as the 911 but have no where near its limits and that’s the difference. Lexus LC500 for example. Expensive, big NA V8 but you’ll white knuckle and sh*t your pants way sooner in that car than a 911.

I think the notion of the loud, impractical, poor riding sports car as part of the experience was previously just a tradeoff of the experience but now if someone wants that it has to be deliberately engineered in either as core DNA or as a personality switch via buttons (sports exhaust, adjustable suspension, etc), AMG GT I’m looking at you! Carrera GT and air cooled 911’s, especially turbos, used to try to kill you.

The other day I thought about how my 991 must be a far less emotional experience than say an AMG GT or Corvette or whatever. Then I took an offramp at the immediate limits of the 911 and let me tell you I held onto that steering wheel in the turn for dear life and nearly had to change my underwear immediately after. Its the limits ladies and gentlemen...they’re so high but when you find them prepare to need a defibillerator (sp).

On the track I can put this car so aggressively pitched into a turn that it feels like the Earth is going sideways. Then I exit the corner to borrow another forumer’s language like I was launched from God’s own slingshot. I can heal toe perfectly because of the seating and pedal position and rip off smooth, precise shifts with the manual transmission like nobody’s business. The rear engine layout is perfected and has all the advantages (traction, braking assist) and non of the disadvantages anymore (pendulum effect).

Then I pack three small adults in the car and a week’s worth of cargo in the backseat and front trunk and drive from Canada to Miami, FL in relative comfort.

My answer is this car is a GT when you need it to be and a sports car when you want it to be.

Porsche has ensured the 911 continues to be the liveable sports car period. The Carrera is meant to be the balance. As you navigate further through the lineup you get the GTS which is the pinnacle of that balance then you must branch to the Turbo for fastest GT sports car balanced experience or get into the true GTx cars to get track focused race car sports car blends.

911 can be anything you want it to be as long as you have money, skill, educated understanding of the lineup and critical thinking as to what experience you want as it aligns to the 911 you choose.

LOVE Porsche and love the 911 for what it stands for.

 

I think of a 914-6 as a sports car, a 911 as a sporty touring car, and an 812 as a touring supercar.

 

The world contends the 911 is the most iconic sports car in history. It’s all about the purpose of the design. Having some practicality is just Porsche living up to their German mindedness.

 

I’d encourage you not to explore the limits on the street. I did that in a 996 GT3 years ago and put it into a tree. Fortunately it was a low speed off and no injury, but it taught me a valuable lesson. I stay well within limits on the street but still have a lot of fun. Even 8/10 in a Porsche is pretty quick through a turn. After the GT3 incident I then began my track hobby and that’s where I explore the limits. The other thing I discovered was that no defibrillator was needed when exploring the limits in the mid engine platform. The GT3 incident opened my eyes to trying out the mid engine platform and for 10 years I’ve been driving a Boxster race car and now a Cayman S on track. On the track I’ve had the rear end kick out many times when surpassing cornering limits, and have never lost it. Not because I’m such a great driver but because the mid engine car is so easy to catch in an oversteer situation. Now having said that, I’ll probably spin out next track event. LOL

 

Don't bother trying to define it. because as soon as you do someone will say, "what about THIS car [that maybe even nobody's ever heard of.]?"

As far as I'm concerned anything with the engine not up front that can handle like our cars is a sports car.

 

I guess I don’t care whether or not anyone else but me wants to call my 991 a sports car. I bought it for me, and me alone. It’s exactly what I wanted, sports car or not. If anyone ever decided to redefine the word “minivan” to include this car, then whatever... My 911 is still the perfect sports car for me, and that’s really all that matters to me.