21-years ago, I test drove a 1994 Porsche 911. I was 31-years old and in my last year of my residency. I remember it costing about $60,000 and it was a joy to drive but I felt paranoid (ironic coming from a psychiatrist) the whole time I test- drove it. A few months later, my C&D magazine came in showing a 1995 BMW M3 for $35,000 so I purchased that. A lady ran a red light and I sustained $12,000 of front-end damage so I salvaged that car and purchased another E36 M3. I later purchased a 2001 E46 M3 (my favorite of all M3s) and finally an E92 M3. I loved the motor but not the car. I ordered a 2014 M4 but decided to go in a different direction and ordered a 2015 Cayman GTS with a 6-speed MT. What a fabulous car. I expected to keep that car for at least 5-years. Fast forward to October 2015. A friend sends me an email about the 991, 9A1 engine ceasing after 2016. I contacted my dealer and she stated that the 911 GTS was a “specialty” car and that Porsche had no plans on turbocharging it. Four days later, my friend sends me another email after reading a post on Rennlist of a gentleman trying to buy a 2016 Porsche 911 GTS but was told that Porsche ceased production and locked all 2016 orders. I contacted my dealer and she confirmed that this was true. She would look for a car close to my build but no guarantees she would find exactly what I was looking for. My stomach churned. I did not want a turbocharged 911. If I want a 911 Turbo, I would buy a 911 Turbo. In addition, if I was going to lay out that much money for a car, I wanted it spec’d to my liking. My friend suggested trying his Porsche dealership so I sent my build to them. The dealership contacted me the next day stating that they had a car with my exact build except with PDK, sunroof, and Bose stereo. I had planned to use the aftermarket stereo (Pioneer 8000NEX that allows me to play FLAC files) that I pulled out of my Cayman that blows anything I could buy from the factory, including the Burmester option. He informs me that the car was allocated to their St. Louis dealership but he was going to see if it could be changed to the Houston dealership. If he could, he felt confident that he could get Porsche to unlock the build and build it to my specs. I gave my original dealer one last chance but was told that Porsche does not unlock cars once they make that decision. I told the other dealer to pull the trigger on my build. Two days later, I was informed that Porsche was willing to unlock a car and build it out to my specs. I can only thank Rennlist and my friend that told me about this because I had to make the decision within 3-days of learning that Porsche locked the 2016 991s to have any realistic chance of Porsche unlocking a car. The loyal Rennlist patrons are what made me decide to join Rennlist. I picked up my 2016 911 GTS last Friday. It has been a blast to drive.
These are my specs:
GT-Silver
Leather interior in Black (deleted Alcantara because I needed ventilated front seats living in Houston, TX)
Premium Package Plus with 18-way Sports Seats Plus
LED Headlights in Black plus PDLS
Full Aerokit Cup (ducktail and wing-I was afraid it was going to be too much but my wife insisted that I get the wing with the ducktail)
7-speed MT
PDCC with PASM.
I had the dealer install XPEL and tint my windows.

Thanks again Rennlist for making my dream car come true. I do not have plans on ever selling the last 911 N/A GTS.

 

Nice intro. You have a good/smart friend. Enjoy.

 

Whoa!! Score big time. Looks great. The GT Silver/GTS/Aerokit Cup combo is always a winner.

I'm sure a lot of guys would like to hear more about your stereo plans. Have you read the thread with the Burmester tweeter upgrade?

What dealer did you buy from?

 

I already am. It is my daily driver. Thanks

 

Car dealership or audio dealership? I purchased the car from Porsche of North Houston. The audio dealership is Custom Car Stereo. They are the best in Houston. Hands down. I have dealt with them since 1994. As for reading the thread on Burmester tweeter upgrade, I have not. Custom Car Stereo will install my Pioneer AVIC-8000NEX with JL Audio XD600/6. It is a 600 watt amp. One advantage of the Cayman was the space in the rear hatch. I was able to place a 6" sub in the left corner that took no more space than the corner cover. The friend that I mentioned has the Bose and has heard the Burmester and he told me that he had not heard a stereo that sounded as good as mine and that was with the stock speakers. I had thoughts about changing the speakers to MB Quartz or Hertz but I played with the Pioneer settings using my home Pioneer stereo's equalization mic and equalized the car and I changed the cross-over settings and that made such a difference that I didn't need to change the stock speakers. I can already tell that the 991 speakers are of higher quality than the Cayman's (at least they appear to sound better than the stock Cayman speakers) so I am excited to install the new stereo to see what it sounds like. I will post a new thread once installed to let everyone know how it sounds and what Custom Car Stereo had to do regarding the sub.

 

Oh man I have a very similar story trying to jump from my 4th M3, e92 to similar beauty.
Congrats, looks great

 

Thanks. Where were you when I was trying to sell my Cayman GTS to my friends? Lost my shirt on the trade-in and wished I could have kept both but it does not matter. I am glad I made the purchase. To those who think that I "traded up", I would disagree. The Cayman GTS is a fabulous car and it was not an easy decision. The only reason I made this purchase is that I always wanted a 911 and I did not like the idea of a turbocharged 911. Buying a car at this performance level is not always about getting an extra tenth or so off your 0-60 or a lap time. It's about driver involvement and what stirs the soul. That is why I went with the 7-speed MT. No one that buys the manual regrets it but I know several that bought the PDK that are second guessing their decision.

 

Nice intro. Enjoy the GTS and drive it in good health.

 

As you know, doctors make the worst patients so I hope you are not a doctor so that I can take your advice. Thanks

 

Congrats Doc. We are about the same vintage as I was in the last year of my residency 21 years ago. Nice to know we can reward ourselves with a GTS after 20 years of medical practice! With socialized medicine I doubt the folks behind us will be this lucky!
Jim

 

nice

 

Interesting back story.. But you have most definitely ended up with the best 991... The GTS is a keeper.

 

nice story. I was in my residency 23 years ago and 2 years ago bought my first porsche. Now I am already on my third one. CS was the first one, then 911GT3. I decided to add a spyder before the NA engine disappears and it will be arriving in 2 months. Agree with your comment about the engine in the E92 m3. I did love that engine but not the car. I have an F80 now, and I love the car but not the engine ! it does not have that nice V8 sound .

 

Almost same progression here coming from owning 4 E92s and 1 F82 before buying my first P car, a 2015 PDK GTS with sport design. Two different animals one is a cheetah and the other was a leopard. Still love BMW but I have never experienced this kind of excitement every time I get in the GTS and start the engine. I am also plan to own this car forever.

This is my take on the stereo, I am an audiophile who loves music. I listen to Classical and Jazz and play percussion. My home set up for music consists of a pair of Magnepan 1.7 and a Carver 500 watt amplifier with 2 Rythmik E15 subwoofers plus acoustic treatment. Also, I use the OPPO 103 to playback my SACD collection. Now back to the car stereo, I figured that I was not going to do any critical listening in the car so I could have chosen the basic or Bose system. The car came with Bose and since I drive most of the time in sport with PSE ON I rather listen to talk radio or CNBC, Fox News or Howard Stern. In order to enjoy the music I would've had to raise the volume enough to cancel the exhaust to levels that my sensitive ears would hate. My Bose tweeters sound good enough on my GTS, I don't see the point of upgrading unless you are going to listen while the car is off. In the car I prefer the exhaust over music.

 

9 months into GTS ownership I'm in the same boat. I'll occasionally turn the Bose up to "good listening levels" and I don't think I ever stay there more than 2 minutes -- something inside me is missing the wail of the PSE, and I just turn the music back down.

I had a 2002 Turbo before the GTS and it had the (at the time top-o-the-line) Bose system, and that system sounded way better than the GTS. It came with a cool demo CD that I moved to the GTS and so I could compare back to back from the same excellent source and the old Turbo system is very noticeably better.

Question, since you're an audiophile. On the Bose demo CD are maybe 14 songs. I'd never heard any of them except one, which I happen to own on an original CD (Not a compilation or something). It is a jazz piano and percussion piece by Gene Harris. It is clearly the same, identical recording, but it sounds better in every way on the demo CD.

So just wondering: what do they do to make things sound better on the demo, and why don't all CDs just sound that way?

Thanks!