Observastion
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From: San Francisco
What was that line? The average driver wants more power, the better driver wants more performance. Or something like that.
IMHO, if you have to explain it to them, they will never understand. Best not to even respond to silly comparisons.
IMHO, if you have to explain it to them, they will never understand. Best not to even respond to silly comparisons.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Bay Area, Ca
Unfortunately for all of us, the current version of the Corvette in fact does "perform" in all aspects - at an incredibly attractive relative price. 
Don't worry, I'd never buy a Chevy, but one has to give credit where credit is due...unfortunately. 
Don't worry, I'd never buy a Chevy, but one has to give credit where credit is due...unfortunately.
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2005
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From: Palm Bay Florida
I can agree with the dollar for horsepower comparisions and in all honesty there is a bit of jelously there for me. What we have is a superior car when looking at the qaulity built in. But we also have to look at model years. I have a '95 993. What was the Vette doing for HP and performance ten years ago? not to mention build quality. If anything I'm getting a little concerned with Porsche not because of the HP race but the build quality issues. I have to say I read more and more of issues (some catastophic) that afflict the "newer" cars that where simply not there years ago. I bought my first 911 years ago because I truley believed it was the best build sports car on the planet. If we loose that than we truley are on tricky ground. Could all this brand diversity come back to bite Porsche in the ***?
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From: New Jersey
Originally Posted by obchuck
Unfortunately for all of us, the current version of the Corvette in fact does "perform" in all aspects - at an incredibly attractive relative price. Don't worry, I'd never buy a Chevy, but one has to give credit where credit is due...unfortunately.
Don't worry, I'd never buy a Chevy, but one has to give credit where credit is due...unfortunately. 
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From: The Flying Turtle Ranch
Originally Posted by 901aero
I can agree with the dollar for horsepower comparisions and in all honesty there is a bit of jelously there for me. What we have is a superior car when looking at the qaulity built in. But we also have to look at model years. I have a '95 993. What was the Vette doing for HP and performance ten years ago? not to mention build quality. If anything I'm getting a little concerned with Porsche not because of the HP race but the build quality issues. I have to say I read more and more of issues (some catastophic) that afflict the "newer" cars that where simply not there years ago. I bought my first 911 years ago because I truley believed it was the best build sports car on the planet. If we loose that than we truley are on tricky ground. Could all this brand diversity come back to bite Porsche in the ***?
Hmmmm.... wasn't Porsche #1 in build quality this according to JD Power?
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2005
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From: Palm Bay Florida
Yeah right, JD power is the consumer reports of the auto industry. Read the fine print. There's "initial build quality" and then there's other catagories for how well the car acually holds up. Their figures still show, what was it, something like 60 or something reported problems per 100 cars? I can't recall the acual numbers but it was not exactly a Porsche like performance report. Besides I don't need a magazine to tell me what's wrong or what's right with my car after I've owned it, driven it, and worked on it myself for a couple of years. Porsche is still a fine car but the little things that are slipping under the radar are concerning. Abandoning racing and the prudent proving ground it is, has, I believe, taken it's toll on the 911 as a whole.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Virginia Beach, Virginia
I think there are some good points being made here if we take off our rosey Porsche glasses. Don't misunderstand me, I have loved Porsches since I was a little kid. People attribute my attitude and love of Porsches to being irrational when being challenged on the performance factors of most cars today. I was at VIR last May and a new Z06 was blowing everyone away in the Yellow class, a street Z06 the guy drove to the track, no sticky tires, not track modded with weight removed, etc...and he had a regular 400 hp C6 right behind him doing almost as good, lapping all our guys. I don't see the 10yr old 993 blowing these guys away like the previous post said, I see the opposite happening when I am at the track. I love the 993 Twin Turbo, which I see at the track all the time, but it is 400 HP, so is the base Corvette and a GTO??? I think Porsche should expand their thinking and think outside of the small engine-low horsepower box they've been in for all these years, that is if the current trend in performance continues with the gas crunch we are feeling. The gas crunch could cause manufacturers to cut back or abandon all these high horsepower, super fast cars and then Porsche would get a reprieve and not look so bad. Like I said, if you just look at the facts, our horsepower was good 10 years ago, but that doesn't matter anymore with the jumps made in technology. You can't say I made something good 10 years ago and I will sit on that when everyone else is continuing to improve. The gains in HP and performance is almost like the gains in CPU speed in computers. No one would buy an expensive computer that had a 300 hz processor with a 15 inch screen for 2 to 3 times what they can spend on another computer that is 2.8 GHZ with a 19 Inch flat monitor and 1/2 the price! COME ON PORSCHE, GET COMPETITIVE!
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From: New Jersey
The highest HP cars are always the fastest in the lower run groups.....all it takes is a right foot and some straights. In the run groups where people know how to drive quickly on the track, performance matters, not just HP. That is why I like the mixed run groups at times at some events.
Ever since I was racing C Production Porsche many moons ago, and beating B Production (small block) and A Production (big block) Corvettes and other HP cars, it has been similar.
If you want HP, get a corvette or a viper.....or a TT. Yes, the new ones are much improved from days gone by, but I will always remember the good drivers in the Corvettes....with no brakes, overheating, etc., about half way through a race. And lets please leave the special built, million dollar, tube frame CRs out of this.......
Ever since I was racing C Production Porsche many moons ago, and beating B Production (small block) and A Production (big block) Corvettes and other HP cars, it has been similar.
If you want HP, get a corvette or a viper.....or a TT. Yes, the new ones are much improved from days gone by, but I will always remember the good drivers in the Corvettes....with no brakes, overheating, etc., about half way through a race. And lets please leave the special built, million dollar, tube frame CRs out of this.......
Racer
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From: Bay Area, Ca
The thing is, as P-cars have gotten larger over the years (993 vs 997 - 993 looks to be, what, 8/10ths the size?) have the horsepower gains risen at the same level? Certainly Porsche offers versions w/great amounts of horsepower but therein lies the argument, you're easily $100K+ just to get up into the range where you can hang w/a $60K car. Don't get me wrong, quality/resale/etc. is a separate argument and factors into pricing, I know. But purely from a performance/price perspective, this is an argument the we unfortunately much concede gentlemen.
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Again, it has always been so. If you want HP and low price, get a Corvette. This nothing new. I used to hear the $$/HP story in the '70s, '80s, '90s. It is not what Porsche has ever been about. NOT a news flash...Corvettes always have been and always will be CHEAP cars with lots of HP! 
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From: New Jersey
Originally Posted by obchuck
The thing is, as P-cars have gotten larger over the years (993 vs 997 - 993 looks to be, what, 8/10ths the size?) have the horsepower gains risen at the same level? .........
'66 - 18.3
'76 - 15.0
'86 - 12.9
'96 - 10.7
'06 - 9.5
993 vs 997? 8/10ths? Ah, no. The 997 weighs approximately 55 lbs more and has 43 more hp.
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From: New Jersey
Originally Posted by obchuck
Although I was uninformed to the exact #'s you've posted, I was really referring to the size of the two when you park them next to each other.