supergrass

I love the 993 for daily driving except for stop and go traffic. I also get paranoid watching the oil temp gauge climb in hot summer stop and go traffic (Vegas gets up to 120 degrees).

Ed Burdell

Yeah, that's why I unashamedly have a Tip. Living in Ga, I also unplugged the fan sensor, so it's always on high speed now to keep the oil cooool.

Supergrass - that's a cool band.

NC TRACKRAT

"Don't need to be coy, Roy!"

What have I started?

stevebmd

there is a fifty ways to leave your lover post elsewhere..

supergrass

Yes, I'm still trying to find an Album that is better than 'In it for the money', it's my favorite.

I have contemplated a tip for stop and go and may consider one now, do I have to worry about trans going out? What should I look for while test driving it?

gonzilla

There is none. I kind of liked Road to Rouen though.

supergrass

I like that one too, I like the heavier rock songs from their newest album like "bad blood". Have you checked out their brother Charly Coombes stuff? It's supergrass backing his tracks.

http://www.myspace.com/charlycoombes

"Face down" "40 seconds" and "jungle & tides" are good songs if you like supergrass harmonies

Ed Burdell

Tips are bulletproof. Use the manual mode and make sure it's fairly smooth. (It will seldom be perfectly smooth.) Torque converter is normally a bit clunky when it kicks in. Keep the revs up (again, in manual mode, otherwise the Tip will shift you into 4th at 30 mph seemingly) and it smooths out nicely.

texas911

Cough*bs*cough. You have not driven a 997 have you? Floaty? Drives like an VW? Riiiiight.

goofballdeluxe

993 vs. 997.

One was put together mostly by hand in very limited quantities, the other was mass-produced.

Due to much better workmanship and materials, one cost Porsche way more to build than the other.

One was built with the philosophy of building the best car possible, the other was built as cheaply as possible, with profit the main concern, not quality.

Edward

That's not entirely accurate or fair, really. The 993 was the most "automated" in assembly of all the 911s to date. That made them, in many ways, arguably more precise and consistent from car to car, but indisputably less costly to manufacture. One cannot dispute the enormity of this latter point. As much as "hand built" offers the owner of said car "bragging rights," it brought other marks into insolvency (and subsequently, acquisition), and Porsche nearly to its demise.

The 993 was the company's Hail Mary pass, and it worked. It was the progression of evolutionary design as well as advances in manufacturing ...witness the utter complexity of producing and bringing to market the 928, very much a "handbuilt" car that was expensive before it got to the showroom, and got more so once it landed on their pretty tile. Porsche needed sales success, and quickly.

One can argue (reasonably, I think) that the 993's design was part of its success. But one can also point to the more efficient manufacturing/assembly process of this "less-handbuilt" model as a significant contributor to the company's success. And if we are to continue to enjoy our cars, old as they are, we all want the company to prosper, whatever they choose to build.

So lament the 986/996 if one must, even more so the Cayenne as that got huge battering from porschephiles everywhere, but the bottom line IS the bottom line ...if you want said company to continue, that is. For this reason, I am glad for the 9x6, Cayenne, and 997 successes.

So while I do prefer the 993 over 996 and 997, that does not diminish the contribution these latter cars make to us, the true Porschephiles (cough cough ). Philosophising and miscellaneous musing over. You may now continue enjoying your regularly scheduled weekend.

Edward

timothymoffat

Nicely stated Edward. As long as Porsche continues to make cars worth lusting over, GT3/GT3RS/GT2/CarreraGT step forward, then we need to accept cars such as the Cayenne and Panamera. I just hope the Panamera is successful in this economy, I'm sure the development costs were massive.

As far as build quality goes, wasn't the 964 the high water mark in regards to quality of materials and cost to produce?

goofballdeluxe

All good points, Edward. I stand corrected

Edgy01

There is a considerable amount of emotion involved in this. The design of the 993, of course, is quite nice,-many say superior to the 997. However, I believe the engineering behind the scenes on the 997 is far superior, as evidenced by the considerably higher 'up rate' on the latter cars. Which one is easier to live with over time? The 997. Porsche has learned a great deal subsequent to the 993 days. The 993 served as the transition car from the pure 911 design which attempted to retain as much as it could without resorting to retooling and redesigning things. The 997 is a quantum leap ahead in engineering design. Most of the public has no idea of the level of sophistication going on with those cars. while I love the look of the 993s, I have to side with the 997 for the modern engineering.

texas911

As far as hand made, just do a search for "factory tour" and you'll see that the 997 is pretty much hand assembled.