AndyK

Great looking 911s in this post! The one I drove was NOT sorted I guess, considering the paint looked like it was never waxed, and it just wasn't pampered. A bad example messed up my first impression of the early 911!

Now I'll have to borrow our moderator's '86, so I can form a better opinion!

Marc Gelefsky

THAT can be arranged!! Have to get it down to Seth for a valve adjustment and service for the summer fun!

Marc Gelefsky

THAT can be arranged!! Have to get it down to Seth for a valve adjustment and service for the summer fun!

AndyK

I was only kidding (well, half kidding)! I WOULD like to drive the '86 at some point, just to check out a nice well maintained Targa! You can try my babied low-mile 996.

Still using Seth? No comment!

Marc Gelefsky

Seriously, you should experience a well maintained 911 and drive my 86.
Better hit the gym so you can handle the steering

The 911 is so much fun around town and on the twisties..
The 996 makes it all so easy... around town it's almost... dare I say.. boring?


Yup, still using Seth, he has treated me beyond well 15+ years.
I even talked him into working on my Saab
He sorted it out for me.

AndyK

Actually that's one minor complaint I have about the 996 - too much power assist on the steering! I've driven Mercedes sedans from the 70's that had better on-center feel!

Maybe Seth is better at 911s vs. 944s?

Ed Hughes

Still off!

There is no doubt HP figures are getting ridiculous, 4 door "soccer mom" sedans pushing 600HP.

But it is linear too, I'm running about 250HP out of my 2600lb Carrera (with a boat anchor of a rollbar). Linearly, that is pretty close to 315HP in a 3100lb car.

I'd consider the M5 one of the new cars that fits the mold we're discussing. On a recent run up Mt. Palomar, we had a gaggle of M5's. The three I was running with couldn't shake me. They couldn't believe my car could keep up with them. I like to think it was somewhat related to the driver's ability.

Heck, I had to look up how to spell ABS on Wiki, since I don't have it on my car. Same with PSM (&PMS for that matter!) and any other such contraption.

Scott (450knotoffice) sums it up well. I'm certainly not saying my car is faster than the new variants, but some of the comments made above were not made based on facts, and seemed to dismiss the earlier 911's as something a notch above VW's.

Again, all Porsches have their moments and days, any one of them that is in good working order is a car that most mere mortals don't understand.

Ed Hughes

Oh, my version of a well-sorted Targa:

450knotOffice

Ed, I never tire of looking at that beautiful Targa of yours.

AndyK

Yes Ed, that is one nice looking Targa ! It could be I am so used to driving my almost-new 996 that when I get into even a well-sorted 25 year old 911, it will seem rough to me. I also bet if I drive a well sorted '78 Targa for a few months, then move to a well sorted 356, I think the '78 will seem like a luxury car in comparison!

It's all relative. Here is a photo of the Targa I drove (on a race track in the photo). Cosmetically it's rough, but it has a new clutch, Billsteins, stainless exhaust, anti sway bars, etc, etc.

[IMG][/IMG]

450knotOffice

Most certainly the car will be rougher in most respects compared to your 996, but part of the appeal of these cars is their more raw, basic nature. However, that rawness should translate to a car that just feels alive on the road. Cruisers they are not.

That Targa you drove is nice.

race911

Scanning past the first post, had anyone noted that vacuum assist (aka power brakes) were introduced with MY77? (Which makes that last 2.7L car kind of a non-flared SC.) Stock brakes are fine; I used them extensively on all of my torsion bar track cars.

If it all goes to hell, and I have to economize, the RS clone would be the last to go. 10-1 lb/wt ratio, 275 rear tires, suspension done right, proper diff, hell even the stock brakes as long as the weight was around 2400lbs...........car would stack up well with all but the latest and greatest driven at a high level. They did an excellent job designing the thing almost 50 years ago; ingenuity along the way has brought it to a place I'm sure the original designers would not be able to comprehend.

To the point earlier of an RSA not being able to keep up with a 996 on track. Maybe, maybe not. I can run equal with Mooty in his GT3RS with the yellow car, equal tires. Go scan club racing results and you'll find the true performance difference. It's not as much as you think!

vivaleduc

I owned an 03 996 for 5 or 6 months, the car had about 3k miles and was 4 or 5 months old. After a month or so of driving the car, I realized why the first owner let go of the car so quickly. The 996 is a great daily driver but it is extremely heavy. Everything is assisted which makes it really annoying if you want to push the car. The early cars are far from perfect but they require your input on a constant basis which makes you very involved with everything that's occurring...driver and machine become very close during that process...in newer cars, you could drink a cappuccino at 120 mph...

SH || NC

Sounds like you should have done more research before buying a 996. And 'extremely heavy' is subjective at best. An 03 C2 [3000~3200] was I'm guessing pretty much in line with other cars of similar HP at the time. Only recently have the big players in the industry started placing more emphasis on 'adding lightness'.

Ahmet

Considering a 996 is significantly lighter than a 993, and not far apart in weight from a 964, while being VERY significantly stiffer and more powerful (also with better power delivery), and more aerodynamic than either...

Well, nostalgia is as good a reason as any to want an older car, be it a 911 or anything else. I think the signal to noise ratio of the controls/chassis in a 996 is superior to the vast majority of cars out there. The 996 is more muted in almost every way, but the feed back you do get is ultimately more useful if your objective is to actually drive fast, not just feel like you're going fast. Sure you can sip your cappuccino at 120mph if you wanted. Mind you, 120mph is no longer close to the limits of performance that a "911" offers.