I guess years of seeing me pull away in the 993TT has changed her mind about sports cars!

Here are the requirements:

AWD for those wet Seattle falls and occasionally snowy winters
Tiptronic/Automatic: she can drive manual but has to go up and down steep and hilly intersections with lights and stop signs
Rear seats for our child
Something stylish to usher in the next 40 years! So cabriolet would be a plus. Also we prefer the wide bodies.

So, my thoughts go to the 2004 Carrera 4S Cabriolets of course.

Other options would be the Carrera 4 Cabs or Turbo Cabs, but I've always liked the 4S as I almost bought one myself, and I think Turbo would be too much speed and $$ for her taste.

I'd prefer to stay with the 996s since I do like the looks better than the 997.

Any thoughts or input on a 4S (especially a 4S Cab) as a family car? We still have a Subaru wagon so we are not completely crazy....

Thanks!

 

Panamera

 

Panamera doesn't come in convertible - that I know of...

Sounds like a C4S cab would fit the bill! Just warn her that there's not a lot of trunk space... How old is your child? If he/she's an infant, you'll have a tough time putting a car seat in the rear. If he/she is toddler or bigger, that will work better because booster seats *do* fit pretty well.

 

My vote would be to stretch for a 996 TT Cab. If the cab is even a requirement? Very easy to find in a tip and all are AWD. It's not that much power

 

The kid is 6 years old, so just about perfect for those smallish seats for the next few years.

And I look forward to driving a Subaru as a daily driver, because then there will be days when I will be asked "Would you mind taking the 4S to work today instead? I need the Subaru for something...." imagine that.

 

my 11 and 10 year old boys both get in the back of my car w/o issue. I live in Bellevue so I understand your "weather issues" I would say the C4 is a perfect car for her. Like you say the Subi is available should she need the space or the roads are not worth taking the P-Car out.

good luck with your search, hope to see you around
Ed

 

Man, that's a sweet looking 993TT - got any more pictures of that? If you haven't yet, I'd recommend trying a cab on for size... If you or your wife tend towards tall, setting the seats back eat up a lot of leg room - I'm a shade under 6' and the combination of the seat position and tilt leaves just enough room for a gym bag and not much more...

Good luck and don't forget to post pics of your new addition!

Rudy

 

C4's do not have the type of AWD you need for Seattle wintertime driving. Plus, there's all those idiots out there at the same time.

IMMHO the cab's are butt ugly top up which is the way it would be most of the time here.

Buy her a 78-83 Targa w/stick and let her ENJOY the summer but park it during the winter. Yes, those hills are a challenge but that's part of what "this" is all about.

 

I think I will end up driving the C4 or 4S when it snows and hand the Subaru back to her and the kid then. I am worried about the clearance, but with snow tires I should be OK on the arterials (depends on who runs the Dept of Traffic here in Seattle next winter!! This past winter was a joke).

Or the other option is making our fourth car (yes we have 4: but we have 4 adults in the multigenerational household) another Subaru instead of an old 98 Camry. That'll take care of our rare winter problem.

Boy....Tiptronic 4S Cabs are not that easy to find. Sports Trend Auto, a Studio City, CA. dealer with a "+/--" reputation amongst these forums, has one with a hardtop (a plus), Rusnak dealership has one also in San Fernando valley, there are some on Ebay..... Is a hardtop with matching color hard to find separately?

 

Don't listen to that BS. They do winter driving schools in Europe in the C4S. With the right tires, it's a great winter car.

 

That's easy for someone from "so cal" to say.

There are times around here, granted, while rare, that the only answer is to have enough traction (mostly called rear tire chains) to leave the arterials, or even the roadbed briefly, to get around the traffic mess.

Mostly patently UNSAFE FWD or F/awd, uncontrollable on the slippery stuff, vehicles. Then we have the 4WD/4X4 drivers that think that because they can get up and going, moving, in this stuff they still have a modicum of directional control and braking capability.

 

I drive my C4S all year, and I'm not quite in SoCal...

Montreal, Canada...

Tons 'o snow...

No issues.

 

I can see in Redmond, the Eastside, where WWest lives, it's a lot hillier than here in Seattle.

So for me to go to work, I can certainly manage in a 4S with snow tires if I can actually get to and from work in my M3 in snow, a few times without snow tires.

I will still hand off the Subie to her when it snows more than just a little bit, as she has the kid most of the time also needs to negotiate Queen Anne hill north of downtown for school drop off. Those are some serious hills with just a thin layer of snow. I would say that the kid gets driven around in Subaru all the time when it snows.

 

996TT Cab... better internals than the normal 4S and prices now are really not that far off...

 

That's great. Any tire recommendations for snow?