Reading an article in Motor Trend while waiting for an oil change on the company car. Corvette vs Porsche. Basic premise was the Corvette will kill you if it's cold and wet and you'll be happy in the Porsche.

However, the editor did take the time to say he'd never been disappointed with a Porsche launch except 1998.

What is it exactly?

 

There are some old fashioned porsche purists think 1998 was sucky time for Porsche because they went from a niche sports car builder of air cooled machines to a volume producer of water cooled machines - that had a much more 'volume car' build feel to it.

It made Porsche into one of the most profitable car companies in the world - but they don't really care about that. Oh well who cares, they miss out and will never know.

 

Someone who reads to much on the internet?

 

People like to have a reason to complain?

The 996 was the first watercooled 911.

Remember when "New Coke" came out in the 80s? People actually preferred the new recipe in blind taste tests, but it was a miserable failure because Coca Cola strayed from what was familiar and "historic" for people.

 

Personally, I hate the 991...but just because they mixed up the numbering.

911
930
964
993
996
997

...991?

-Eric

 

I am kind of glad the 996 haters exist. It drove the price down to the point where we could all get a world class sports car for not that much money, and now that everyone is realizing how great of a car it really is the price is going back up. A good friend of mine who has owned many p cars but never a 996, drove mine the other day and was very impressed. Now I think his opinion of the 996 is much different than before.

 

Sorry, captn but the 928 was watercooled and made before the 996.....

 

Better to say the 996 was the first watercooled 911.

 

I meant to say the first watercooled 911.

 

"Now, to put a water-cooled engine in the rear and to have a radiator in the front, that's not very intelligent." -Ferry Porsche (PANO, Oct. '73)

Be that as it may, we just had a similar discussion about the 993 and those that get it and those that don't. Same is true for the 996/997/991.

 

Id prefer to have a water cooled 911 personally. More power, less stress...

 

New Coke stunk.

 

Wait a minute, that wasn't all I meant to say....

Last month's GT Porsche magazine had an article entitled, "Six Appeal:"

Six Appeal
Misunderstood, harshly treated and ignored by many, the 996 Carrera has had a tough life. Which comes as a shock when you consider how many great 911s it fathered. Here’s our guide to them all.

Article goes on to say that every previous model was hated by the haters because of what was changed, or what wasn't.

That said, I also noted that in their comparison of the 911 to what's come before, they neglected the 996. They included a 964, mind you:

History Repeating
The 991’s toughest test is, perhaps, to see how it stands up against its forbearers, so we pitch it against a G-Series Club Sport, 964, 993 and 997 Carrera to see just how far the 911 has come.

Hrumf. I dig my car. +1 on the price point argument.

 

Haters gonna hate... is the 996 the Tebow of Porsches?

 

That's debatable. It did do better in blind taste tests before it was released.

Also, Pepsi wasn't lying when they said more people preferred it to (original) Coke when they did the Pepsi Challenge; not to mention the fact that they were actually starting to outsell Coke in grocery stores. Coke management needed to do something...which is why some people tease that New Coke wasn't as much a marketing blunder as it was a success at bringing people back to the brand.

But it didn't matter. Coke was part of Americana...as American as apple pie. Changing it was offensive to the American public and that's what brought it back...not that it stunk.

Only, in this case, Porsche didn't bring back its "Classic 911" and "New 911" outsold (and outperformed) "Classic 911" in every possible way except perhaps the door thunk.

-Eric