Hi all,
Some of you may or may not remember, but I posted early on about looking at a C4S. After some reading and looking at others' opinions, it was suggested to look at a 40th as you get the x-51 package, LSD, and 2wd, all pluses for the track. The two cons against the 996 is the interior (all 996s when compared to the 997) and the narrow body if it's not a turbo or S.

So kind of quit looking at C4Ss, and started to ponder a 996 GT3 instead!! It's hard for me to fathom dropping down $50-60k at this point in my life for a "weekend toy car" in the GT3. I've driven one and it's fun no doubt. But the responsible part of me says "that's a lot of coin!"

So now I've found a 40th anny with ~46k miles on it. I haven't seen it in person yet as it's not local to me. But I can have it for $32k. (still ridiculous for a weekend toy car!) What do you folks think of this price? What's the market value on the 40th?

What say the group?

Some of my random thoughts in regards to this:
-love the widebody S, but C4S is not the best track car out there
-40th anny has LSD and X-51 package which are great for the track
-996 GT3 has it all and I'm 100% wiling to overlook the narrow body because of all the performance benefits!

 

I would love a GT3 but my 40th AE give me most of that feeling for less money and I have DD her for 2 years. X51 is really nice as is the LSD and the full leather interior is icing on the cake for a DD. Now if I was really going to track it and use it as strictly a 2nd car then sure a GT3 will alwasy give you more but like you said not 2x the price more. BTW $32k is really good on a 40th AE they are going for more than that around these parts.

P.S. I too think a wide body C4s is gorgeous but it is also heavier, has more to go wrong in the 4wd and will give you a much different feeling driving it vs a rwd C2 40th AE or GT3.

 

That 40th sounds good as long as it passes a PPI. Remember that many of us love the narrow body 996's. I personally think they are beautiful. I am also not sure where this thing about the 996 interior being bad is coming from. The interiors are so much nicer than the 993 and 964. Yea the 997 interior is probably nicer but it should be, its much newer.

 

My point is not that 996 interiors are inherently bad just that the 40th AE's have full leather standard equipment and those are nicer

 

If it's a weekend car and you plan on tracking it...hands down, the GT3 is the best choice. And it will hold its value.

 

Yoda888, by tracking it, I assume you mean you plan to do some DEs, correct? How often?

The GT-3 is a lot of car, but if you don't have much track experience and only plan an occasional DE (say, less than 10 track days annually), the 40th is a better choice, in my opinion.

Good luck!

 

40

 

I'd say 40th is the best bang for the buck

 

Yes, by tracking I mean HPDEs. No competition stuff. I don't have the time nor do I have a wallet deep enough for that hobby. HPDEs are expensive enough when you add in the consumables.

If time permits, I'd like to do 3 a year. But since it doesn't, I try to do 1-2 a year.

In terms of experience, I've enough experience that I run intermediate and and signed off to drive solo.

THx

 

And this is why I'm so smitten to the GT3!

 

Wide Body only for Porsche's!

 

+1

 

I went through a similar decision process a few months back, I wants a summer 3-5k per year car that I could track 2-3 times a year without major changes. My choices were between a 996 GT3 and a 996 Turbo. After weighing up all the options I felt that the Turbo was a lot of car but I wasn’t convinced that the added weight and the 4wd would be great on track, plus for me the benefits of 4wd would be lost to some degree as it was mainly a summer/track car.
I liked the idea of the GT3 but a few things put me off at the time, first is the cost, I know that they hold their value but a decent one is $50k+ and for a toy that was a lot of cash, plus I have 2 young kids and every now and then need to collect them from a sports or after school, so the 2 seat GT3 would have been tough, but not impossible. Then there was the road manners, for me I would love a track biased car but every now and then want to take my wife out for dinner or a drive together in it, and a track biased suspension wouldn’t have been much fun for her, in the end I wanted her to enjoy the car as well.
Then I drove a 09 997 and an 04 996, I expected to be taken with the 997 and go for that, but whilst the interior is arguably better designed and I liked the overall looks, the experience between the 2 wasn’t worth the $20k+ price difference, I was surprised how good the 996 C2 felt and really enjoyed it.
So plugged for a C2, after investigation the 40th seemed the best bet, X51 power, LSD, full leather, Bose, Sports suspension and a limited edition, the track elements with the power, suspension and LSD were the big + points, get the better interior, stereo and being a LE was a positive, whilst I don’t expect it to mean it will be a sort after car when I resell it, I do expect it to hold it’s value better than a standard C2.
I purchased my 40k mile car in March and have loved every minute of it, I tracked it for the first time this year and loved it, the car drove perfectly, it still felt fast and tight on the track. I drive it daily and whilst the suspension is hard (compared to the average car), it isn’t harsh shown more by the fact that I drove the car 2k when I collected it and over 2 days still felt fresh and didn’t ache, a massive endorsement of it’s driveability.
So as you can guess my take is go for the 40th, the 4S look stunning, no question. But I think if you want 4WD & wide body why wouldn’t you have a Turbo?.
Either way get a Porsche you will love it, get a 996 you will be amazed how good the car is for the $, it is the supercar bargain and pricing is only improving after it tanked a few years ago.

 

If you can buy a 46k mile, 40th anniversary car that clears a PPI, that is a no brainer in terms of bang for the buck. My 40th p-car is my daily driver and I am in the same DE position as you. The 40th cars are BIG fun at these events. Would a GT3 be even better? That largely depends on the driver. I think the 40th AE cars are better suited to the casual DE driver and the GT3s for the more serious participant. The GT3 does not have some of the "helpers" that a 40th car does. Thus, the better driver, more serious track guy/gal will like the GT3 better. You likely will not out drive the 40th car and will have plenty of cash for DEs, including consumables. FWIW our last instructor had a 40th car, then traded for a 997 4s; both are great, but he likes the 40th (for track days) a little better.

 

I loved my 40th. It was a great car. Once I saw the 40th all the other 996's where just to plain. Lots of power to keep up with the newer cars. I now have a 997TT but the 40th was great!!