RXDOC

Well, Car & Driver did their comparo of the new M3/Nissan GT-R and 997TT. The TT came in last. Even on track it lost out to the GT-R. The kicker is that you can buy the other two (combined) for the price of the TT. But not to worry, the TT, in 3-4 years will be $50K less ............and more affordable than the other two.

tkerrmd

not surprised.

Dock

The 997 Turbo, just like the 996 Turbo, is over priced. I hope that doesn't surprise anyone. I haven't seen the article, but my guess is that "cost" was factored into the point total, and when that's done it's nearly impossible for the Turbo to come out on top.

With regard to the track results, the 997 Turbo's suspension and AWD are not driver friendly when pushed to the car's limits. I'm surprised that it was even close to the GTR, especially given Nissan's claim of 7:29 at the Ring.

The Turbo's price, and past magazine articles similar to the one mentioned here (Turbo not coming in first), didn't sway my buying decision one bit. The Turbo had the highest number of attributes I was looking for, so essentially Porsche had me by the short hairs.

kilrgt

Honestly, I don't care what mags say about cars. Its like trying to describe in letter form what sex is like.Reading about a car is NOT I how I choose to purchase a car.No offense to those of you that put any value in some paid of writer for some mag.

tdub

I read the article today.
I equate it to womens clothes. You take St. John Knits (Porsche of womens Clothes) and you have a constant barrage of competitors. One may be more trendy or" now". Everyone wants to take down St. John.
Everyone wants to beat the fastest gun in the old wild west movies.
It's all relative.
I'll keep my 911

tw

manny_g

what surprised me is that it even lost to the M3. Like what Doc said, the price of the tt kills it in any comparison when the cost is factored in. even though a magazine article won't be my deciding factor in purchasing a vehicle, it does provide useful information when doing your comparisons. many people here do not like the gt-r for their own personal reasons, but puting that aside you can not over look the performance it delivers for the price. time will tell how well it holds up..

slant911

I liken this kind of thing to movie critics. In general if a movie critic HATES the movie I just know I'm going to love it and vice versa.

Why does everyone compare to Porsche? Because for 50 years it has been THE car to beat.

rc5204

The GTR is an amazing piece of machinery. Our TT's are also amazing peices of machinery that are also beautiful art. I am sure many like the look and lines of the GTR but I for one do not.

Not saying i wouldnt get one to beat on but for me our cars do it all and leave me smiling everytime i take a ride.

adam_

These magazine reviews are not 'opinions'... they are advertising campaigns bought and paid for by the car makers.

The metrics are manipulated to ensure the car that has paid to win will indeed win.

Interesting to read, but of no consequence for me in a purchase decision.

(Other than to help maitain the over MSRP mark up in the GTR)

MK19

Car and Driver reviews have never matched my tastes.......but I'd read them for a domestic pick up or SUV compareison or nearly anything from Detroit. No offense but each mag has it's own focus in its readers and its editorial staff. Contrary to the advertising Campaigns point above, I tend to think these guys pick subjects like this so the "cover" will sell magazines. Circulation = Ad $$.
My 2cents only. MK19

Chaos

See what they said about its streetabilty. Bars,shocks,bushings,tires,pads all replaced on track toys.

Land Jet

Win or lose, the GTR is ugly !!

Mikelly

Couple of comments here...

A: Magazines write articles to sell magazines... I've been a contributing writer for a couple of different car mags, and I can tell you that the subjectivity sometimes gets left on the chief editors floor.

B: These shoot-outs never paint Porsche in the best light, and anytime someone can hype a new product that is cheaper, heavier, and still doing everything better (The GT-R), they're going to for the reasons state in A above.

Dock and Greg Lewis are both spot on with their remarks.

The 997Turbo is overpriced. It also isn't the performance car the 996TT is.

No matter what the mags say about the Porsche, it'll always get my vote. It's cheaper to maintain than the E46 M3 and I suspect the 997TT would be the same. The GT-R, well it's a Nissan in the end, and as Larry stated, it's the ugliest damned "performance" car to be released in some time.

My 996TT is far from stock and easy to maintain. From what I've been told, the GT-R is proving problematic to tune with aftermarket parts. I'm sure they'll crack that code and get it to perform at stupid levels, but the fan boys have already done to the GT-R what they did to the last Gen Supra. It'll be in that rare and unobtainable JDM car market where we won't see many of them... Just like the Supra and the NSX, neither of which I really "had to have". And much like the C6Z06, It's a Nissan, so It won't be built to Porsche quality standards... Let's have a look at one in say oh 3-5 years with about 25K miles on it...

Mike

tdub

Great write up BTW.

I always thought the 997 tt was supposed to be miles above the 6tt.
Can you elaborate on that comment?

tw

Mikelly

I've spoken with several guys who've owned both who have said that the 997TT feels much more removed from the "driving" experience of the 996TT. I have a guy who I know personally who bought one and picked it up in January 2007, drove it until the Summer, then sold it in September. He said he never connected with the car like any of his other porsches, and this same issue has been written about in a number of the Porsche specific magazines when the 997Turbo was released in late 2006.

It's a great car, but certainly more of a touring GT car than the 996TT.

Mike