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This is the old owner in the car as I have not had time to do a good photo shoot...but the car is very cherry. I'm f-ing thrilled! It's a 2012 Black Edition (#945) with a new PDK (original had an issue, so he installed new one in '18, yea!) and SC, plus a GT3 suspension upgrade, and Girodisc 2pc rotors with a brake upgrade, with only 34.6K when I bought it. Still smells new inside and interior is basically new. Whole hood and front of car is filmed. The wheels are actually perfect, not a single scratch (he had stashed them and was running Forgeline on the track. I'm going in a different direction), and the motor is super strong no issues on compression or leak-down. GT3 suspension is awesome. Flat but not super firm so still nice to street. Perfect set up, and I had the PPI shop set the camber to a trackable street setting, so I don't eat the tires too badly (not really a daily driver), and they did a fresh brake fluid and oil change, and all the other fluids, wipers, TPC sensors, just to make sure the car was as fresh as possible, before the trip home. I am in LOVE!!! So... just got the Solarworks anti-UV tinting today. Bought the EMC2 Design 991 front lip and install kit, which will go on this weekend (the owner was great and gave me a lot of pointers). Then, on the 25th, Goldcrest Motorsports is going to do an Sharkwerks center muffler delete, swap out the paper filters for dry BCM's (on all their track cars) and then do a Softronic remap/tune. The combo should be good for >35 RWHP or so (we'll see. I'll report the news later. With some photos!). Then taking a pause to enjoy the car for a bit, while i refresh my hobby bank account... and think about track wheels, cage options and seats. I have a f---ing 911! Soooooo happy!
Congratulations Rickamurthy!! Nice, nice car. Sweet modifications! Glad everything worked out well and you have a great ride...
I love this thread. Speaking for myself, when I was looking it was:
Coupe
OK w/ RWD but everything I've driven in the last 12 years was AWD.
Exterior color didn't matter
Interior didn't matter as long as it wasn't sand beige.
Prefer something after 2011.
Base 991 or 997.2 would be more than fine as long as it fit budget.
PDK preferred (I love the PDK in my 970 P4).
Local dealer sale preferred.
30k miles as a limit.
I wound up with a 09 Ruby Red/Sand Beige C4S Cab PDK full leather from my local dealer with 31k miles and 2 year CPO that fit my budget (by about $10...lol). When I saw it for the first time, I thought "this is nothing like what I was thinking that I wanted but if I can make the numbers work, I'd be an idiot to let this go."
It is interesting to hear other people's thought process. I won't go as far back as I could but I will say, I have always wanted Porsches since I was a really little kid. There are a bunch in my family and there have been a bunch now gone. When I was in college, I would sit with friends and dream about cars we'd get when we graduated, and at the time, the top of my list was a 356A, which I theorized would be dirt cheap by then. Boy, was I wrong there. I ended up graduating and have been shopping for 911s mostly since. Meanwhile, I had some EVOs and a Civic that I extensively worked on and modded. At some point, I got more and more serious about shopping for a 911 and did what I do when I house shop. I started with a 996 C2 but was looking at GT3RS within a half hour for sure. After doing this for a few months and even checking the reality of GT3s, I started to settle on what I wanted.
I had FWD and AWD cars but the only RWD car I had was my first car, which was a 73 AMC Hornet (like the one Bond kickflips over a bridge in one of the older corny 007 movies). I loved sliding it around from North County San Diego to the beach on the dirt roads between in the early 90s. I drove some other people's RWD vehicles over the years but I wanted to own and drive something a bit different. As a result, all the 4s were off the table. I also have a cousin and a friend with GT3s. I have gotten to drive them quite a bit, and it is my strong opinion that they are not very good daily drivers. This is totally subjective but I will not even commit to tracking once a month at this point in my life, so having a car that seems more fitted primarily for track duty, seems like overkill. I have not driven (or ridden in) a 911 R or a GT3 Touring, so I will suspend my judgement on those and keep dreaming.
All this left me with 3 main choices, a C2, a C2S, or a GTS. After looking at and driving a bunch of C2s and C2Ss, I felt like the jump between the 2 models was big. I love the C2s and think they are great but I ended up really wanting the bigger brakes, and even though the C2 has a more peaky engine (on the 996 and 997 IMO), I really wanted that 3.8 in the 997. IDK why but I really liked the sound and the feel of the NA 3.8, and specifically the M97 from the 997.1. I was aware of the IMS and researched it carefully but I still liked the 997.1 over the .2. I think this might be my personality though. I really preferred the EVO VIII over the IX when I had EVOs and I even spent months longer searching out ones without the ACD or the X with AYC and more tech. Both the EVOs I owned were lowest tech VIIIs. This really helped me narrow in on the 997.1 over the 996, the 997.2, and the 991.1s. I also saw a couple more rare GTSs for sale. I think they are great models but I really do not want CL wheels on a daily road car, and the prices for GTS push too close to GT3s for me. Every time I considered a GTS, there was a GT3 for only marginally more that I would rather have in that case, whereas C2Ss were half the cost of GT3s.
In the end, I got to know exactly what I wanted and what I would have to do to a 997.1 C2S if I got one. I was looking for as luxury spec as possible with the sport interior stuff (the GT3 bits like the steering wheel and shifter...) + 18 way sport seats specifically, extended leather for sure (after having a B8 Avant with prestige..., I cannot go back), and as much of the fancy options as possible. At the same time, I knew I would not find an X51 kit, so I started to figure out how to assemble as much of that kit as possible (i.e. PSE, X51 headers, and IPD comp. plenum/GT3 TB combo with tune), and that after driving a few 996, 997, and a 991 GT3, I realized I needed GT3 suspension with the luxury on top. Once I had that picture, it still took a year or so until one popped up with low mileage that was a well garage kept queen. S/O to the 2 San Diego guys who drove her less than 1k a year on average. Since then, I have upgraded to the OEM GT3 PASM coilovers + the OEM GT3 wheels, and the bootleg X51 wannabe kit it almost complete but with Fisters, X51 headers, the IPD bits, and soon an EVOMsit tune.
I got the car almost 3 years ago. I have used it as my primary car since. Recently my family situation changed to where I have to drive up to Tahoe from LA every couple months. As the car is set up right now, it is perfect for my daily commuting and general lifestyle (ACH or other LA canyons once a week or so) + I cannot rave enough about those 18 way sport seats on 6+ hr. drives. With the car set up like this, it is the best daily driver I have ever had, and it is better for longer trips than any other car I have had. The only negative is cargo space for 2 people, a dog, and stuff for a trip of over 2 weeks.
@jamesinger Great stuff. I admire your dedication and preparation. I think on the used market, something comes up and doesn't quite check all the boxes but it's the "bird in the hand" thing. It was kismet when I found my Panamera. I wasn't looking for it but it was looking for me. I felt the same way with the C4S if that makes any sense. Oddly enough, both deals broke down initially but they wound up in my garage anyway. I like that bit of the buying experience I guess but it's not for everyone.
@jamesinger Great stuff. I admire your dedication and preparation. I think on the used market, something comes up and doesn't quite check all the boxes but it's the "bird in the hand" thing. It was kismet when I found my Panamera. I wasn't looking for it but it was looking for me. I felt the same way with the C4S if that makes any sense. Oddly enough, both deals broke down initially but they wound up in my garage anyway. I like that bit of the buying experience I guess but it's not for everyone.
Hi jamesinger, lexhair.
Jamesinger, your journey was quite long. As has mine (still looking). At least, I am now able to actively shop with the intent to purchase instead of window shop :-)
Lexhair, I suspect you are right. I'm just going to keep looking until the right car finds me. I'm not in a hurry.
08-13-2020, 06:41 AM
