sjsharks

I'm just thankful they put more work into the engine than the steering wheel.

dark knight

personally I think it looks great, and all I think I really need to say is this, would you have preferred i-drive? .......didnt think so... we all need to be thankful Porsche stuck to its roots and sent us a good sporting interior rahter than that piece of crap known as i-drive

GrantG

What year is your 996? I had a 2002 C2 that was really bad - took it in for warranty rattle repairs many times without satisfaction. The roads are pretty bad here in the rocky mountains too...

Ghost Rider

2003 C4S and we have our share of potholes here, so far, no problems...

Doug H

Rattles may depend a little on whether one puts a much harsher suspension into the car. My stock C2s never rattled, but my turbo that now has H&Rs has a few rattles, but not bad. I also have full carbon and I am not sure if the carbon fibre pieces may be more prone to rattle.

Ghost Rider

03 C4S is sport suspension standard, but lots of leather, so yeah that could make a difference. Maybe the workers were sober the day they assembled my car...

cobalt

I never believed in driving a sports car quiet enough to hear anything but engine song. All squeaks go away after you reach a certain ambient level.

IMO simple is best. Too many distractions and incumbrances for a sports car.

If you want all the extra stuff by the Cayenne or a BMW 7 series leave it out of the 911's.

Particularly, how the shifter looks is not as important as how it feels. Did they truly give back crisp shifting vs. that terrible cable system. Does the three spoke (+) steering wheel give the proper feedback and comfortable feel.

I have to admit when I am driving the turbo, I never pay attention to the interior, all I see inside the car is the tach with an occasional peek at the speedo and V1.

Then again living in the NYC metro area I would never drive a 911 of any vintage as a daily driver. Did it for years, never again. Thats why Porsche made the Cayenne, you need an assault vehicle around here.

csertich

I don't like the steering wheel or the shift **** but those can be easily swapped out. I do like the contour of the dash over the gauges and the gauge layout looks OK too. Good to see that it's possible to delete the Infiniti clock that sits up there. This way I know have the space to put in my old dash top compass. Or the Hula girl doll.

Center console looks a little wide. I am 6'4" and this could take up some side leg room. Guess I'll just have to go sit in one when they are available. As others have said, I'll probably like it more after I experience the interior firsthand (except for the steering wheel-my mind is made up on that).

I like the exterior for the most part. Front is a B+, I think.
Rear wheel arches are good retro to me. Rear lights as redesigned by Blue S2 (think that is who did it in another thread) looks better than the factory idea. Side mirrors are OK, I think.

I wouldn't buy a first year model just because I don't usually do that. But I believe I could consider an '06 S model if the '05 comes out of the year with a good record. But I know my problem at that time will be choosing between a used 2004 GT3 (if one can be found) as an alternative to the 997.

Take care all,
chuck

Ghost Rider

Speaking of those side view mirrors, I think Porsche must be joking when they say that they provide improved airflow over the rear of the car and more downforce because they now allow air to pass through the mirror arm. That opening is so small, that any gust of cross wind would more than negate any potential aerodynamic advantage of those mirror arms. I mean if you really wanted to improve air flow you'd do away with the mirros altogether right? Fiber optic mini-cams!!!

cabman4007

Squeaks: On a cold winters day when I drive the Cab,, it squeaks because the rubber seals are hard and each bump causes this.

In all other seasons it is squeak free.

I think I will move to Fl before next winter to avoid the squeaks.

Cabman

Franklin229

The interior is hideous!! Barf....
Talk about function following bling bling... not looking for a throw back to my wonderfully functional 993 interior-I don't thing that's a totally correct approach...but.. at least they should be constent with it's evolution. I would love to see someone take the existing 993 interior and do a great evolutionary re-style. The only rule: Keep the guages separate.

jbdmd

Again

I love it

2 things that concern me though

1)it is so refined it will pull in some of the benz/bmw crowd making the 911 less rare

2)What will they delete on the 997 gt3 (that i hope like hell that they are planning on making...cause it is going to be my next car!)...???the enitre center console??

Carrera GT

As recently noted on another thread, the steering wheel is "similar" to a(nother) VW and it's certainly too hard-lined and angular to match the rest of the sweeping curves and esses of the Carrera. The word incongruous comes to mind.

I wonder if the shifter is meant to be offset and pointed to the passenger seat or if that's a left- and right-hand drive configuration issue.

scoops

after going for a ride with my dad in his 996 the other day i noticed that the 997 has the same rectangles as seen on the996. both of which have a dividing silverish peice of plastic between them. so there are the odd similarities between the two. as far as the steering wheel and shifter go, they are just an excuse for you to check out aftermarket parts for your car.

i'm slowly getting used to this new interior, at first it didn't say porsche to me, but did the 996 headlights, or the swap to water cooled or the switch from RWD turbos to AWD turbos, or the addition of traction and stability management in a sports car???? all i'm saying is let's be open minded. these changes come for good reasons, and alot of the time it's safety related. so if i have to choose between life death or I-drive, i choose life!