i'm going to put a spin on your statement that is more likely what the buyers of these cars are thinking.

"Practicality, does it matter? for a similar price, you can get 460hp or 500hp."

and you know something, i think they are right. as far as performance, i'd rather have a 500hp car that only weighs 3153lbs. how much will the new turbo weigh? a bit more, certainly. this year's turbo is about 3400 and the cars just keep getting heavier as owners want more and more options and refinement

i'm really not sure how often those rear seats on the 911 turbo are used but i guess that could factor into the decision. either way, it's not like the seats are comfy for long trips

also, as a reply to moogle's comment, if it was safe and easy to get an additional 100hp, would porsche not do this from the factory and win the hp wars? from another perspective, are they perhaps watching out for the sales of their carrera gt? if the 911 turbo had 560hp, it might make a few gt buyers reconsider

 

Yeah, but spending 100k on a sedan with massive power still keeps you in a sedan. Hyundai might as well drop a HEMI in their Sonata.

The 911 has a history, a unique look, and a unique driving experience. I dont want a sedan. I want an aerodynamic performance machine made to be the best. HAHA, then again, most people are not enthusiats and look at the HP exactly the way you said it!

Its like people CPUs and such. NOBODY NEEDS a P4-3ghz+ with 3gb of ram to play solitare and write word reports and check email! I do full scale audio production and i use a P3-1ghz and still dont get past 35% capacity running an unbelievable load! (then again its a specialized system and highly optimized, but still)

People just like big numbers for bragging rights. Like the new Chrystler 300 Bently wannabe. What good is all that power if the car cant fully use it? Can we say little brakes....

 

Anyword or photos of the 997 C4 anywhere?

 

Porsche buyers are a practical lot , overall. They want a top tier legitimate sports car that can also handle the daily slog through stop and go traffic and get to the office tower or hospital , which 40 years of continous improvement gets you. If they want a weekend toy , and more reliable than in the past , they get a Ferrari . Driving an all new car platform from a British maker ( AMV8) with limited dealership locations may not be in the cards for many of these buyers, even if in the price range between a 997S and 997 Turbo.
For me , I'd rather get a Ferrari if I have to deal with scarcity in dealers , long waits for warranty service time slots and waits for parts from Europe .

 

HUH????? Ferrari...Reliable...same sentance...SYNTAX ERROR

 

Yuk, yuk yuk.
Have you ever climbed into a Ferrari 348 vintage 1990 or 1991 ? Those cars fell apart just pulling the door handle, engaging the mouse track belt, attempting to open the gas door, pushing the window button, etc. Even current Ferrari head Luca Montezemolo has said in many interviews thats his 348 was an embarrassing poorluy made piece $*&# ( of course to better sell the new car at the current 348 owners expense) . Today's Ferrari cars are bolted together much better. They have expected isssues that no car built only in the hundreds or thousands in it's entire run can ever 100% resolve , but hey, Porsche never bothered to solve the RMS leak ( you know about THAT one ! ) on it's 986/996 engines it's whole 7 year run and those were built in the hundred thousands .

BTW, my " reliable " Turbo arrived with a bent spark plug electrode ( missing at idle ) , developed leaking cam gaskets ( engine out) , leaking DVs, loosened power steering fluid hose ( major smoke from rear - some Turbos have burned down) , rusted clutch release bearing ( tranny out ) and a few other things - all in the first 8 months of ownership .My neighbors have seen my car on the flatbed 3 times . But I'm second on the list at my dealer for the 997 Turbo , which will be my 6th 911.

 

Ferrari = Italian Garbage.... ask those who own and are pulling their hair out!!!

 

If a car is not practical, it will not be driven that often. Taking the car out just to drive around with nowhere to go gets tiring very fast.

 

for porsche to be putting out a new turbo that is fractionally faster than the last which is still slower than the 993 turbo is bad news in my book. Everyone else is getting faster, hell, the new Ford Mustang GT is in the 4's for 0-60 times, porsche needs to stop increasing profits at expense of what they used to do best, performance. Looks only go so far.

 

i hope the 997 turbo doesnt come out for at least 2 years, otherwise i'm gonna... be very angry and have to buy it.

 

The new 997 TT will come with a fairly strong engine and solid hp but with a few mods here and there the car can easily be over 600 hp. We will not know exactly what that hp number is but we will soon find out when they hit the US dealers.