greenhouse

What is the difference? Do they both show dirt and swirl the same?

rcg412

No - i had black and basalt black. Basalt black is excellent in NOT showing swirls... Would never do black again.

Also - found that basalt black is more like a Charcoal color... up close, paint has metal and blue flakes in it.

blk on blk

I have regular black, but if given the choice would prefer Basalt black. much better at hiding swirls, etc.

JohnnyBahamas

Black is the easiest color to match during body work... God forbid.

Basalt black is metal flake metallic, therefore more difficult than match during body work... God forbid.

Basalt black takes on slightly different hues in different types of light, too.

Soulteacher

There was a thread in the 997 Turbo forum stating that the new Basalt was different from the old Basalt (or at least the Turbo Basalt was different from the other Basalt 997 that the guy had). I don't remember the thread and I'm too lazy to search, but I downloaded the photo, so here it is.

Also, supposedly Basalt shows the curves of the 997 better than Black. Just hear-say, though, I have never seen either one in real.

If you do a search, there should be a few threads regarding that topic. (ADDENDUM: I just did it; if you search for 'basalt' and choose 'search titles only', you get 20+ threads on this topic. Happy reading!)

YA911Fan

Basalt Black = Not Really Black.

vladie22

the non-metallic black does show swirls a lot more , but in my opinion looks better when it is waxed and clean . the basalt black has a metallic look to it in sunlight that like a previous post said is not really black .

greenhouse

And what about dirt? I have a black car now and dirt, pollen etc. show. I'd have to clean it every 3 days to even attempt keeping it looking good.

Sharptt

Basalt Black is a nice color but to my eye has some brown in it. Shows swirls less but difficult to match or fix stone chips on. Black black is tougher to keep clean but stone chips can be fixed so they are invisible and looks dynamite clean. No wrong choice here just a matter of taste. Both are a bitch to keep clean as are all dark colors.

BSL

Dust and pollen are more hidden by the flakes in the basalt. We have our second basalt car and are very happy with the color. IMO, there is no wrong answer though, the cars look stunning in either color.

Benjamin Choi

i like the classic black better - not a fan of metallic blacks

no dark color shows the line well at alll

nkhalidi

For me, basalt was a no-brainer as a real-world choice. Flat black looks better only when the car is completely clean, swirl-free, scratch-free, and dustless. Basalt's metallic flake hides dirt and swirls better than flat black.

That said, black cars don't really photograph very well. They end up looking washed out in most shots, and it's hard to get a sense of the lines in a photo. I love Porsches in black, but the maintenance effort will preclude me from buying another black car. My next sportscar will likely be red or orange.

greenhouse

Thanks. On a tangential note, is a regular color on the cayenne, say olive green, a paint-to-sample on a 911?

dstrimbu

Heck, you can drop off a pair of socks for a paint-to-sample. Can't see any reason why you couldn't get a Cayenne color on a 911 if you pay the uplift...

10 GT3

Black is exactly that, flat black with a clearcoat. Basalt black is a balck metallic that uses silver flakes. A Basalt car will be shinier (especially clean) and look slightly lighter than the regular black. The regular black of course shows everything. Basalt black shows close to everything. Black is very common, but Basalt is very rare. Black is a standard color and Basalt costs extra.