cvazquez

+1 I am actually very happy with my decision to purchase the C2 due to reasons discussed on this thread and the many articles that have highlighted the C2. The C2 is a lean Gladiator, no regrets whatsoever!

EVERY PORSCHE IS SPECIAL AND I WANT THEM ALL... THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE!

wetstuff

Ya know ... the question is somewhat similar to: "Are you happy you were born?" Given there are 300Mil people in the US and only about 5,000 can have, or elect to have, the option of any 997..

Plus a defensive answer is always going to contain more passion in defense of the choice... I'm sure it's been asked - repeatedly - but it would seem a better question; why would someone ignore such an obviously wonderful car as the Carerra ..and pick an S or Turbo.

Hell, mine was used ..but I still feel luckier than sh/t to be in my shoes.

cello

Nicely said.

I think it really depends upon use and location. If tracking, grab all the power you can afford. If in a relatively unpopulated area, grab all the power you can afford. If driving from stop light to stop light, or living in the land of the Police (New Jersey comes to mind), the base is perfect IMHO.

Jakeman

Asking this question is almost like personality typing. There are always going to be folks who want the next best thing, or the thing they can never obtain. "Now that I have a Nikon D40 I now want a D300 and now that I have a D300 I want the D3..."

I feel lucky to own a C2 now. I would have been happy with a Cayman S or a Corvette or an Elise, but I needed that back seat in the 911. Having the car for 9 months it's really great, but it's not like I'm psyched every single time I drive it to work. I'm sure I'd feel the same about an S. Sometimes NPR is worth listening to...

I have envy of the other 911s at times. I remember stopping at a Starbucks in Boca and there was a beautiful 911S with an aero package. It definitely stood out. The thing about having a plain Jane C2 is that it isn't going to draw attention of car nuts or those folks who do that weekend coffee thing in Irvine with all the exotic cars.

On the other hand, most folks can't put their cash into a 997 911 at all because they have other financial obligations so I don't want to draw that level of attention to myself in a daily driver Porsche.

All in all, a C2 is a wonderful car. As someone else said, if you like to gun it at the light, you'll want more HP for straightline acceleration to beat some of the AMG MB or even the new M3.

Blah blah blah...

J

cole328

thanks for the comments...well put I am off to the dealer tomorrow to try and make the deal work. Looking at a meteor grey C2 now, with the S wheels. Very beautiful color

Cowhorn

I leased a brand new '06 S for the same price and same terms for about the same monthly as your offer (went through Porsche Financial Services).

No regrets with my S. Having driven both the base Carrera and the S on the track and on the street, I would be likely happy with either car but prefer the extra power and torque of my S.

ibmiked

Hi cole328, whatever happened to that Carrera S 'Launch Car' at Braman Porsche you were considering?

Alan Smithee

Actually, if serious about tracking, the base car is more competitive...POC and PCA class it with the 996 cars, while the 997S competes against the GT3. Not only would a base 997 with PCCB be extremely competitive, especially on a tight track, but it's also the lightest 997 variant available in the US...about equal to the GT3RS.

nkhalidi

1) "more competitive" means nothing unless someone's handing out trophies at the end of the day, and nobody wins or loses at DEs. I don't understand what you mean by "class" in regard to DE; here in Florida PCA regions, "class" only matters for racing. That said, if you're racing and not doing DE, the only reason to go for a base Carrera is Grand-Am 3.6 regulations. I believe those rules are the reason why VB997 converted a base carrera street car into a race car.

2) I don't think we can order PCCB on base carreras/caymans/boxsters.

3) The S has bigger brakes than the base carrera, which I think means more than the 30hp difference insofar as trackworthiness. Not to say the base carrera brakes are poor - they're actually excellent compared to other manufacturers' brakes - S brakes can handle more heat and abuse.

Renaud Bizet

Sure you can order PCCB on Boxsters, Caymans, etc.

Alan Smithee

nkhalidi, I said "if serious about tracking", and by that I meant competitive club events...autcross, time trials, etc. I did not say DE, which I don't consider serious tracking, nor did I say club racing, which is, well, racing.

As Renaud said, PCCBs have been available on all Porsche sports cars. Whether they are at this point in time, I'm not sure...availability has been spotty, even for the GT3. Regardless, with PCCB the comparison between base and S brakes is obviously moot.

RaceCarDriver

I like as few options as possible as well except when it comes to acceleration and handling.

I would rather have the bigger engine (C2S) with no options than a loaded C2, but that's just me.

cole328

Braman came back with some goofy numbers car is an '05, and their quoted lease payment was $1,600 for 39 months, with $3000 down I'd have to be insane to have done that.

Ray S

He was refering to PCA Club Racing

Yes you can

As far as brakes go, the perfect set would be absolutely no bigger (read heavier) than necessary. In other words, if the base (w/base brakes) can complete a race without fade why go bigger? The "peace of mind" some may want by adding bigger brakes will only add unsprung weight in the form of larger calipers and rotors (obviously if you add power, the car may require bigger brakes). Once you figure that out the true benefit of PCCB's (light weight) becomes clear.

ibmiked

Ah, that would explain it. My understanding is a lease payment is calculated by subtracting the current value of the car by the value it will have at lease end, and then (factoring interest) spreading that depreciation out as the payments. Since an '05 will be 6 or 7 model years old at lease end, that could explain why the payments were so high (quite a lot of depreciation by then). That's also why leasing a new car sometimes works out better.

That is just my understanding of leasing.