What would be your next car?
10-03-2011, 09:24 AM
#36
Intermediate
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Posts: 38
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I am a mere lurker, but with a 997.2 manual cab in my sights in the near future. I really just wanted to thank you, simsgw, for your post. It was a great read and an exemple of why I continue to lurk here -- well, that and I truly enjoy living vicariously (for now) through you all. Hope to be legitimately amongst your ranks in the near future, but until then, I wish you all continued enjoyment of your rides, present and future.
Next? Get your hands off my P car! Just back away.
Seriously,, I agree with Selo:
I found myself bereft when we bought that NSX for Cindy and she insisted on sharing it. After fifty years of coveting cars, suddenly I was cut off. I'd look through Road & Track and just shrug. Ferrari's F-355 was glamorous, but not as well designed once you looked away from the engine and considered the whole package. A hypercar like the McLaren or eventually the Bugatti Veyron (or one of the original Royales for that matter) is interesting to read about, but those never inspired lust. I got to operate much more expensive vehicles, not to mention some really expensive equipment for the Air Force. Most veteran's have, I suppose. So price tags don't impress me, and unless you live next to the autobahn you can't use the stratospheric top end the testers brag of. Hell, most tracks don't permit those speeds and I seriously doubt the autobahn does either. Just because they don't post a limit doesn't mean common sense and other traffic won't complicate your life in search of a land speed record on the way to town.
No, a car that 'merely' brushed 110 mph before breakfast was good enough for us. And the looks were grand. All the other cars became boring the day we brought home that NSX.
Except one. And when the dealer wrecked Cindy's NSX, she said it was my turn to choose. So I did.
Get away from my 911. 'Next' be damned.
Gary
Seriously,, I agree with Selo:
I found myself bereft when we bought that NSX for Cindy and she insisted on sharing it. After fifty years of coveting cars, suddenly I was cut off. I'd look through Road & Track and just shrug. Ferrari's F-355 was glamorous, but not as well designed once you looked away from the engine and considered the whole package. A hypercar like the McLaren or eventually the Bugatti Veyron (or one of the original Royales for that matter) is interesting to read about, but those never inspired lust. I got to operate much more expensive vehicles, not to mention some really expensive equipment for the Air Force. Most veteran's have, I suppose. So price tags don't impress me, and unless you live next to the autobahn you can't use the stratospheric top end the testers brag of. Hell, most tracks don't permit those speeds and I seriously doubt the autobahn does either. Just because they don't post a limit doesn't mean common sense and other traffic won't complicate your life in search of a land speed record on the way to town.
No, a car that 'merely' brushed 110 mph before breakfast was good enough for us. And the looks were grand. All the other cars became boring the day we brought home that NSX.
Except one. And when the dealer wrecked Cindy's NSX, she said it was my turn to choose. So I did.
Get away from my 911. 'Next' be damned.
Gary
10-03-2011, 09:28 AM
#37
Drifting
Right now my sights are set on an 13' TT.
10-03-2011, 10:57 AM
#39
'05 997 DD and a '92 cab for weekends - not really thinking about the next one.
10-03-2011, 12:37 PM
#40
Rennlist Member
Curious to know what 997 owners plan to buy next? Let's see if there's a clear winner?
For me:
- #1 car, if I can afford one in 2-3yrs, would be Ferrari 458, 100% - I am in LOVE with that car!
- #2, if I cannot afford the Ferrari, would be a .2 GT3 RS street convert (removing rollbar, adding seats). The sound of that engine is absolutely 2nd to none, not to mention tracking possibilities, and with PASM and maybe front lift, I think it's finally streetable.
I may keep the 997.1 in either case...
What about you guys?
For me:
- #1 car, if I can afford one in 2-3yrs, would be Ferrari 458, 100% - I am in LOVE with that car!
- #2, if I cannot afford the Ferrari, would be a .2 GT3 RS street convert (removing rollbar, adding seats). The sound of that engine is absolutely 2nd to none, not to mention tracking possibilities, and with PASM and maybe front lift, I think it's finally streetable.
I may keep the 997.1 in either case...
What about you guys?
for street only drivinng i will keep running current 997.1 car till it lives.
as of next p-car - not sure. tracking brand new gt3 car takes some serious guts/budget. using it on a street makes no sense. track prepped E36 car with cage runs better than any stock street C2S car. to take an another street car and dump $15K-$20K+ into it to make it track-worthy is not something i want to do again.
for street only drivinng i like panamera much more than 911, for my family it would be better. so, not sure.
10-03-2011, 04:18 PM
#41
i am seriously thinking to buy a trailer and tow vehicle and get something cheap like spec miata or 3.2L E36 based car for a track.
for street only drivinng i will keep running current 997.1 car till it lives.
as of next p-car - not sure. tracking brand new gt3 car takes some serious guts/budget. using it on a street makes no sense. track prepped E36 car with cage runs better than any stock street C2S car. to take an another street car and dump $15K-$20K+ into it to make it track-worthy is not something i want to do again.
for street only drivinng i like panamera much more than 911, for my family it would be better. so, not sure.
for street only drivinng i will keep running current 997.1 car till it lives.
as of next p-car - not sure. tracking brand new gt3 car takes some serious guts/budget. using it on a street makes no sense. track prepped E36 car with cage runs better than any stock street C2S car. to take an another street car and dump $15K-$20K+ into it to make it track-worthy is not something i want to do again.
for street only drivinng i like panamera much more than 911, for my family it would be better. so, not sure.
10-03-2011, 07:19 PM
#42
Rennlist Member
spec miata is great option for advanced drivers and it is a direct invitation to not so expensive racing - SCCA, NASA - i would love it. but it requires a lot of time which i do not have. E36 based car on other side has way more power and at 320 horses with reduced weight it is quite fun to drive platform and dirt cheap - new transmission is like $500, new motor is $2K-3K - that is how much dedicated track car should cost. not a $20K for new engine.
lotuses, well, they are almost plastic on top - you do not want to roll it. i spoke to plenty of people who had one and got rid of it due to safety concerns. plus, again, it is expensive and has its own issues.
radical, SRF and similar cheaper 'almost aero' cars are fun for DE but again - expensive to maintain and need special attention.
as of cayman for DEs - after i read planet9 i do not think it is a good idea. new cayman R seems not to have many issues with engine as it uses almost same class DFI motor but price wise compared to E36 it is way way more expensive and performance will be almost same, plus after you gut new cayman R, install cage, suspension, etc - it will cost a lot. what is the point? next step after cayman would be spec boxster - but well running spec boxster with 2.5L engine will also be quite costly and you will end up buying those engines quite often.
PDK on a track is also kinda weird concept to me - what will you do with that PDK after you kill its internal clutch? an assumption that it will never die sounds kinda odd to me - any car`s part is a disposable on a track car. sounds like a lot of money.
all in all - each of us would love to track a real cup car, 996 or 997, but to be realistic i really do not see other choice than e36 or miata, if you want to stay in managable enough budget, say, $15K per year.
lotuses, well, they are almost plastic on top - you do not want to roll it. i spoke to plenty of people who had one and got rid of it due to safety concerns. plus, again, it is expensive and has its own issues.
radical, SRF and similar cheaper 'almost aero' cars are fun for DE but again - expensive to maintain and need special attention.
as of cayman for DEs - after i read planet9 i do not think it is a good idea. new cayman R seems not to have many issues with engine as it uses almost same class DFI motor but price wise compared to E36 it is way way more expensive and performance will be almost same, plus after you gut new cayman R, install cage, suspension, etc - it will cost a lot. what is the point? next step after cayman would be spec boxster - but well running spec boxster with 2.5L engine will also be quite costly and you will end up buying those engines quite often.
PDK on a track is also kinda weird concept to me - what will you do with that PDK after you kill its internal clutch? an assumption that it will never die sounds kinda odd to me - any car`s part is a disposable on a track car. sounds like a lot of money.
all in all - each of us would love to track a real cup car, 996 or 997, but to be realistic i really do not see other choice than e36 or miata, if you want to stay in managable enough budget, say, $15K per year.
10-03-2011, 08:04 PM
#44
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
spec miata is great option for advanced drivers and it is a direct invitation to not so expensive racing - SCCA, NASA - i would love it. but it requires a lot of time which i do not have. E36 based car on other side has way more power and at 320 horses with reduced weight it is quite fun to drive platform and dirt cheap - new transmission is like $500, new motor is $2K-3K - that is how much dedicated track car should cost. not a $20K for new engine.
lotuses, well, they are almost plastic on top - you do not want to roll it. i spoke to plenty of people who had one and got rid of it due to safety concerns. plus, again, it is expensive and has its own issues.
radical, SRF and similar cheaper 'almost aero' cars are fun for DE but again - expensive to maintain and need special attention.
as of cayman for DEs - after i read planet9 i do not think it is a good idea. new cayman R seems not to have many issues with engine as it uses almost same class DFI motor but price wise compared to E36 it is way way more expensive and performance will be almost same, plus after you gut new cayman R, install cage, suspension, etc - it will cost a lot. what is the point? next step after cayman would be spec boxster - but well running spec boxster with 2.5L engine will also be quite costly and you will end up buying those engines quite often.
PDK on a track is also kinda weird concept to me - what will you do with that PDK after you kill its internal clutch? an assumption that it will never die sounds kinda odd to me - any car`s part is a disposable on a track car. sounds like a lot of money.
all in all - each of us would love to track a real cup car, 996 or 997, but to be realistic i really do not see other choice than e36 or miata, if you want to stay in managable enough budget, say, $15K per year.
lotuses, well, they are almost plastic on top - you do not want to roll it. i spoke to plenty of people who had one and got rid of it due to safety concerns. plus, again, it is expensive and has its own issues.
radical, SRF and similar cheaper 'almost aero' cars are fun for DE but again - expensive to maintain and need special attention.
as of cayman for DEs - after i read planet9 i do not think it is a good idea. new cayman R seems not to have many issues with engine as it uses almost same class DFI motor but price wise compared to E36 it is way way more expensive and performance will be almost same, plus after you gut new cayman R, install cage, suspension, etc - it will cost a lot. what is the point? next step after cayman would be spec boxster - but well running spec boxster with 2.5L engine will also be quite costly and you will end up buying those engines quite often.
PDK on a track is also kinda weird concept to me - what will you do with that PDK after you kill its internal clutch? an assumption that it will never die sounds kinda odd to me - any car`s part is a disposable on a track car. sounds like a lot of money.
all in all - each of us would love to track a real cup car, 996 or 997, but to be realistic i really do not see other choice than e36 or miata, if you want to stay in managable enough budget, say, $15K per year.
10-03-2011, 08:20 PM
#45
If you're willing to deal with a trailer, a Formula Mazda single seater is another option. A new car is around $40k, a used one about half of that. It's faster than just about everything I listed. The engine is a very reliable 180HP rotary with a conventional 5 speed H-gate transmission. Corners at 2G and there's not much on it to go wrong. Tires and brakes are fairly cheap. It was too big a jump from a 911 for me, but you might have better luck.
http://www.formulamazda.com/thecar.html
http://www.formulamazda.com/thecar.html