997 on the Ring

[Henry CSL]

http://www.imgmag.org/images/guyratcliffe/Henry/864.jpg
http://www.imgmag.org/images/guyratcliffe/Henry/890.jpg

[Henry CSL]

I like it :)
You have to say thats a great mix between the 993 & 996.

Henry

[Andre]

I think I'm going to apply as a testdriver on the Nordschleife only for a certain German carbrand, well known for their cars with the "engine in the wrong place" according to a certain Mrs. Knowitall, aka Sir Lancelotsofcrap ;)

[Henry CSL]

Andre,we all know that you are a Test Driver Groupie already ;)

What are your thoughts on the shape ?

Henry.

[dazren]

O/T Andre/Henry/Guy, do you do many Ring trips per year? Hopefully if the N/S calendar allows I'll be going over again for 4/5 days in May.

DAZ

[Andre]

Andre,we all know that you are a Test Driver Groupie already ;)

What are your thoughts on the shape ?

Henry.

Henry,

I'm a Test Driver Group all by myself.. :D who needs groupies :cool:

As for the shape: personally I like it. On the other hand, the question is wether it's a good idea. Reason (correct me if I'm wrong please): from the 993 to 996 sales have grown considerably. Personally I think that the more "civilized" non-racer 996 appearance of I-like-to-polish-my-car-in-the-garage-instead-of-driving-it-to-the-limits has attracted many wannabees to the Porker playground. They've managed to lift the Porker to a level that appeals more people. I wonder wether that market will like the 997' 993 appearance, because if they would, why woudln't the 993 success be comparable to the 996 success ?

[mikial]

Some good reasons outlined there Andre, one of the reasons I returned to buy Porsche was because it was water cooled. The heating, demist & air con make the 996 so much easier to live with. Never owned 993 or 964 so no criticism aimed at them but the controls on the earlier 911`s were in hindsight , not good.
If the 997 is a leap forward as large as the 996 was, then I don`t see how it can fail.

[ColinC2]

Personally I think that the more "civilized" non-racer 996 appearance of I-like-to-polish-my-car-in-the-garage-instead-of-driving-it-to-the-limits has attracted many wannabees to the Porker playground. They've managed to lift the Porker to a level that appeals more people.

As someone who has owned 911SC(2) , 964, 993, 964 Turbo II, 996(2) over the last 20 years or so and is maybe gettting on a bit I haver to agree with your (maybe) tongue in cheek observation. I personally am not a track driver (not really good enough) but enjoy fast road driving especially in Europe and think that the 996 is a fast enough -even if it is a bit less raw and too quiet without an aftermarket exhaust - and own up to liking the fact that the windscreen is not going to mist up after a shower of rain in the summer and that if i do get it wrong in an off camber bend then i have a little more chance of surviving the incident. I think it was my short ownership of the Turbo II that persuaded me of that...
Maybe i'm just a bit soft ? :rolleyes:

And i like the look of the 997 and as somebody who is increasingly frustrated with manuals for every day use am looking forward to (maybe) the DSG type change... but all that will be after a 996TT Tip (flame suit on!)

Colin

[Guy]

It looks good. I've had 964C4 and 993RS before the 996 GT2 and whilst many people like to be mostalgic about previous models (and I miss my 993RS) the fact is that each evolution simply gets better (ie faster and more refined)......

I know there are price reasons why older cars are great for the money, but the simple fact is that if they were all the same price right now, very few people would choose to get into a 3.2, 964, or 993 as compared to a 996.

Hopefully the 997 will take the best bits of the classic 993 styling, the 996 refinement and interior and build with new technology (bigger wheels, brakes and DSG gearbox).

[Moz]

Guy, regarding the interior of the 997

It will be completely revamped over the current 996 interior

Apparently the new interior is along the same theme as the Cayenne's (prob so they can use the same parts bin and increase profits some more!)

I cant see the prob with the current interior to be honest...I think it is really well designed and bolted together :confused:

Other standard features on the 997 will be 19 inch rims and quad tailpipes (so I hear anyway)

[Andre]

As someone who has owned 911SC(2) , 964, 993, 964 Turbo II, 996(2) over the last 20 years or so and is maybe gettting on a bit I haver to agree with your (maybe) tongue in cheek observation. I personally am not a track driver (not really good enough) but enjoy fast road driving especially in Europe and think that the 996 is a fast enough -even if it is a bit less raw and too quiet without an aftermarket exhaust - and own up to liking the fact that the windscreen is not going to mist up after a shower of rain in the summer and that if i do get it wrong in an off camber bend then i have a little more chance of surviving the incident. I think it was my short ownership of the Turbo II that persuaded me of that...
Maybe i'm just a bit soft ? :rolleyes:
Colin

Nah not soft ;) Like Guy says the evolutions are better. I believe that the stereotype that the car's tailheavy is something that especially the original 911's suffered from. Strangely enough the 996 has more weight behind the rear axle as the 993.. One of the reasons why I bought a 993 RS is because of the lack of the tail-happyness so to speak while still being seen as a "purist car". I must say though that I miss the turbokick in the back.. ;)

[Guy]

Ny name is now officially in the queue for a 997 Turbo, although the dealer thinks it will be at least 2 years before they start making them (non-turbo 997 should be later this year)..........

[Moz]

I friggin hate queuing!

Is there a waiting list after first delivery dates already Guy ?

And how much do they take as deposit ?

Might be tempted myself :)

[Chris L]

I like the new shots. It would ne nice to see some undisguised ones. It can't be long before Porsche release some official ones? Can it?

As a Porsche enthusiast, rather than an owner (for the moment anyway), I can see why they want to evolve the shape. The 993 was probably the prettiest of all the 911s. The ergonomics on the inside however, were a disaster and certainly not good enough to compete with best from other manufacturers. Porsche have been changing and updating the shape of the 911 for 40 years, why stop now?

I know that there were also good technical reasons why Porsche wanted to move to water cooled engines. The main one being that they wanted to have a multi valve engine (even 10K super minis now have 16 valve engines) and there simply isn't sufficient cooling available with traditional air cooling. So Porsche had to change. I guess it is just progress.

Certainly the 996 has brought new levels of popularity (and profitability) to Porsche. I for one, have always quite liked it. But there is no denying the popularity of the 993 - you only have to look at the 2nd hand prices to see that. If the new 997 depress prices of 996s later in the year, I'll be happy when I come to get mine :)

Chris

[GrahamJ]

There was a picture posted on Rennlist of an un-disguised 997 in CAR apparently.

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/attachment.php?s=&postid=976386

Graham

[Andre]

Interesting picture. Am I right that it doesn't quite look the same as the pictures earlier in this thread ? The first impression I had of the Rennlist picture was of a combination or better a mix between a 959, a 993 and a Beetle. It is distorted by the magazine however, so I guess I must be wrong..