......But something made me change my mind.....

 

Em, what?

 

If you're saying the 996 GT2 changed your mind - I can see why. Is that your living room???

 

I got over my 993 lust at the Rennsport reunion. Scanning the hundreds of cars, the shape of the 993s just looked dated compared to the 997, 996 & Caymans. Esp the windshield, roof line and blunt front end that goes all the way back to the 1970s. The older cars are beautiful, but they are classics. I wanted a modern car, and the 996s will continue to fall into that category for quite a while yet whereas the 993 doesn't.

 

The great divide. Old school 993GT2 or new school 996 GT2 (except the engine). The 993 felt like all its ancestors. Weird ergonomics. Pedals offset to the right. A dash board cobbled together over time with 5 separate VDO gauges and control switches strewn about were ever there was room to add them, HVAC controls only Einstein could figure out, a heater that smelled like it was pumping exhaust fumes into the car, an intercooler that blocked most access to the engine from above. The car was basically an antique when it started production in 1995 but what a joy to own and drive. Loud, visceral and guttural. The 996/Turbo/GT2/GT3 on the other hand was by necessity largely design by a consortium of Porsche engineers and a Japanese engineering think tank. If Porsche had built the 996 variant using their prior design and assembly techniques the car would have cost double to produce and Porsche would have gone broke. The results (some good some bad): Modern ergonomic, A single piece gauge cluster, HVAC controls a 6 year old could figure out. The reason 993 turbo/GT2/RS/RSR variants are so expensive and rare was the choke point in the Porsche production facility was the split case motor used to power all 993 variants. The motor building capacity was limited and hence the special variants were also very limited. When the new Boxster derived water cooled motor plant took over basic 996 engine production, it left the prior split case motor line with excess capacity. Hence the relative abundance of 996TT/GT2/GT3/GT3RS. These cars have better performance than their 993 ancestors but do not hold their value as they are not as rare. The purist will tell you a 993 is a “better” car but the numbers tell you the 996 performs better. Only the owner can decide what is best for him.

 

Although the 993 GT2 will always be appealing to car enthusiasts (and even more so since it wasn't offered as new in the USA), I find it hard to argue with the progress that the 996 GT2 represents in contrast to it. These are probably the same kind of viewpoints that we'll soon be comparing about the 997 GT2 and the 991 based GT3-to-be. It's always this way!

 

I just know the 993 is beautiful.

 

Apples and Oranges. Air/Water. Love them both but 996 for me.

 

Here here!

 

I would love to own a real 993 GT.... Euro market car were not available here in USA. The shop tha manages my race car has an authentic 993 RSR and 964 RSR respectively... both are incredible and are real factory limited number examples w logbooks and are now worth quite a bit!!

 

Nostalgia warning here. I was fortunate enough to run an endurance GT racing championship in the last factory built 1998 993 RSR ever produced, however the RSR engine was set aside for the championship and the owner equipped it with a K24 993TT engine flashed to appr 520hp - thereby similar specs to a GT2. I also think it got the 993 Cup front and fender flares from previous owner following a front end accident a couple of years earlier. This was the most amazing car to drive, and due to the many hours I spent behind the wheel of this car going all out for the championship, I still remember the shift selector feel when shifting into every gear, the light steering, the stand-up brake pedal. This car was absolutely spectacular in terms of drivability. You could toss it around, it was very light, very nimble, power came on fast, so fast that on a couple of sponsor ride-along days I'd like to sit and chit chat out of the pits, then floor it in third from low rpm where it was still pretty timid and then just wait for the kick, the passengers surprise was always imminent, always a good time. The brakes were also fenomenal, such a light car with massive brakes and wide slicks. This particular car was super well sorted out and me and my team-mates won the championship with this car battling against mainly 996 GT3 Cup cars and E46 M3s (6-cyl and V8 builds). In a sense, it was a classic already when we raced it.

The car was sold (incl the original RSR engine) after the season at a much higher price than what the team owner had bought it for prior to the season, I guess we proved it was a good car. It went to a company in Germany that specializes in restoring these, currently they have one for sale at well above 200.000 EUR. So pretty fun to have raced one really competitively.

I had prior raced a 964 RS which felt heavier and not at all as dynamic (yet pretty fast) and subsequently raced 996 GT2 R, GT3 Cup, GT3 RS and 997 GT3 Cup. None of them come close in feel although they are all just as fast or faster. A true 993 GT2 (700+hp and even wider body than this 993 RSR) is still be a hard to beat beast though.

I loved every single thing about this car. If you have the means to get hold of one to keep for sunny days, just do it, it's soo much fun to drive (and their value will just keep climbing).

 

^^^ Amazing car!! I know just what you mean buddy...very incredible cars... such a raw and tossable machine on track with superb feedback and whiplash handling...

 

+1+1+1

 

+1 993 just because its so rare . The value of those cars will only go up

 

Very nice red 993