I am not saying "horsepower is everything" but I am saying that it IS something . I won't argue the purest philosophy of driver.car capability on a track with low Hp cars . But I will say that in the everyday driving of most where stop light to stop light and occasional curves are combined with luxury --the 997tt has a lot to offer and I defy any Targa to take a rolling start with a modded up Turbo . Both have comfort -only one would win .

 

So owning a highly modified 997TT is the only way to be properly equipped for street stoplight races, Mustang kills, and rolling 180mph public freeway sprints??? Yikes!!
I guess you made my point.

When I first went Porsche shopping I also thought I needed a nice 996TT. They really are wonderful cars. After driving a few I realized it was simply WAY too much car for me on the street. I would rarely have it out of third gear and I have no interest in street racing. I saved my extra $100k for a nice vacation home on Kauai. To each his own.

 

This was not my point . Stoplight driving and rolling jumps are ONLY ONE aspect where HP is SOMETHING . Not "everything" .

The fact that the car can takes curves on the street or track is another . Just because it has HP does not mean it is uncontrollable . In fact the 997 Turbo gets the job done in almost every handling category . My point is that the 997 Turbo is the jock of all driving sports offering the most well rounded array of driving and it has the styling and class to offer comfort which is what the original poster wanted in his first post.

It has it all . That's why I feel its worth the extra expense .

 

From my experience, Ron Zitza is a great guy and very approachable. Today I chatted with him at Citrus Region PCA's Kaffe Klatsch and the experience was the same. I take my 87 Carrera (my 06 Carrera S is still under warranty and serviced at the dealer until it expires) only to Zotz Garage in Orlando and have always had great and honest service, both under Ron's ownership and under Donnie's. Good guys!

 

Thoughts on this point:
If you aren't using your car for these purposes right now, do you think you will after being able to fit a roof rack on?

My point is don't think of how your life will fit into the car, think of how your car will fit into your life.
If you aren't taking weekend driving excursions into the mountains where you are max'd out in storage space, if you aren't using another car to ship your skis/bike around...chances are this won't change even if you have a more practical vehicle.

As you may already know, a 997 has a great amount of interior storage space, so there is a lot of stuff you can bring for a weekend trip. However, skis/bikes don't fit in a 997 so this will be your tipping point (from a practicality standpoint).

Go for a spin in your buddy's 997TT and figure out if a Turbo is what you want to fulfill that childhood dream

Oh & btw, I don't suppose you're driving your Targa around on our snowy roads?

 

and that is to mod it - perhaps yrralis will comment on how much $'s he has put into his turbo to make it perfect. If I remember about $75K on top of the base.

My stock 997tt didn't handle better, didn't brake or steer better, it isn't as tossable or as much fun as my 997.2 S. It had turbo lag and and a pretty ugly engine/exhaust sound. But it was faster and quicker than my C for the 5% of the time on the street that it mattered.

So, IMO only reason for a turbo is to mod the hell out of it and make it perfect as yrralis has done. Stock v. stock - I'd much rather have the 997.2 S.

 

Great advice Alan . Keep in mind that I not only upgraded the engine , but suspension, interior, wheels , aerokit .
Plus I did not do the 700 kit right away and there are many different products to choose and mine were expensive . 20K ought to make some amazing upgrades . I spent 65K . I didn't have to buy things like a 3K steering wheel or carbon fiber but I did. I could have left stock wheels on the car for free . How one spends to mod depends on his budget . Plus there are many different tuners to choose from so like anything else it's a shopping experience.

The basics would be
Exhaust
Intake
Headers
Intercoolers
Software
Suspension

This will cost approx 20K installed . Things like Techart are expensive but amazing . The 700 jump is within reach and my feeling is that if one goes in 20K why not jump in fully to have the 997tt monster .

Even modding a stock 997 costs money . Nothing is cheap.

Stock to stock ... both are great cars but the Turbo will still win .

With such enormous gains on tap . it's good to know that the car has a much higher end growth potential because of its Turbo engine.