After fixing up all of my previous cars I stopped on the C4s. Maybe because of age, but modding a car has been such a hassle for me and I lose the patience as I get older....

Porsche is great in this regard because they allow you to customize everything on the car so that it pretty much comes the way I want it. My next P will be customized exactly the way I want it and again, no Mods.

 

As was eluded to earlier, Porsche will create a car with focused on a bell curve. That targeted audience is much smaller than the Camry crowd but within the 911 curve lies the 911 S in its extreme. In the 911 S curve lies a GTS in its extreme. GTS > GT3, etc.

So a 911 S will be too hard for the Camry crowd too soft for GT3 audience that bought a 911 instead.

 

Well... I did install a Das Schilde to protect the trunk lid from any contents that might bounce around.

Otherwise, I agree.

Gary, who put an aftermarket pen in those little grippers
in the 997.2 glove box, but supposes that doesn't count

 

So those are the stock wheels...in the pic? Or maybe they were stock last July and now...

I wonder how one finds such an old topic and kicks it again?

 

Funny thread. I think it was already said, but P-cars are so individually customized even from the factory, what is "stock" anyway? I agree that if you are sitting on a collector car, leave it alone or stay consistent with the model. But, for the rest of us I fail to see the difference between the red dials I ordered from the factory and maybe a set of HRE CF43 wheels I would want to add on. Don't get me wrong, I love my Carerra Sports!

 

The stock 997 feels awesome to me and I have no real intent to mod it...unless of course I go straight for more power with a TPC Turbo.

My 993, on the other hand...at the risk of sounding blasphemous, it handled like crap in stock form! Now that I've made some mods it is a blast and feels almost as planted as the 997, yet much more visceral.

So, imo the necessity of mods depends upon the car...

 

Honda and Toyota build for the masses. Porsche builds 911's for a select few in comparison. They build their cars to be as reliable as they can make them regardless of the abuse their eventual owners might inflict upon them. Modding for the track is one thing, modding for that certain "bling factor" is just that, bling. If by building a car for the masses you mean the masses who can afford to spend $ 100,000 + for an automobile I've got to believe the masses you're talking about are a fairly small group.

 

Definitely. Yesterday in a parking lot, one of the masses was in the adjacent handicapped slot doing something to her car. When I returned from shopping and was trying to guide the bagger in loading my car, she opened a nearly one-sided dialog:

"Every Porsh I ever [garbled: saw? owned? drove?] was unreliable. What year is that one?"

I looked up, but with every body motion conveying distraction: "Oh nine." I get into pleasant conversations with fellow car lovers of all income levels almost daily. With that opening, I could see this wasn't going to be one of those.

"They got pretty expensive I think. How much are they now, forty thousand?"

Again raising my head from where it clearly was occupied directing the placement of the heavier groceries in the frunk: "Hmmm? Oh. About a hundred now."

"You bought a hundred thousand dollar car?!! How much is the payment?"

My youthful training in intelligence work created a habit of answering invasive questions with only the information the imposing party could obtain from the nearest magazine rack. Hence "about a hundred." In reply to this second question I merely offered: "I saved up" and bent over the frunk again. I made a point of speaking to the bagger about the placement of cokes and such, and ostentatiously taking him around the other side of the car to load the rest of the groceries in the back seat.

Thus, you should picture a brief hiatus here >>> [...]

Apparently a reset occurred. Something akin to "Invalid data. Divide by zero. Infinite donut! Infinite Donut!" because her next words were: "What year is that car?" at which the bagger, who had been listening of course, looked at me to see what my reaction might be.

I just said "Oh nine." as if I hadn't just answered that question a moment before.

"They're pretty expensive, aren't they? How much is it? Forty thousand?" suggesting she has a number for "expensive car" engraved somewhere in read-only memory.

This time I just smiled and replied "A little more" and turned away to thank the bagger. I climbed in the pretty and expensive car and gave my next-stall-neighbor a cheerful good-bye.

The bagger smiled from the curb and waved goodbye also.

Youngsters like him have a pretty good idea about cars. I know I did at that age. Sometimes they tell me how they're planning to get one themselves "some day." Just like the commercials show. I find that the only 'masses' who seriously might buy "a Porsh" if they cared to stretch the budget already drive a Mercedes, a Corvette, or occasionally a very large be-chromed pick-up truck that probably cost as much as a nice Boxster or Cayman. They do sometimes ask the price, but in the tone of "Do I really want to know?" All they say afterward is "Wow." and sometimes they repeat their opening comment: "Beautiful car."

Nah. Not designed for the masses.

Gary

 

great story, thanks for posting this!

 

Funny story... I have conversations like that at almost every stop light. As if I wasn't talking to my wife on bluetooth, or don't have kids in the car...

The only draw back of having my car - it is STILL new to people, who think that's all you want to do is talk about it.

Is that the new 350Z?
Is that the new Challenger? Yes, it's a Nissan Dodge Challenger GT-R.
(The list is quite extensive)

Is it fast?
Did your transmission break yet?
You can't launch, can you?
Is this the $170k one?
Is this the $35k one?
Uggghhh...

 

Hahaha!

 

My 911 was recently mistaken for ......... "Is that there that uh new cuhmaroh?........

Yes, yes it is. It was the stunt car in Transformers. Because you know, the 997 does have all of those sharp corners, tall trunk, big wide grill...........

 

 

It depends on what you want.

If there are a lot of higher end cars in your area, you may feel the desire to 'make it your own' so it stands out from the factory crowd.

I ordered and had ready a black Das Schild hood pad before the car ever got delivered.

And I am modifying it to get it to where I'd have had it delivered if the options were offered for my model year (heated multifunction wheel on 6spd manual tran. car).

Beyond that, I've not been bitten by an exterior mode that I felt compelled to get.

I had thought about a rear spoiler but after living with the Targa 4 for a year decided a spoiler/wing would not work on that car and liked the wide look as it was.

I'd thought about a front bumper vent, but since a proper factory mounting isn't possible with the std bumper cover as the internal mounting parts are not available but manufactured into the cover, and the center mounted US plate frame breaks up the long front single-color face anyway, I scrapped that idea as well.

I am still considering having the silver window arches redone in black by some method to contrast better with the yellow paint (the silver works great with darker paints), but thats a major structural mod to get those out and 'treated' (vs just masked and painted which I'm not sure about the longevity of).