Howdy

In college I drove a ford escort wagon.

Then, after graduating, I picked up a used 1999 BMW 323i. IT was like night and day. I loved driving the car. I now have a 2004 325i. I love driving it..

But its gotten old.. and now I want a 997 porsche , S or regular Carrera.

I've test driven a 2004 C4S and a 2005 Carrera S. But I can never really fall in love with the car because there is always the guy next to me so I can't really get comfortable.

And - despite me REALLY wanting a porsche, I mainly love how they look (i find them completely beautiful). But I want to love how they drive too. Is it an acquired taste? Because I wasn't totally blown away when I drove one.. but again, it was likely because I was not fully comfortable and used to it.

( I've also driven an M3 which seemed liek a total rocket ship and the shifting was super touchy. )

So-- I was just looking for some feedback. What was your experience like? Was it love at first drive? I LIKED it but didn't really get to fall in love. Does anyone know of a way I could RENT one for a day or something?

(i've also driven an A5 which I did not like)

 

I can't speak for everyone but for me it was love the first time I drove it. On my first test drive we left the lot and trundled along in traffic for about two miles. Once we hit an empty stretch of road the SA told me to put the car in Sports mode. Well that was it. I was hooked. The car is fast, nimble and everything a true sports car should be.

I had also driven a M3. A fast car to be sure but I did not get the same sense of ease when driving. My P-car is easy to drive with verve. The M3 required a lot more manhandling to drive precisely.

 

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Sport mode. Interesting.

Does the Carrera Base model have sport mode?

 

I don't think this an acquired taste. I just picked up my 997s on Tuesday (coming from an M3 - avatar) and I have to tell you that for me the difference is significant. I can't imagine not loving the first drive, even with 3 salesmen in the car.

 

It may depends on what you are looking for. When I test drove a C2s, I was not blown away by the acceleration. Part of that is just the delivery of the motor. Very smooth. Would not throw you hard into the back but it was definitely going fast.

However, that was not what I was looking for when I test drove. I was looking for how nimble and how it communicated with the driver. The car was VERY GOOD in these regards.

Yes, the car is also beautiful to look at!

The Sport Mode sharpens up the response but does not add any power. But it just feels SO MUCH faster. A must have imnb.

 

Sports/Chrono is an option on the C2. Home 7271 is correct in that it does not increase power. It does make the throttle more responsive to input and I believe it changes the settings on cars equiped with PASM. I also believe that it changes the shift points (i.e., at a higher rev) on cars equiped with tip/PDK.

I agree a "must have" even if you don't care for the dashboard "wart".

 

There are some people who can speak more than one language fluently . That's how I feel with both the Porsche 911 and the BMW 3 series . Over the years I have owned 8 911 cars and 19 BMW's . The transition into Porsche and BMW was simultaneous coming out of Japanese cars which I also love (Honda ). They are all different but each of the three cars mentioned have certain characteristics which capture my heart and bring out the joy in driving .

My first drive in a Porsche 911 was a test drive . I was much younger and could not really afford the car comfortably and must have walked out of a dealership at least 5 times coming to grips with even driving the car .

I will never forget the first drive . I showed up to a dealership which was one hour away because they had a car with less options and it seemed more affordable . The salesman handed me the key and told me to test drive it without him while he got my car appraised . I had never been to that local area before and I got lost on my test drive . It was during those 25 miles that i really experienced the car .

I absolutely loved the sound of the engine . I liked the feeling that the car felt like it was being pushed with the weight in the rear yet somehow the balance of the 993 seemed to defy physics . The size of the car was ideal and unlike many of the Japanese cars i had driven there was no blind spot . The offset pedals of the 993 and the 1960's style dash was so simplistic and I loved it . The way that the 5 dials stood in front of the driver with the Tachometer in the center was just awesome. What a car !!! I was falling in love .

I got back to the dealership an hour later and the car had about 50 miles on it . 25 were from me. The salesman said " you are going to buy this car ftom me right ?" I offered a number and he said "no" . I didn't have any more money to spend . I got up to leave and he said "ok , sit back down . I'll sell you the car" .

I was thrilled and the drive home just added even more excitement to the day.
When I got home one of my neighbors who has since that time moved had a daughter whose boyfriend was totally into cars . He often talked to me about cars at that time . He was about 20 and I was about early 30's but he knew more than i did about car history. As I drive into the driveway he was walking to his car and he came over to my car with the same smile that i had . He turned to me and said "any time you have any doubts about how great that car is just take a deep whiff of that badge and think of all the legends that went into it's making".

It's 16 years later now . I never forgot .

 

indeed, well put...

 

I've driven a range of products from 5.0l Ford products in my earlier days, to Acura products and sport bikes in the middle, to most recently a Mazdaspeed 3. I'd been looking at cars the last 9 months and came close to buying a 2011 335is, nice handling car and great sounding with decent power. However, I always wanted a Porsche, so I picked up a 2007 Carrera a month ago. The first drive was a little intimidating, and compared to the Mazda everything felt heavy and the speed is not overwhelming but sneaks up on you. Over the last month I've become much more familiar with the car and I must say it is unlike anything else I've ever driven, very addictive. It is first and foremost a driver's car, and the engine is amazingly smooth right up to redline. The power delivery and sound is hypnotic (and I don't even have the sport exhaust) and the ability to shoot out of corners reminds me of some of my sport bikes. So in short, this car is the most fun I've had on 4 wheels.

 

A couple of years ago, I wanted to evaluate whether the 997 is right for me, so
I took a Skip Barber 1 day performance driving school at Laguna Seca & used
their 997 for most of the exercises.

 

It's big difference going to a rear engine car. The front feels light and the back pushes the car around alot. It takes some getting use too. It's not a car for the faint of heart. (as someone else on the board said, understeer means you hit the wall with the front end.....oversteer means you hit the wall with the back end..... HP is how fast you hit the wall ..... TQ is how much of the the wall you take with you after you hit it.) I've had a few BMW and AMG that were easy to drive fast but didn't reward for your efforts like a Porsche does. Porsche has tamed the sudden off throttle oversteer issue with changes to suspension geometry and the many electronic nannies. However it still demands your full attention.

 

You may want to test drive a Cayman or Boxster, you may like the feel of a mid-engine car better. I'm currently driving a 335i, one test drive in a Cayman and I was hooked.

 

I read and loved the whole idea of Porsche and 911's before I ever drove one. The first sales guy also sold me on a 911. I wish I could have bought from him, but he didnt have one I couple afford. It was a 09 C2S in meteor gray with tan interior and looked amazing.

The first thing I noticed was the steering. I don't know how to describe it. It was smooth, agile, and confident building. Its like dancing with a girl who is more experience than you, she isnt leading, but she knows where you want to go. I felt the same about the acceleration as the others. It's great, but not mind bending.
Next would be the quality of the car. Houston roads are pretty rough, but I never felt like I needed to baby the car.

That's what I got the first time I drove it. The sales guy cut my test drive off early. I was going about 90mph on a long feeder lane with like 5 other people on it. So the sales guy goes, "Punch it man, go for it." I looked at him bewildered. Then he tells me to pull over, and we swapped seats. As he put on his seat belt he learns over and said, "I've been track driving for over 11 year." He floors it. I was holding on to my seat and scared for my life. We were going 140 when I glanced over, and he was still accelerating. Brakes! Right turn! back up to 120 weaving in about out of traffic, and the same thing back to the dealership.

I can wait till I get some free time to head to a track.

 

Ironically for me, it was the Cayenne that hooked me on the 911. I sat in a Cayenne at a car show several years ago when the idea of a large Porsche was still new, and fell in love. A few years later, I was the proud owner of one. I loved every bit of it, and I continuously thought to myself, "If this drives this well, imagine what a 911 can do!" That's when the bug officially bit me.

About 2.5 years later, the hunt for my 911 began. The first time, I test drove one with PDK on my own. It was awesome, but I didn't feel blown away by it, probably because of the lack of interactivity since it was sans-manual. also, I think I was a little afraid to really push it hard since I had never driven one before, and I had heard horror stories of rear-engined cars.

The next time I test drove one, a 6 speed, the salesman accompanied me, and I had him drive it first to really show me what it could do, and did he ever! Target: on ramp to interstate. 0-100 in no time, and extremely easily. all by the time we merged to the interstate. I was amazed. That is what I had missed experiencing on my first test drive. Then, I took over. I got a good feel for the manual and had a great time. I didn't end up buying that one, though, as another one was on my radar, another 6 speed, and I ended up test driving that one in the rain. That gave me a chance to address another concern I had: how would it handle in the wet Portland weather? Answer: flawlessly. The salesman again had first go, and after a few lefts and rights, we turned onto a dead end. He headed straight for the cul-de-sac at what I thought was entirely too fast, then (in the rain) flung the car around the curve with no problem whatsoever. I remember thinking that if the car stuck in those conditions, I would be buying it. My worries were put to rest, and that is the one I took home.

Since then, there have been numerous occasions where I couldn't help but smile as I was driving. For me, it took having someone show me what the car was truly capable of for me to really understand it. The car has been everything I had hoped since then.

 

like a lucid day dream...