I feel good in my GEO Metro...

 

I'm "sports car enthusiast" when I'm doing my canyon runs alone or on the track. I'm "sports car guy" when I drive my car down main street or when I'm on this board looking at all the HREs, cobalt blue paint, wings, carbon fiber, and etc.

I believe we all have a bit of both in us. It's call having your cake and eat it too. Yum

 

Sounds like the story about the King with no clothe's on.

 

It's interesting how long this thread has gone on. It must be hitting some nerves or something.

Having both a CS and 996TT, I flip flop myself. I go for a week or more only wanting the P car. Then something in my mind flips and I get the urge for the F car. After a day or two, I'm back to wanting the P car.

If I could only have one, I would take the Porsche because I could drive it more often, and it's almost as fun. Or rather, it's fun in a different way.

 

I wish I can have your dilemma And that's the only reason why I decided on a TT rather than a 360, because I know I can use it more, even on days when I have to drop two kids off at school.

The TT is the more practical super sportscar. Of course, if I can as you, I would've bought both

The Ferrari is what I want. The Porsche is what I can live with.

 

Also , on the Ferrari , the odometer automatically converts to a " dollarometer " once it hits 10K miles and the numbers start spinning rapidly downwards. One of the other reasons these cars are flipped so often. I'll bet any of the CS Malibu runners their pink slips if they still own these in 24 months , LOL .

 

Now that's insight!

 

Compared to Porsche which drops 30% the first mile off the dealer's lot (or in the case of a Cayenne Turbo 40%), I'd say this is pretty good.

 

so Cayenne Turbos with 100 miles can be gotten for under $60k now?

I don't think my Turbo has fallen 30% in over 16 months and almost 10k miles.

 

Sounds like a great car for an elderly gentlemen. I believe my dad would love one. Second thought, last year he unloaded his Ferrari's and bought a Turbo Bentley and Aston Martin Vanquish.

 

Go to a dealer and see what they'll give you for it and you'll be surprised. When '04 Turbos can be bought for invoice and '05s can be had for $8k-$10k off, it makes yours with zip. My brother in law just traded his '03 Cayenne T with 14k miles and he got $55k for it! I was offered the high $50ks for my '04 with 37k miles.

 

I've owned Porsche and Ruf turbos for over 20 years and never liked Ferrari. The performance, quality and reliability were never there. However, after riding in a Stradale for less than 30 minutes, I decided to buy it. I've now driven it over 500 miles on all types of roads. Here's what I can say about it:

1. The acceleration is good. It's about the same as a stock 996 TT, and stays well with a 2000 Viper.
2. On a freeway or other straight road, a Ruf or modified TT will pull you by 5-8 cars lengths by 150 MPH, assuming you're both starting at the same time.

However, that's where the "disadvantages" end. Here's what else:

1. The instantaneous throttle response and ability to up-shift and down-shift in under 150 ms more than makes up for the acceleration. On a curvy mountain road, there's no way in hell a stock turbo car will stay with you. On the CS, you're always in the right gear with no turbo lag. The Turbo owner will kill himself trying to stay with you. The F1 transmission is a no-brainer and clearly superior to a manual.
2. The straight-line stability of the car is MUCH better than any 993 or 996. It's straight as an arrow with no wandering, even at 150 MPH+ on less than perfect roads. This is a VERY noticeable difference, and an obvious nod to Ferrari's F1 engineers working on the car's aerodynamics, which you clearly see looking under the car from the rear. The car just sucks down to the road.
3. The car's engineering and quality are impeccable. The engine revs incredibly fast to 8500 with a scream that will make most people quickly pull-over when you're coming.
4. The car has the Enzo brakes. No fade at all (I tried very hard).
5. The road view out the front is incredible. You don't see the hood; you feel like your flying on the road without a car!
6. The suspension is very tight, but also incredibly compliant over bumpy roads. There's virtually no body lean. The car feels lighter and tighter than any 993 or 996 I've driven.
7. For those that like titanium, it's all over the car. From the connecting rods to the suspension springs. The latter I believe is a first in a production car.
8. The car is incredibly fun to drive. I think it's the extremely fast throttle, shifting, braking and steering response. It feels like the car is part of your body. I always thought the best sports car was an "invisible" car that did everything you wanted instantantly. The CS is like that.

And for the "younger" guys, when you pass some cute girls, they'll watch you go by with a smile, until you're out of site. It happens every time.

Several Enzo owners have stated they like their CS better on the road. The Enzo is big, low and attracts way too much attention (almost to the point of being dangerous). Also, maybe because of it's size, it's difficult to enjoy the Enzo at less than 100 MPH. The CS is very enjoyable at slower speeds.

To balance this out, here's some more "minor" CS disadvantages:

1. You will not enjoy parking the car where you usually park your Turbo. Too many people gather around the car. For me, it attracts too much attention. Even more than a Viper.
2. The car has no insulation, so you'll often hear rocks hitting against the underside.
3. The front-end will scrape badly if you enter a dip at high speed. The scrape can even get into the colored paint. Skid plates should be added soon after purchase.
4. The front bumper gets many rock chips. A bra or clear bra is needed. SpeedLingerie does not have one yet.

When I asked my wife what she doesn't like about the car, she said "nothing comes to mind".

 

Bill, let's compare the handling on your CS vs. my GT2 sometime. I don't know how much seat time you have had in the latter but it's a world apart from the 996 Turbo.

BTW, missed you in Monterey this year!

Collin, if you want to disagree with me, fine. But, the reason we use times on the Nurburgring and Hockenheim from AMS is because we can isolate the track and driver variables to isolate the max performance capabilities of each car.

Either way, a GT2 is still a far superior car to the Turbo, I can obviously say this after having owned both. It seems to me that you haven't driven a GT2 much (if at all), so how can you really comment about it? I don't think there is any real argument that it is a superior car in terms of performance to the Stradale even if it does make you feel less good about doing it.

No matter how good or bad my driving ability is, I am an enthusiast. Actually, more like fanatic. Based on your statement about "looking good," it seems that you feel most at home with the HRE/TechArt bodykit crowd.

 

I'm sorry I didn't go this year. Next year for sure!

I know you'll be faster in the GT2 for two reasons: (1) the GT2 has more torque; (2) I get scared faster than you. BTW, at Willow Springs, the GT2 and 993 Turbo R are very close.

Do you think I'd be more than 10 seconds behind after a 5-mile run up Palomar? Seems like the cars are within 10 seconds of each other after driving all-out for 14-miles on the Nurburing with the same driver. Not bad for a 100 HP difference.

 

I don't know about 10 secs, but any discrepancy would be due only to NA cars losing power at altitude. Palomar is not a high HP "track".