heavy, some dealers out there are ethical and do not charge a premium. However, they also tend to reward repeat customers with allocations so they initially get snapped up.

Personally, I haven't had a modern sports car in the garage since 2008. So, I'm not going to wait till all the press reviews and local examples show up at the track. In the off chance that it drives like Alias' Nissan, I'll sell it before demand drops (the wait lists are already deeper than initial production). But I think that's doubtful.

 

fair enough. my point is that there are ppl, vast majority of the talkers, have zero intent to buy the car even the magazine or test. they just like to do cerebral exercises.

look at the older cars.
993, 996gt, 997gt/rs
is RS better than non RS.
is the gearing that different?
is this or is that.
but these are old cars, many years out.
some are still debating over it, and have no intention of getting anything..... years down the road.
others just do some experiment and decide on their own.

 

Very true. I probably wouldn't buy one myself because it's still less potent than last generation Z06 and Viper, GTR etc. And frankly I will not just accept that my car is slower. Also less potential for improvement. As you mention a few mods on your Z06 and you have a car pretty much on par with a Cup Car. Imagine what it would take to get a GT3 there. Doing TT in the SE I get to go up against many of the biggest and baddest in the country so an NA flat six isn't going to cut it vs 600+ whp Corvettes with more DF than FIA GT1 and 900 hp GT-R's with massive DF etc

Overall I'm more concerned with the direction Porsche is heading because they are not likely to produce a car I like ever again. So it means I lose a brand I have been pretty tied to for almost the last decade. And I mean I'm done supporting/following them in ALMS and any other racing too. So this is about far more than just options to me.

I have to find a new team to root for.

 

Please forgive me, while I seal in this irony. I believe I said, more than a couple years ago, this may happen.

It is just the direction of the industry. I see the new 'Vettes and Vipers stealing people's hearts with their amazing performance, power:weight, traditional manual transmission, relative value, etc...

Anyone blame Ferrari? I mean, they became the first company to completely eradicate single clutch pedal transmissions from their entire line, and saw no drop in sales. Obviously, less sales, but same outcome. It is an eventuality, like fuel injection.

 

Interesting

 

As far as the track goes Ferrari drivers are posers. How many of them do you see at the track in their cars? next to ZERO. Ferrari's are built for Cars and Coffee just like the new GT3 will be with it's 20" Centerlocks.

Even the guys that do have Ferrari's and are real track drivers drive anything but their Ferrari at the track. Probably like .01% of Ferrari's get tracked. That is nothing like people who buy GT3's (85% claimed as tracked). You won't find more net worth of cars on the track than GT3's because the GT3 invites passionate drivers. Or at least used to.

Comparing a GT3 to Ferrari is ridiculous because the same people are not buying them for the same reasons. Or at least, that's the way it used to be. Porsche is kicking their enthusiasts to the curb and choosing the Ferrari demograhic which is why they are putting 20" centerlocks on the car which serve no benefit to track purposes and have proven hazardous and high/frequent/expensive maintenance (sounds like a certain red car). No sport seats, all types of electronics.

The sales may not drop initially, but Porsche is losing a lot of customers to go and try and steal other ones.

 

I agree with all of this (except for the Ferrari/Porsche buyer - I'd speculate that many different types of people have different reasons for buying any car).

 

History keeps repeating itself on forums. We complain about a car that is coming because as humans we don't like change. Then the car comes out and most people love and adore it, and praise the company for there engineering advancements. Don't believe me, then look up old posts before other models were updated from any of the companies. This is not always true, but majority of the time it is.
I have owned a couple vettes including the 2001 Z06, and have had extensive drive time with the new Z06 and many different vipers. They do not compare to the driving feel of a porsche or other euro sports cars. I respect the performance per dollar of a GTR, vette and viper; but they do not give me the same visceral thrill, enjoyment, or special feeling as a porsche.

 

The C7 is there now as well...

 

that's mikymu, not me

make that two of us

 

There is nothing wrong with the factory Corvette or SRT teams...

 

Porsche just isn't Porsche anymore... Vw ownership yay!!! ...

 

Evolution, man... Imagine what is going to happen when combustion engines are gone... ???

 

not true re ferraris at the track. you might not see many street ferraris at the local track club day, but plenty get driven at fca and foc events. maybe not 85% but good % scuderias and stradales have seen track. and the hardcore trackers drive challenge cars

 

You are correct, most of the Ferrari owners who are hardcore trackers either have a race car of some sort (I would bet more have different race cars than challenge cars) or another track car by and large.

I've been to a Ferrari challenge race and they had their own Ferrari only DE represented by many generations of Ferrari, mostly 430 at the time. Problem is that I know as many people with street Ferrari's as there were driving at that event. And not one has seen the track. And these Ferrari's came from all over.

I stand by my statement. There is a big area between hardcore tracking, and garage queening it. There are plenty of people who do 1-5 maybe a couple more events a year just to run their car like they want.