Nice post, Tachsman.

Along with some of the ridiculous back and forth in the Porsche vs Nissan or BMW vs Audi/MB it's refreshing to see a well thought out post that isn't condescending or poorly composed.

It's seemingly impossible for a select few posters on this board to understand that the reason for variety is so that you can please different tastes.

I don't find Porsche's attractive at all. Are they a lot of fun to drive? Absolutely. Do I understand that there are people like some of my friends who are infatuated with them? Sure. But the last thing I'll tell them after they purchase their dream car is that they could have done better by buying a different car.

Instead I congratulate them on meeting one of their personal goals and appreciate their passion. Fortunately I can expect the same in return when I buy a car that might not have been their first choice and while we're all about friendly rivalry, the kind of passive aggressive bashing that goes on all the time is getting really old.

 

Honestly, I truly believe that if money isn't an issue everyone would opt for the Turbo S.

The GTR in my eyes has always been a Porsche Turbo for those who cant afford a Porsche Turbo.

The Turbo's also come in different varieties. Porsche's endless list of options just make the Porsche a special car to the individual.

I was able to opt for a convertible, 6 speed, deviated yellow stitching(to match my brakes), and other customizable goodies.

 

I will say one thing about the Porsche.

The engine is in the wrong place lol. Not having weight on the front wheels makes turn in suspicious, definitely something to get used to. Less speed can be carried into corners, but more power can be put down coming out of them.

 

That's a very presumptuous and innaccurate generalization. It also irritates me that money is routinely brought up by P-car owners. Having said that...

After I sold my GT2 and GT-R, I had $200k to play with. Guess what I chose? GT-R.

My best friend can afford pretty much any car he wants (this side of $400k). Guess what he chose? GT-R.

Money isn't always the issue.

 

Yeah, this is true. I kinda made this generalization based on Porsche Vs. GTR sales figures.

If I could afford any car I wanted I'd prob get a GTR too though (along with a high end super car)...funny how that works...lol

 

You're right. Nothing against the GTR. On paper, it is pretty close to a Turbo S. But for me, having owned 2 Porsches previously (both purchased 'used'), owning a brand new top end 911 was the stuff of my dreams as a kid. No way I thought I'd ever own one.

So, i could've saved a bundle for similar performance but the Porsche mystique of a 12 year old is something this 45 year old guy could never shake. I never even considered the Nissan (nor any other car for that matter) as it was all about the 911 and less about the 0-60... (but Seeing Road and Track got it 60 MPH in 2.6 secs, I feel like I got it all)

 

I must say I feel a little foolish. I didn't know people with that kind of money opted for GTRs over other automobiles.

 

I certainly wouldn't call you "foolish".

But that line of thinking is misinformed and presumptuous.

 

this tread needs to die. i don't think anyone had a childhood dream that included a nissan, really. i am not a snob what-so-ever, but the fact is, most buy a nissan and try to make it sound better because of the savings, and really can't afford the Porsche. and there's nothing wrong with that, nothing.. i know when i see my car sometimes think , "wow, that's as much as a house in the Midwest". but i never bought my car for bragging rights of notoriety, i drive a prius for that. i bought it so i can wake up early on the weekends and drive it like it's made to be driven, hard!!!! god bless everyone...

 

I would bet that there are far more GT-Rs on kid's walls these days than there are 911s.

As a die-hard Porsche fan, the ignorance of some you guys is mind-boggling to me. If you've never driven a GT-R, you really don't understand. I know a guy who owns a Porsche tuning shop who happens to be a sponsor on this forum. He literally has more professional Porsche racing experience than many of you have driving experience. He told me it would take at least $10k worth of suspension work, minimum, to make a 997TT handle like a stock GT-R. Now to some people, that may not be important at all. But to others, the performance aspect trumps whatever badge is on the car.

Performance is why I went with the GT-R. I wanted a daily-drivable 1k awhp car that will run sub 4-second 60-130s and low to mid 9-second 1/4 miles at over 160mph.

Having gone down that road before, spending more money in modifications alone on my 996TT than the cost of a slightly used 997TT, I know that no 996 or 997 Porsche will come close to achieving all of those numbers, thus leaving Porsche completely off the table. The only cars capable of that are modded GT-Rs and UGR TTGs. With only $200k to play with, that left the TTG off the table.

Some of you guys really need to get over yourselves. Your obsession with badges, marques, and showing off your 'money' is the kind of stuff I would expect to see from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Not from real car enthusiasts.

 

Silly money comments aside... I didn't dream about a GT-R as a child, simply because it didn't exist (barring the old Skylines). But if you start asking children now, if they like the GT-R, I guarantee you'll see things differently. One of my neighbor's kids (7yrs), came up to me about 2 weeks ago, and said I've got the coolest car in town. He said he is going to try and save up to buy one someday, and that it's his favorite car ever.

Interesting. I didn't have to go beyond 3 houses to see a different perspective. My oldest son wants a Lamborghini Reventon (did not get this from me, at all), while my youngest son wants either an R8 or GT-R.

How many people would say they've dreamed of a Koenigsegg their whole lives? McLaren or Pagani Zonda? Bugatti Veyron? Not too many here. Try asking that question again in 30 years. You'll get a different response.

But then again, I'm curious as hell why anybody would think this is relevant... Who really gives a crap what people dream about (sometimes shaped by marketing, and other influences - consider the Audi R8 commercial with the Audi driving through Italy)? I also wanted to be a firefighter when I was 4. I outgrew that, too.

 

i apologize if i pushed anyones buttons. OUT!!

 

I think you pushed mine. I saw closed-mindedness. That is a bit disappointing.

 

I am deleting this tread from my inbox... the word of the day is" egocentric".

 

For my purposes, the stock brakes are perfectly appropriate since I don't track my cars. If I did, I wouldn't expect very many cars to last multiple track sessions in their stock configuration. I think a stock GT3 or GT3Rs would be fine for a while, since they are focused track cars....but certainly not a Turbo or Turbo S. But then, even the guys who track their GT3s a lot get different (better) brake setups installed.

My take is this; if I want a focused track/street car, I think the GT3 is king. If I want a great all-around street car that can be tracked, a Porsche Turbo or GT-R would be an outstanding choice, and which one you choose depends on what's important to you and how much you want to spend. The GT-R handles FAR better from the factory, so in order to match that the Porsche owner will need to upgrade their inferior suspension at the tune of around $10k. The Porsche admittedly has better brakes and better cooling, so in order to match the Porsche the GT-R owner will have to upgrade brakes and oil coolers. Six in one hand, half dozen in the other.

If I want to mod a car (which I always do), that's where I start really looking hard at what I get from those mods and for how much $$. For my personal requirements (which I listed earlier), the GT-R is a better fit right now.

I've already been down the road of heavily modded Porsches, and as awesome as they are, they are 'stuck' at a certain level of performance. Hence the GT-R. I think as a second, additional car down the road, the idea of a stock GT3 is very appealing (the feel, the sound, the manual tranny, etc..).

But for those who don't have badge envy, who are able to afford either or, if you honestly take into account overall capabilities and performance of both cars, it really is a toss up between the Turbo 'S' and 2012 GT-R. I do believe the Turbo 'S' is a better built automobile overall, but definitely not at a level commensurate to it's $180k MSRP.