Dial 911

[equ]

I don't know how many other cars you are keeping around and what this car will do. I probably wouldn't want a gt3 for day-in/day-out commuting or for a long road trip, something any 911 base, s, gts or turbo would be good at. For me, the answer is a 911 base, S or GTS, a coupe, a manual. 997.2, 991.1 or 991.2 would all work. Not a pdk, not a cabriolet, not a gt3 (I'd like those rear seats and not such a hard-edged weapon) and not a turbo (do not need/want awd in a 911, a car with ridiculous traction and great power down ability to begin with). PASM is also welcome in the real world. The 991 rides very well, the 997 is a bit more jittery/traditional 911 feel. Stiff rear, soft front, narrow cabin... I still miss my 3.6L 997.2 base. It was missing a couple of options, but what a car. Perfect torque curve on the engine, great gearing.

We are all different, have different budgets, different lower backs, different speed needs, different tastes. 35k miles are not excessive but not zero either, so you'd have to check how well they've been treated, how "fresh" the cars feel. The best way would be for you to drive several models as back to back as possible. Such comparisons used to be possible, now they are getting harder and harder to do.

Not knowing what other cars you plan to keep, it's very hard to answer. You do seem to be someone who wants the best performance perhaps highest power, so a gt3 for a few years couldn't hurt. What's the worst that could happen?

I probably would take a 997 gt3 over a gt4 for the occasional, special feeling use/purpose. I don't think of the cayman gt4 as a long term major value holder, it will hold somewhat and the drop will be slow but it will not be collectible.

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

i have it in mine also (well espresso natural, but very close to the same thing as cocoa). It is really nice, much softer than the regular leather, and it is amazing how much of the interior is covered in leather when you get the full / natural package. I think its rare because its special order only and its pretty expensive.

FWIW, both of the turbos I posted have natural leather.

“Natural Leather” is a color... that’s the same color I had. It’s only avail with “Full Leather” packages (or at least it was for the 987/997 generation...

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by ZBB

“Natural Leather” is a color... that’s the same color I had. It’s only avail with “Full Leather” packages (or at least it was for the 987/997 generation...

I thought your boxster was Cocoa, was that FC? I looked up the VIN on the turbo link and it has "Natural Leather - Brown" interior. I'm not sure if the 987/997 had only one natural leather color option, but on newer cars, natural leather refers to a higher quality, smoother finished leather material compared to the 'standard' leather Porsche offers. It is available in multiple colors (for the 991 it was only Espresso & Espresso/Cognac). You can get standard leather interiors with 'full' leather extended to the door panels, dash, etc. On the 991 natural was a $5790 option.

Here is some detail on it from Porsche:
"Both leathers are genuine cow leather and most come from southern Germany and some from Switzerland and such. None are from Argentina because of issues with stitching. The natural leather is dyed differently than the full in that it goes through a soak process that filters the dye through the whole piece. The full leather has a more superficial dying process as an outer coating. Because of the process on the natural leather, it is a bit more soft and supple...does tend to comfortably wear in a lot easier than the full leather because of this. The natural leather is very high quality with almost no markings. Because of the high quality, it has fewer layers of finish. It is full aniline with glaze. The natural leather will get its patina faster than others because of the fewer finish layers."

Only two leathers are considered "natural leather,"--brown and grey. They process the leather differently than the others. They don't sand the leathers at all and these two come from the top 5% of the hides they get in terms of quality. There are no flaws whatsoever in these (e.g., barbed wire marks, bug bites, etc.) Standard leather is corrected grain leather, subsequently embossed to get back some of the grain look, and then dyed to get back of the the look of natural leather.

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by lemming

Thank you for the offer.

I’m looking for something that holds crazy resale value in case of a recession. But one of the sharper edged cars that Porsche makes.

The GT4 is really spectacular in person.

But if you can get a mint GT3, wouldn’t that be more “something” that the GT4 is trying to distill into a car?

The 997TT I think is a no brained for resale in 6 speed guise. The one in Portland has funny little tweaks on it I don’t like. Cobb tuning. Some rorty exhaust. It’s off putting.

If you're looking to minimize depreciation and maximize a sharp edged P-car experience it seems like the 997 GT3 is your best bet. I don't think 997TTs will be *that* great from a depreciation standpoint and definitely not in the same category of the GT cars.

[JST]

I think that’s right; the only disadvantage with any 911 is that the market has been so hot for them for so long that it’s easy to see a GT car losing a bit in a recession as part of a broader price pull back.

On the other hand, a 997 GT3 has already had whatever “new car” depreciation it’s going to have, which maybe won’t be true for the GT4.

On balance I think the GT3 is the easy choice here.

[JST]

Hmmm

https://www.porschechantilly.com/use...AA2A90KS103498

[FC]

Originally Posted by JST

Hmmm

https://www.porschechantilly.com/use...AA2A90KS103498

Way cool. I still don't care for the back end/rear grill on the 991.2's but the rest of the car is very nicely sculpted.

How much was that new?

EDIT: I looked it up: $120k new.

[JST]

Yes I appreciate the dealer asserting that the “market price” is literally MSRP when new.

Those seats would be hard to live with and the lack of rear seats deletes even the pretense of extra practicality over a Boxster GTS, which has more power and also is theoretically available new.

But yeah this thing is cool af and I can’t stop thinking about it.

[wdc330i]

Go buy it.

[equ]

Clean low mileage T's are in the 90's to a 100 but I have seen a few show up over the last few months (and I'm not even diligently searching).

There are some negatives for me:
1. rear seat delete (I occasionally found use for the rears, putting in small ppl etc)
2. LWB - I don't think all T's have these seats. I can't imagine they would work for me.
3. Decreased sound insulation. Porsches are great with wind noise but even cushier ones, e.g. my 981S or a 997 I had, have decently high road noise. I'm not sure I'm on board with increasing that.

For me a base 991.2 well-optioned would be preferable to a T, but I'd have to drive them back to back. Also many manuals are T's.