993 in for body work - 997 for the week, impressions...

[kennyboy]

I've got a 997 Carrera 2 for a few days while my beloved 993 is getting some bodywork sorted - I thought I'd share my impressions to see if other air-cooled nuts agree or disagree with me.

I was really looking forward to this as after a flirt with 996 ownership it was clear they weren't for me - I was hoping to skip to 997 in a couple of years or so.

The overall impression is it still didn't feel special for me - it feels mass produced and I couldn't find anything that seemed hand built or over-engineered like I enjoy on the 993. Even the door handles are a bit fake for me - they look like retro 993 items but it's actually just a 'tilt up' action like the 996, and feels flimsy.

The doors shut just like a 996 i.e. cr*p though generally the exterior build quality is slightly better.

Inside things seemed a big step forward at first - though I soon realised the improvement over the 996 was just better quality materials (in some areas!), the build quality for me felt short of a mk5 Golf.
I put my jacket on the little hook in the back to discover the piece of trim had fallen off by the time I parked up, leaving my jacked sprawled over the back seats - it clipped back in to place but was so cheap! If I'd spent over £70k on a car I'd have gone mad! []

Yes it's fast and handles beautifully and safely but then so did my 996.

So all in all I'm disappointed if you couldn't tell already - I'm may not be saying anything everyone didn't know already but I thought I'd post my experience as I suppose we all know we have to move on one day....

I get the old girl back on Thursday and I can't wait - though the 997 chassis has got me thinking about bringing forward the m030 and bilstein upgrade!

 

[Porker993]

Thanks for your impressions - guess I'll be hanging on to the 993 for a bit longer then.[] (Till I can afford a 993 TT that is)

 

[968er]

You mean you weren't bowled over by that super modern interior compared to the old fashioned scattergun approach used in the 993[][]

 

[RichardLW]

Good point about the modern interior - I still haven't got used to the switches in the 993 and I keep going to the wrong (964) places for some of them.

 

[968er]

Richard,

I was being facetious[]

 

[968ant]

Posts like this always amaze me, I just dont understand this quality thing with the 996? I just don't get it?

Ant.

 

[oceancarrera]

Interesting one these door sounds..

the doors of a 996/997 will never sound like a 993 or earlier... they are frameless doors so how can one expect them to sound the same? [&:]

 

[kennyboy]

You mean you weren't bowled over by that super modern interior compared to the old fashioned scattergun approach used in the 993[][]

Yeah I didn't know what to do William, I could actually see the air con button whilst driving - ridiculous! []

 

[RichardLW]

968er

I, too, was being facetious since I think the 993 cabin was a retrograde step from the 964. Controls are in the wrong places and the quality is not so good.

Richard

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

I don't understand why the horrible metallic crashing noise you get when closing a 993 door is so often used as an indication of build quality [][][]

 

[kennyboy]

Ha ha I must admit that did sound strange to me the first time I heard that - it's unique isn't it....

 

[pse_SC]

The doors sound and feel the same as my SC (my previous 911). Together with (almost) exactly the same dashboard (13 years' difference!), it made me feel right at home and was even stronger! That's why I prefer cars before (and including!) 993, rather than the later ones; they've got so much more character.

 

[sailor]

Richard, remember the old saying........CLUNK..........click....... every trip. Luv it as the chassis reverberates from that solid contact. Nothing drops off afterwards.
I once bent a door upwards by several inches in a contact with my garage door surround.I just leant heavily on the doorframe and the whole thing went back into position. What precision. Even improved on the CLUNK sound. Couldn't do that with a 996 - the whole door would fall off.

JohnC
993turbo

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

ORIGINAL: sailor

Richard, remember the old saying........CLUNK..........click....... every trip. Luv it as the chassis reverberates from that solid contact. Nothing drops off afterwards.
I once bent a door upwards by several inches in a contact with my garage door surround.I just leant heavily on the doorframe and the whole thing went back into position. What precision. Even improved on the CLUNK sound. Couldn't do that with a 996 - the whole door would fall off.

JohnC
993turbo

Ooooo - that doesn't sound too good! Did you know that the 996 has an increase of 45% in torsional rigidity and 50% in flexural rigidity over the 993? That's the shell, of course - I don't have any figures for the door hinges!! [][]

 

[huw dolphin]

What is your 993 in the bodyshop for? that was what helped persuade me to sell my 993 - the need to keep on having work done on the body.

i went the other way and changed it for a 997 which to me is a different type of quality in that it is better trimmed, better designed and more comfortable. particularly, the materials are better than the 996 for example. it is not as solid as a 993 but i'm not sure quite what a very solid clang of a door tells you - except the door is very heavy. not much consolation when you have got to get your 993 booked in to have rot from the front and rear screens cut out and the whole roof section repainted as a rsult.

 

[kennyboy]

It was in because someone had reversed in to me - insurance job, their fault. So new front bumper which was nice as had quite a lot of stone chips.

i went the other way and changed it for a 997 which to me is a different type of quality in that it is better trimmed, better designed and more comfortable. particularly, the materials are better than the 996 for example.

Agree with those points - I probably didn't make it clear (I KNOW I never []) that I thought the 997 was a brilliant car. It's the solidity difference I noticed first though stepping in to it after stepping out of the 993.

 

[kennyboy]

it's funny how we all want a GT3 isn't it, no matter what car we've got at the moment or even if we'd have an opportunity to track it.

 

[sawood12]

I drove a Boxter 2.7 recently and was expecting it to be unimpressive after all the negative things you read about them (which I suspect is Porsche snobbery in action) but I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Yes the 2.7ltr engine is relatively guttless especially when you are used to a turbocharged motor but handling was superb and I didn't detect any scuttleshake at all. In fact without being too controversial I don't see the point in a 911 cab if you are looking for a cab in the Boxter pricerange. Why go for a coupe with the roof chopped off, which will always be a compromise, when you could go for a Boxter S which was designed as a cab from day 1. I know the 911 has rear seats but they are effectively useless for anyone over 4 feet tall. But I must admit I drool everytime I see a 997 on the road. I can't wait for depreciation to take hold and bring them into my pricerange.