Hello all, new member here.
I have a 91 acura nsx with 33000 original miles,and am considering moving to a Pcar. I love the look of the 911(997),especially the c4s with its wider back end. I was hoping someone with Porsche experiance can help navigate me thru the maze of different options availible out there. What would be the best options to look for on a c4s. I perfer black cars and live in canada so figure the c4s would handle our weather.(no i don't drive my nsx in winter) but spring and fall get cold and slippery here. Any help in option choice and mileage threshholds( at what mileage do you get into expensive repairs ect.) Thanks in advance and love the website so far.
What kind of driving do you do? Any track days? If not, then you won't need to worry (as much) about options such as PASM, Sport (plus).
What year C4S were you considering as well? 997 gen 1 or 997 gen 2?
Personally for me, I think the best option on a C4S would be the Sport Design wheels. But that's just the wheels and those can be easily swapped out.
Come to think of it, the only options that'd I want in my Porsche if I were to do it all over again would be the Navigation, PASM, Bi-Xenons, Sport seats (If you don't upgrade to race seats like I did, but I don't think you'll be putting race seats in a C4S!), Sport steering wheel, transmission of your liking, and interior/ exterior color of your liking.
A lot of the Porsche options are really frivolous so I wouldn't sweat the options too bad! Just look for the basics like navigation (PCM- Porsche Communications Managment), nice wheels, and nice interior and exterior colors.
As for mileage and expensive repairs, you'd be surprised at how "cheap" our cars are to maintain. Yes, if things break, they will be costly, but nothing should go bad as long as you change your oil, fluids, belts, spark plugs, etc at the time/ mile increments or more frequently than what the owners manual suggests like I do. I'd recommend doing the simple stuff yourself or going to an independent shop to save you at least $500 off of what a Porsche dealership would charge at a labor rate of $150/hr. Rotors and pads are cheap. I guess the most expensive thing you'll go through are tires! :hilarious:
The only costly repairs that I can think of with the Cayman is the engine blowing up. I don't mean to scare you, but a lot of people here heavily track their cars and there are some stock oiling and engine components that weren't designed to carry the high lateral G's on racetracks after adding R-compound tires and beefing up the suspension to get at those high lateral forces. I haven't heard of any problems like that with the Carreras, but then again, I don't take interest in them since I don't own one or read about them enough.
PS. Post some pics of the NSX! LOVE that car!!
Let me know if you have any further questions and I'd be happy to further assist you!
Always loved the NSX styling!
As with any car - look for the newest model in your budget. C4S has nice hips! Make sure you get a PPI.
If you go into the files section on here you'll find a sale guide in the 911 section for the 2009+ models. Use that as your starting point for deciding on various options. The only difference in terms of options between Gen 1 and Gen 2 is the PDK transmission (so no launch control on Gen 1's), where as it is Tiptronic on the older models...which I'd personally not suggest.
The wheel options are also slightly different as is the navigation and PCM which is better in the Gen 2's, but still the basic function remains the same so again will give you an idea.
If you don't understand an option you can use the FAQ section on here to hopefully clarify things.
Agree with golfguy on pick the exterior and inetrior colours you like and see what comes up from there.
I'd always opt for sports chrono, but that can be retrofitted via the dealer or alternatively a softronic tune can be used to switch it on all the time.
Full leather interior does make a nice diffference to the interior and is one option I kind of wish I had.
Thanks for the info guys. Had no idea there was a gen1 and gen2. i was looking in the 2008 year and was really hoping for a cab. c4s. manual trans, with a black interior. i really like the turbo wheels as an option. If i had to change the rims to turbo,is that a crazy expensive option? i"ll try to post pics of my nsx...my computer skills are lacking... thanks again.
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some pictures of my 91 nsx. 31000 miles,white interior,5-speed,headers,exhaust and lowered.
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The NSX looks in great condition! If it were me I'd be keeping the NSX as well, as it is a classic.
The Gen 2 came with a new engine (DFI) and bump in power, which although was not a massive power increase overall it does feel more than it is.
Rims: For OEM rims you'll pay an arm and the leg if you buy new, however if you needed to you could probably find some take offs or, not my fave option, buy some aftermarket rims in the style.
Personally I prefer the 2nd Gen turbo rims over the 1st gen.
I wouldn't worry about what rims come with the car, look in the classified section here and you'll see a huge selection of wheels to pick from at reasonable prices.
At the risk of stirring up a fuss.. have you considered a Cayman? As much as the revered 911 is a fine car you may find that a similar model year Cayman will be less expensive and to some of us, more fun to drive.
Look at the Cayman R! From what I've heard, they are pretty track-ready.
I did take a look at the Cayman R which is nice but i've always been attracted to the 911 lines. I'll definately check out the classifieds for some deals on rims if i pull the trigger on a C4S and don't like the rims already fitted. I appreciate all the help, and will do more research on the pros and cons of the two generations of motors. Summer is right around the corner and i need to find my new toy quick....
Dont blame you. That's why I jumped to 911 from Cayman. Go to the Porscheusa website and do a search of the car you want in the pre owned section. The search function will find you cars within your search radious that you spec out.
I'm a former NSX owner - a 1992. Loved that car, and regretted that I got rid of it several years ago. Only gripe I ever had with it was that the aluminum body panels were a bit soft and prone to dings...made the whole car seem fragile.
Still, in almost every way, my Porsche is a superior machine to the NSX (okay, maybe not including trunk space and "flash"). I'm sure you'll love yours too, no matter which way you go.
