997 Counterpoint

Warning this my subjective opinion. First of all the 997 is a beautiful machine and a fine addition to the 911 family, so I hope nobody takes this the wrong way. I saw my first 997 in person today, I thought for sure I would be blown away with that "I gotta have one" feeling, but it was kind of underwhelming. It looks like a 996 trying to look like a 993. There happened to be a 993 getting serviced, and the 997 is not a 993. The lights look fine but they are not the traditional round Porsche lights by any stretch of the imagination. they look like oval 996 lights with the turn signals moved to a new location. The wide hips are very cool but next to my 996 the 997S looked bloated and way too high, granted my car is a narrow body 996 at RoW ride height. The interior was fine with the exception of that PCM screen, it just doesn't belong in a sports car IMO. On the other hand the gauges have a better lay out and the shifter has a nice feel to it. Surprisingly, as much as I would like full leather the basic interior quality is much better than my 996, I think the hot ticket is the std interior with all leather seats only. Use the extra money for PSE . I didn't get to drive it , I'm sure it drives great, but I really wish PAG would offer a -20mm sports suspension and drop the busy PCM screen as a standard feature. Maybe they need to offer a Club Sport 997. All in all, I was a little disappointed because of all the hype lately about the 997. My 996 actually looked lean and mean sitting next to the S, plus it sounded better too. So I'll be keeping the 996 for a while. I can't wait to see the 997 GT3 and the TT version, I'm sure they will change my mind.

The latest edition of AutoWeek has pictures of the 997 GT3. It looks great, but so does the current GT3. No hard facts out regarding what is under the skin. It's all rumors at this point. Let's hope its launch lowers the price of preowned GT3's so I can afford one. I also will skip the 997.

I thought the same thing until of the sales people came back and parked the 997 next to my 1999. There was a significant visual impact of the changes and my 996 looked dated for the first time!

I have the number one spot for a 997 GT3 at my local dealer (if and when it comes to the US). I'm hoping the next gen gt3 maintains the purity of the 996 gt3. Fortunately I still love my c4s and have no plans of parting with it.

I thought the interior was very nice and really like the improved materials and little larger gauge lay out. However, like Doug, I thought the PCM was way out of place. Just too busy and too many buttons. I thought it really distracted from an otherwise very well thought out and pleasing to the eye interior. I thought the forward trunk area looked nice but I thought the plastic panels were really cheap feeling in their operations. Interesting enough there was a 997S and a currenty GT3 in the show room at that dealership I was at this weekend. I was checking out the 997, looking it over in detail. My wife was wondering around looking at some Audis, a Cayenne, etc. Then she starts looking at the GT3 and says I like this one much better than the one you are looking at (most of this impression comes from the Aero kit that is on the GT3 but...). Last random thought...I was a little shocked at the sticker price of the 997S...$105k+...wow I think I will be keeping my 996 for a little while longer. It would have been nice to the 997S without the active suspension, PCM, etc...basically just more power and less stuff (I know that is what the 997 GT3 is for and they will charge more for it).

I dropped by my local dealer last Saturday for the launch party. I missed the party because I got there at around 3:30. However, the GM at the dealership have a sales person to show me the car and a nice test drive. I parked my 2000 coupe with aero kit right next to a 997. I like the my 996 with aero kit better. Interior looks busy on the 997 but it was nice. I am very impressed with the engine on how smooth it was and the power gain seems significant compare to my 2000. My verdict is that if money is not an issue I would buy one on the spot.

My take is why would the styling of the new 997 blow you away? It's not a night and day remake. It's an evolution of several small changes that add up to a subtle yet noticable difference. The real changes are the ones you feel when you drive the car. I drove a tip and was impressed by the 3.8 engine. I am going back to the dealer since the 6 speed S has arrived and I expect to be equally impressed.