A happy 996 weekend.

Hey all... I have been looking seriously into the possibility of selling the 996 and getting one of those 4-door rice burning monsters. Specifically, the Suby STi. So...I went out and drove one just to compare. There was a 2004 model in pre-owned that the dealer let me take for a spin. Here's what I found: Good things: 1. Headroom. Lots! About 2-3's more than the 996. 2. Leg room (I actually had to move the seat forwad) 3. Back seat - Plenty o' room for the little one. 4. The 2005 models have a nicer interior. (Much nicer) 5. Power band is un-fooking-believable. HOLY SCHIOT!! 6. Shift light was cool. Not-so-good things: 1. Power was instant on and instant off. Nothing appeared to be in the middle 2. Holy understeer Bat-man!! Even slow quick cornering! Yikes. 3. I felt like I was driving a little Japanese pickup. The feeling never really went away. 4. Grip was so, so. Along w/ understeer, the body roll was stupid for what that car cost. (sticker on the '05 I was looking at was $35K) 5. Steering was very twitchy. Like the car never really knew where it wanted to go, even if you directed to go a specific way. DID NOT LIKE THIS FEELING. 6. The wing. Well...GOT RICE? And...it flutters around 100mph! 7. A sense of cheapness. (go back to #3) Less apparent in the '05's but still there. 8. Just not enough sure-footedness for the track. It did not communicate good things to me when driven hard. And yes...I drove this one HARD! That's about it. Neat car. But, not the right one for me. I still can't get over the power. Simply amazing. What was great, was I took the sales guy for a ride in the 996 directly after the test drive. I made me really appreciate the Porsche. Upon getting home, I checked the oil, conditioned the leather and promptly decided there is no way in hell I will be selling this car. This thing is me. Simple as that. So with that... have a wonderful Porsche filled week of fun. Chad

THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE!!!................but nice try.

have you looked at the lancer evo FQ? the main thing i don'y like about pretty much every jap car out there is the interior looks and feels like its made out of recyled plant pots

Yeah...there appears to be a reliablility issue with the EVO's. All the mags like the EVO better, but even in their long term tests, it needed help. Chad

Chad, I thought about getting a Evo8, almost the same at an Sti. Nice car just a different feeling...I prefer my 996, but it would be fun to own the Evo8 also.

I agree Kirb. I was looking at them for the family aspect. You know...fun, take the kidds to school, while still going to the track on the weekends. Chad

i had a wrx (no STi by any means) and i loved it on track, but after several weekends in the porsche the 996 communicates alot better to me than the subie. thumbs up for sticking with the 996! personally would've liked to see someone on this board get an STi and not dog on it, but the reality is the porsche owns

ya, the evo8 is a better car than the sti but i think it looks even worse than the subi. blaaachhh!. if you want the power to weight ratio of the sti then i think you know what you have to do... get a supercharger! right kirby !?!

WRX is ugly. EVO is better but I'd be laughed at if I tried to pretend to be a ricer. Both as "cheap" thrills and good alternative to a Mustang. I am a little too old for either cars though. Maybe they will be good as a daily driver or track cars where I don't care as much about image. I laugh at those 20 something people thinking they are the ****z pulling up with their yellow EVO or blue WRX like they are on top of the world. These are the same crowd as those 3 series owners I think...

Power to Weight ratio on my car is pretty good.....until my fat *** gets in it.

For the price the EVO and STI are fine cars but when evaluating them you have to lower the bar some. It's not fair to hold them to the same standard as a Porsche. Let's not forget that you can buy three EVOs for the price of one well equipped 997.

lol, cut down on the panda express!

I owned a Monster EVO VIII that was pushing over 550 crank, full road race monster...awesome car. Best handling you will ever drive. The engines are bullet proof and you can run the stock turbo to 25psi easily. I also owned 2 wrx's. A 02 and a 04. I never bought the STI as just did not want to build it. If your going to get one, get the EVO. For Porsche guys, I love my 996, I bought for the cool factory. Great handling car, price used is a new EVO. However, I dont care how much pride you might have...until you drive one on a race track, you just cant image what the AWD is capable of. You can be the worst driver and still be fast. But at the same repect, I was able to turn just as fast times in the 996 then the EVO. So alot is to say for the rear engine, rwd machine I call the 996 C2 If it is any consoltation...I will never go back. Next is a 996 Turbo for me Here is a pic of my EVO beast which is now owned by a Porsche owner in Ohio! More pics are HERE So if anyone wants to talk Suby or EVO, those are our specialties as we build them all the time

sellout lol never go back? you do know that 996 turbo IS AWD! never forget your AWD roots, vivid

Chad, I just did a DE that featured some porsches and mongrel breeds as well. Not one of the three M3's(one heavily modified, but older), two lotuses, misc jap cars(WSI,WRX,350,300z) could even keep up with mine. My fabspeed bypass pipes blew their minds, sounded like a cup car coming up their butts Taladega style. Porsche, there is NO substitute! Chris

Love it Chris!!! Just remember to keep the shiny side up!!! Chad

one of those Suburu things. Fast, real fast...no question about it. Gauges galore. Big butted brakes. 300 hp, (I think). Comfortable and secure seating. Great sound...but coyote ugly. I would have like to drive one "at spreed" to complete my evaluation.

Chad, I too had ordered an STi before I bought my 996. I ended up cancelling the order because of the perceived "cheapness" as you stated. I mean, they're not really expensive cars new, so you DO get what you pay for, but I was just coming out of my E36 M3, and was hoping for just a little more. Besides that, when I was ready to do the deal the dealer came back $3K higher than we had a greed on, which was the perfect excuse to cancel. Regarding understeer, they're like any other US market car. I swear the lawyers at these companies demand massive amounts of oversteer from the factory, in a feeble attempt to keep folks out of trouble. I mean, really, even the 996 was an understeering pig from the factory! So, with alignment and sway bars, you can dial it out of just about any car. I've seen well set-up STi's on track, and they are forces to be reckoned with. Anyway, after the Subaru dealer experience, I was struggling with paying $60k for another M3 (E46). I liked the car a lot, but really, it's still just a hotted-up entry level 3 Series. That's when it dawned on me that I could get into a low-mileage 996 for over $10k less, and the rest is history.

I think that if I were to sell my 996 it would be to fund a 745Li BMW or Cadillac Escalade..... Yah, I know BIG cars.... but oh well, nothing-doing yet.... If I can't have the speed then I might as well keep the class and looks... -Eli