My new daily driver
01-03-2008, 05:35 PM
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My new daily driver
I have had a VW GTI as DD and Honda S2000 as track day car combo for some time now. As time has passed and family & work commitments have increased, the times the S2000 got out from under its dust cover decreased accordingly. It came to the point where I hardly drove the S2000 any more. This to me felt like a waste, a car like the S2000 is meant to be driven and enjoyed. Its more than just a conveyance from A to B, it’s an experience every time you drive it. You need good strong experiences in your life to feel alive.
The GTI with its DSG gearbox, lovely engine note, nice torque and really good handling is a great daily driver. Its practical and surprisingly roomy for a car its size.
So why change?
I guess it’s a combination of many things that pushed me into changing cars, but mainly the very finite nature of life. I want to experience new things while I am still young and maybe then have memories to enjoy later in life. I would much rather do this than suffer the coulda, shoulda, woulda curse later on.
What car should I go for?
I have been frustrated over this choice for a very long time. One requirement was a backseat (for taking my 4 year old son to school), a second requirement was ‘sufficient’ power and performance and last but certainly not least a requirement was that I wanted to feel good walking away from the car. My choices sort naturally narrowed themselves down to Mercedes C63 AMG, Audi RS4 and a Porsche 997. I kept going back and forth, test drove 997s and RS4s (the C63 is not out yet here).
In the end the choice was something of a consensus choice. I would have gone for the RS4 because of the FAR greater practicality over the 997, but my wife’s kind encouragement and my kids unbridled enthusiasm when seeing the Porsche’s in the showroom made me decide to go for a 997. This is the car I really wanted, but thought of getting later, considering it too selfish now. The choice was also helped by me being treated very well in the Porsche dealership.
Which 997?
This was again a difficult one. I did not want to wait 6 months or more for my car and this narrowed my choice to a 2nd hand one. I also did not want the Tiptronic, which dropped about 90% of the available cars away. I ended up with two real choices, a ‘06 Meteor Gray C2S with beige interior and a ‘07 Basalt Black C4S with black interior. Both full leather and lots of other toys.
The test driving was a bit inconclusive. Honestly, I could not feel a huge difference in the ‘steering response’ that everyone is complaining about in the C4S. Maybe the C4S steering is a bit heavier, but the difference is marginal for someone with as little driving talent as me. Another issue mentioned is that the C4S is heavier than the C2 and thus slower. This is certainly true on paper, but in real life driving I struggled to notice a difference.
Pushing the cars a bit revealed to me interesting traits in the cars and also made me realise that I really like 4wd characteristics. The C4S goes sideways when you provoke it, but its so much easier to get back into line when you need to, again this applies for me, those with greater driving talent may feel otherwise.
In the end my choice would most likely have been the C2S over the C4S, due to price difference and better options, but the killer was the ‘walk away and glance over your shoulder’ test...
The dealership was very accommodating and let me take as much time as I wanted looking at the cars, poking at them, sitting in them etc. The test is very simple, park the car, get out, walk away and then glance over your shoulder at the car. Then determine which car looks better and makes you feel better. The crook was the beige interior of the C2S, I could not get over how it contrasted with the Meteor Grey metallic outside. It felt like choosing this would bug me later and I did not want that. Thus I am now the happy owner of a 997 Porsche Basalt Black Carrera 4S, with black leather interior.
The first 15 mile drive home somehow stretched to 150 miles, and the more I drive the car the more I start to respect it. I love the feel of the shifter, its not the rifle bolt action of the S2000 shifter, but its very intuitive and nice to use. The engine note is music to my ears and this engine likes to rev, rev matching downshifts nicely is a joy to all senses and screaming up through the rev range in a tunnel is just… just… great. The practicality of using the rear seats is a big compromise, but at least for now the kids enthusiasm for the car more than makes up for it. Lets see how it goes.
The PASM really tightens up the handling, which actually is quite good in the ‘normal’ setting. The PSM is too restrictive imho, it drastically cuts power when you get just a little bit of wheelspin. I feel I need a bit more freedom for controlling the car than the PSM offers, but I think will learn about this on a few track days in a ‘safer’ environment.
In conclusion I am very very happy Porsche 997 owner.
Sorry, only one pic of my new car, its too dark here now for photography. This one is from the showroom website, so I take no responsibility for the quality.
Apologies for the long rant, its late here and I just had to went.
The GTI with its DSG gearbox, lovely engine note, nice torque and really good handling is a great daily driver. Its practical and surprisingly roomy for a car its size.
So why change?
I guess it’s a combination of many things that pushed me into changing cars, but mainly the very finite nature of life. I want to experience new things while I am still young and maybe then have memories to enjoy later in life. I would much rather do this than suffer the coulda, shoulda, woulda curse later on.
What car should I go for?
I have been frustrated over this choice for a very long time. One requirement was a backseat (for taking my 4 year old son to school), a second requirement was ‘sufficient’ power and performance and last but certainly not least a requirement was that I wanted to feel good walking away from the car. My choices sort naturally narrowed themselves down to Mercedes C63 AMG, Audi RS4 and a Porsche 997. I kept going back and forth, test drove 997s and RS4s (the C63 is not out yet here).
In the end the choice was something of a consensus choice. I would have gone for the RS4 because of the FAR greater practicality over the 997, but my wife’s kind encouragement and my kids unbridled enthusiasm when seeing the Porsche’s in the showroom made me decide to go for a 997. This is the car I really wanted, but thought of getting later, considering it too selfish now. The choice was also helped by me being treated very well in the Porsche dealership.
Which 997?
This was again a difficult one. I did not want to wait 6 months or more for my car and this narrowed my choice to a 2nd hand one. I also did not want the Tiptronic, which dropped about 90% of the available cars away. I ended up with two real choices, a ‘06 Meteor Gray C2S with beige interior and a ‘07 Basalt Black C4S with black interior. Both full leather and lots of other toys.
The test driving was a bit inconclusive. Honestly, I could not feel a huge difference in the ‘steering response’ that everyone is complaining about in the C4S. Maybe the C4S steering is a bit heavier, but the difference is marginal for someone with as little driving talent as me. Another issue mentioned is that the C4S is heavier than the C2 and thus slower. This is certainly true on paper, but in real life driving I struggled to notice a difference.
Pushing the cars a bit revealed to me interesting traits in the cars and also made me realise that I really like 4wd characteristics. The C4S goes sideways when you provoke it, but its so much easier to get back into line when you need to, again this applies for me, those with greater driving talent may feel otherwise.
In the end my choice would most likely have been the C2S over the C4S, due to price difference and better options, but the killer was the ‘walk away and glance over your shoulder’ test...
The dealership was very accommodating and let me take as much time as I wanted looking at the cars, poking at them, sitting in them etc. The test is very simple, park the car, get out, walk away and then glance over your shoulder at the car. Then determine which car looks better and makes you feel better. The crook was the beige interior of the C2S, I could not get over how it contrasted with the Meteor Grey metallic outside. It felt like choosing this would bug me later and I did not want that. Thus I am now the happy owner of a 997 Porsche Basalt Black Carrera 4S, with black leather interior.The first 15 mile drive home somehow stretched to 150 miles, and the more I drive the car the more I start to respect it. I love the feel of the shifter, its not the rifle bolt action of the S2000 shifter, but its very intuitive and nice to use. The engine note is music to my ears and this engine likes to rev, rev matching downshifts nicely is a joy to all senses and screaming up through the rev range in a tunnel is just… just… great. The practicality of using the rear seats is a big compromise, but at least for now the kids enthusiasm for the car more than makes up for it. Lets see how it goes.
The PASM really tightens up the handling, which actually is quite good in the ‘normal’ setting. The PSM is too restrictive imho, it drastically cuts power when you get just a little bit of wheelspin. I feel I need a bit more freedom for controlling the car than the PSM offers, but I think will learn about this on a few track days in a ‘safer’ environment.
In conclusion I am very very happy Porsche 997 owner.
Sorry, only one pic of my new car, its too dark here now for photography. This one is from the showroom website, so I take no responsibility for the quality.
Apologies for the long rant, its late here and I just had to went.
01-03-2008, 06:04 PM
#5
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Matias: I find it curious where you folks who reside in some of the hottest climates often choose the darkest cars?! Beautiful car, whatever the latitude.
Psssss... Perhaps better not said aloud: Nice ***.
Psssss... Perhaps better not said aloud: Nice ***.
01-03-2008, 07:31 PM
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01-06-2008, 05:03 AM
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Enjoyed your nice descriptive write-up Matias, it really took me through your decision process. And I'm glad that you went and got exactly what you wanted. A nice change of pace from the myriad of posts where a potential buyer asks "What should I get?"
01-06-2008, 08:58 AM
#11
Nice ...now a slight tint..
Seriously beautiful car
Those Porsche OEM wheels ?.. Love the Black Wheel look.. I may do the same..
Anyone have a link to these wheels and where to get them ?
Seriously beautiful car
Those Porsche OEM wheels ?.. Love the Black Wheel look.. I may do the same..
Anyone have a link to these wheels and where to get them ?
01-06-2008, 09:16 AM
#12
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Hi Matias,
Congrats on your new ride and welcome to the club. I just passed the 2 year mark with my C4S and every day I sit down in it still evokes the emotions I felt on day one.
Thanks for taking the time to post your decision making process....it's always nice to see how others think and it also helps others who are wrestling with similar decisions.
How's the weather in Dubai? It was -14C here this week and it's going to be a balmy +13C in the next few days.
Congrats on your new ride and welcome to the club. I just passed the 2 year mark with my C4S and every day I sit down in it still evokes the emotions I felt on day one.
Thanks for taking the time to post your decision making process....it's always nice to see how others think and it also helps others who are wrestling with similar decisions.
How's the weather in Dubai? It was -14C here this week and it's going to be a balmy +13C in the next few days.
01-08-2008, 01:14 PM
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Thanks everyone for the nice comments. Work & family life has been hectic so no time for photography, that will happen on the weekend.
I have to say that a 997 works surprisingly well on the schoolrun. What has really surprised me are the very positive comments from friends and colleagues. I was expecting some 'backlash', but everyone has been very nice and have seemed genuinely happy for me. That is extremely rewarding and makes the whole experience so much better.
Matt & Vince -> the car has already the max legally allowed tint. The tint does not show in that pic from the showroom, but in real life it looks quite dark.
Matt -> the wheels are standard Porsche, but special ordered painted flat black. If you want to check the look, how about putting a removable foil on your wheels to see what they look like? These guys in Dubai do amazing work. http://www.foilacar.com/colourchangefoil.php Maybe you have something similar?
Dave -> weather in Dubai is surprisingly chilly +14C in the mornings, up to maybe +18 during the day. In the mountains it has actually been below 0...
I have to say that a 997 works surprisingly well on the schoolrun. What has really surprised me are the very positive comments from friends and colleagues. I was expecting some 'backlash', but everyone has been very nice and have seemed genuinely happy for me. That is extremely rewarding and makes the whole experience so much better.
Matt & Vince -> the car has already the max legally allowed tint. The tint does not show in that pic from the showroom, but in real life it looks quite dark.
Matt -> the wheels are standard Porsche, but special ordered painted flat black. If you want to check the look, how about putting a removable foil on your wheels to see what they look like? These guys in Dubai do amazing work. http://www.foilacar.com/colourchangefoil.php Maybe you have something similar?
Dave -> weather in Dubai is surprisingly chilly +14C in the mornings, up to maybe +18 during the day. In the mountains it has actually been below 0...
