No, the boxster/cayman is the little brother to the 996. It's about the same price as a vette of the same vintage, which is why a lot of people compare the two cars. It's nowhere near as fast as a stock C5 in a straight line, but on the right roads it is FUN. The steering feel is so superior to the C5's that the C5 feels like driving an old 90's cadillac in comparison.

On the back roads, it's fantastic, the twistier the better. Around here, a lot of roads that started out as horse drawn wagon tracks have been paved over, and the boxster is tailor made for these. In comparison the vette feels oversize and sloppy.

But that's about the only place the boxster beats the vette. The vette is actually faster, even on tight autocross courses. The vette is quicker, faster, cheaper to own, more reliable, easier and cheaper to mod, and better for road trips. Which is why I went for the vette in the end.

 

Id never compare a boxter to a vette.

Boxter can be compared to a miata or older mr2...

Id only compare a vette to a 996. Even tho i enjoy the vette much more, my 996 is a well made car and drives nice and feels sporty. Vette is more comfortable, much faster, raw tough feel. If i had to get rid of one, it would be the 996 in a flash.

 

What year was your targa?? 993?

 

In terms of car attributes, you're absolutely correct. But for me the choice came down to money. I had a certain budget, and those were the two cars I liked within that budget.

 

Your right about that everything cost so much more for a Porsche. I'm a national PCA instructor and have daily driven a modded 996tt for the 7 years at the same time owning a 01 C5Z06 which is now a full ST1 NASA build. I have been able to drive just about every Porsche on track even up to the 991GT3 RS and 918 and spec boxster race cars. A C5 Z06 will murder a Boxster of the same vintage on the track. The newer Caymans and Boxsters have gotten pretty good and expensive. The GT4 is brilliant. I guess my perspective gets a little to track oriented.

 

I just bridged the gap....911 with a cammed ls6! It was a fun build but i have since sold it. The build is over on ls1tech in the hybrids section, will have to search it was a few years ago.

 

Bridge the gap how? I think for most this is about style. It still looks like a 911... wouldn't sway my opinion. And TBH I would think most Porsche enthusiasts would say you ruined the car.

 

Not trying to sway your opinion and dont really care about Porsche enthusiasts

Bridge the gap as in if you were torn between the 2.......like if you like both already but cant decide on which to get....you obviously dont like the 911 at all so it doesnt apply.

I'm not brand loyal to either so I didnt really care either way. It was fun proving the porsche guys all of their theories were wrong about the weight and dynamics. I guess they still think ls motors are iron boat anchors that weigh 1000 #'s! lol.

-Made more hp/tq than a TT model
-Made more hp/tq of that year's gt3rs which is all motor
-ls motor setup was 50lbs lighter than the p motor (had to get coilovers to bring the rear height down after the swap)
-saw the tears in my buddies eyes as i over took him in his 01tt 911.

My whole deal was i had a 99c2 that was fitted to look like an 09 gt3rs ($150k+) but also had the power to back it up, all for under $20k that i built myself.

 

I consider myself an enthusiast and think it's an extremely cool build

 

The biggest difference is price. Porsche is the most profitable car company in the world. In the year that they had to open their books when the VW group was restructuring, their income was TWICE their outgoings, i.e. every Porsche has a huge profit margin. And since they are much more of a status symbol than the Vette, they hold those high prices. And their target market is quite different - highly paid professionals, bankers, etc., to whom the $100-200K price tag is not an issue, and 0-60 times are meaningless, as they rarely get driven hard.

 

Agree with all this but I'm am surprised how many brand new 911Gt3s, Turbos, S's get brought out to our PCA track days way more than new Corvettes, even at NASA weekends. I would dare say that more new Porsches get driven harder than new Corvettes, at least on road courses. I've had many students with new 911s, Caymans. GT3s and Gt4s can't even count them but have only had 2 C7s since they have been out.

 

I've always liked Porsches. I looked VERY hard at a mid 2000's Cayman, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't have been able to afford to do anything with it, working on it would be terrible, and I found a C5 with pretty much everything I'd ever want done to it already done for $13k.

 

Speaking of cost of maintenance/repair, years ago I had a VW Rabbit that needed some part or another. I went to an acquaintance who had a foreign car shop. The VW and Porsche part were identical right down to the stock # except the Porsche had a P in it and the VW had a V. Oh, and the Porsche part was 3X the price.

 

when I can no longer get low to get into the vette I am going to buy a Porsche cross over.

my wife already thinks the c5 is too low for her to get in an out of. i don't even fight it any more...we just take the minivan for trips and i drive the vette to work on nice days

 

I wasn't going to get into this thread but I changed my mind. I've had an air cooled 911. When you hit redline the motor makes this fantastic screaming sound, especially since you can hear all the mechanical noises wailing at high rpm. However that same car had a horrible ventilation system and unless you were very careful at speed, was the easiest car I ever owned to spin the *** end. Really had a whopper spinout on Lime Rock. Image wise, it got loads of comments from people and not always nice. When I got it, I had a client say to me that maybe he was paying me too much. Eventually I sold it to buy my first house. In between I built a 1937 Chevy street rod, but that's another subject. When I saw C5's first on the road when they came out, I knew that would be my next new car. Well the first thing that got me was the looks. Loved the ride and handling and it was economical to drive, too. I put 82,000 fun miles in five years, with much lower maintenance costs. Back then a 911 oil filter cost me $28 at discount and it took 13 quarts of oil to change. So after the first C5, I decided it was time to get a new one. That's when I got my present Z06, new in 2003. I wouldn't modify a 911 the way I've done my Vette. And much less expensively. Porsche club members would never let up on you if you modified anything from stock. Plus I've run with some local Porsche guys I know. They don't like getting beat by Corvettes. I'm happy I've switched over.

 

Great analysis. I too know that feeling of bringing a nice car to work- when I bring the C5Z to client sites (on rare occassions) I make sure to park far away or in the next lot over so they don't get the wrong idea (a lot of nice sports cars such as the C5 look much more expensive than they actually are to non-car people).

When searching for a proper sports car last year, I threw all brand loyalty out the window (I also own a Range Rover, Mustang Cobra, Acura, Honda and Buell motorcycles, just to give you an idea of my lack of brand loyalty) and sought the best used sports car for $20k-$25k. It is undeniably the C5Z. Looks, performance, reliability, cost of parts, gas mileage, etc. etc.

I like aircooled 911s, but for $15k, not $45k. You have to be a real Porsche fanboy to pay that much for a car that is outshined by other used sports cars that cost much less money and deliver just as exciting a driving experience.

The only Porsche I would consder buying is the 996 era 911 Turbo because of it's more reasonable pricepoint ($35k-$40k) and good performance, and it didn't have the dreaded IMS issues. I was close to buying one but it's still a little too "touring car" for me so decided against it.

 

I agree the 996tt like the one I just sold is the Porsche sweet spot stock vs stock about the same as a C5 z06 performance wise and built like a tank.

 

I don't get it, a stock coupe on thin spokes and wheel gap is like plain white bread to me. not sure how it can downplay a 911

 

Never liked the sound the 6 makes compared to the Vett's 8.

 

Long time PCA member here, multiple Porsche owner, and I've tracked them all hard. They are fantastic cars, over-engineered for everything, and can really take a beating. Contrary to what some have said, I see them exercised hard all the time, and they just don't break. Maintenance is also not that expensive, not really much more than the Corvette in my experience...except for the 928. Holy cow those are expensive to run. The 911 engine sounds incredible, multi-tonal depending on your exhaust setup. And the steering will put any Corvette to shame - so direct, full of feel, and the front end moves so quickly.

They do take a different driving style, slow in fast out, but are incredibly agile. Once you get the hang of it, not much will touch them under braking or powering out of a corner. Do not lift mid-corner unless you really know what you're doing. I learned performance driving in a 911 and it took me a while to get comfortable with the Corvette!

All that said, I have really enjoyed my Corvettes. Very different from the 911, more of an axe to the 911 scalpel. You have to grab the vette by the scruff of the neck and wring it out, where the 911 rewards precision and smoothness. But the vette is rewarding too, just in a very different way. Excellent handling and very stable under power, easy to control, but the front is totally numb in comparison.

You drive a 911 with fingertips and fine throttle control, using the imbalance to your advantage under braking and cornering. You drive a Corvette with a hammer foot and wrestle the front end in a controlled power slide, managing the angle with your right foot. Both are a blast to drive.