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I’m a 40 year member of Porsche Club; have had 5 Porsche’s and 6 Corvettes:
Currently own 2018 GS and 96 911 and 2014 Boxster S; I love them all for what they are: Each has its virtues and weaknesses: bluster and power lots of torque that’s what I like about Corvettes:
Porsche is more like a little more refined. Percision is the word that comes to mind, but not as macho as the vet.
If you love sports cars, both are enjoyable.
I totally agree with your assessment re P cars- refined is it. Fit and finish is another.
Having owned a number of vets, presently 4 BMWs, 911 GTS, and a GT350 all give a different experience.
with carerra's now going twin turbo they are seriously fast. my 4s does a 3.1 0-60 and the quarter in 11.5 according to car and driver, much faster than my z51.
As you notice, those of us that own both are not as critical, of either: owning and driving gives you a better perspective then just hearing stories or going for a test drive or sitting in one: l think the price differential plays a large part:
You do get a bank for the buck with a new Corvette, no denying that
I did, and a couple of things turned me off (and I"m not a Porsche hater, I like them)
1) They're too complicated to configure
2) too expensive for what you get compared to the Corvette
3) Maintenance costs are VERY high
4) Long lead times if you factory order
5) Dealers stick very close to MSRP if you buy new and absolute MSRP if you factory order.
This was all a few years ago, I haven't looked into buying one in awhile, so if things have changed, so be it.
l think the price differential plays a large part:
Have to absolutely agree there. It's definitely my main deciding factor when I am buying a sports/track car.
As a Porsche instructor I have been fortunate to have logged thousands of miles in many different Porsche's from 1960's 912's to current 911 Cup cars. They are just wonderful.
I have personally only owned one which is pictured here. It was a fun car to say the least!!
Since then I have had mostly Corvette's with a Viper thrown in for good measure. These being the current three track cars I own.
The Grand Sport is perfect for track days as it's typically as fast as most of the Porsche street cars at the events I attend. It's just a blast to drive and gives you a lot of other cars to play with and for that I love it.
Here's some fun from a couple weekends ago in the Grand Sport at a Porsche event. Lot's of fun and they are a great group of guys!!
I'd rather have a Porsche but they are about $30k-$50k over priced in my opinion. I was looking at a 3-5 year old used Cayman for the price of a new Vette. I do give Porsche credit for being one of the most profitable brands, unlike GM they don't over produce and thus don't have to knock 10%+ off their cars. I also like the ease of getting service and in a worst case scenario of grenading an engine I can easily get a crate LT1.
The 911 is an aspirational car for me though but for the Vette pricing was my decision maker.
When I bought the C7, Porsche was not a consideration. However, in 2012 when I was looking at used C5s, I considered a Porsche. I put my parameters into Autotrader, max price $20K, Max mileage, 60K, minimum year 2001. Not much came up and all of them where Boxters. That was the end of considering a Porsche. When I bought the C7, there was no consideration of any other car, nothing. It was a C7 or stay with the C5 (with a very brief flirtation with a C6 ZR1).
Have to absolutely agree there. It's definitely my main deciding factor when I am buying a sports/track car.
As a Porsche instructor I have been fortunate to have logged thousands of miles in many different Porsche's from 1960's 912's to current 911 Cup cars. They are just wonderful.
I have personally only owned one which is pictured here. It was a fun car to say the least!!
Since then I have had mostly Corvette's with a Viper thrown in for good measure. These being the current three track cars I own.
The Grand Sport is perfect for track days as it's typically as fast as most of the Porsche street cars at the events I attend. It's just a blast to drive and gives you a lot of other cars to play with and for that I love it.
Here's some fun from a couple weekends ago in the Grand Sport at a Porsche event. Lot's of fun and they are a great group of guys!!
On the subject of price I simply can not afford the only Porsche's I want right now, the 911 GT3 Cup R or RSR.
2003 911 Carrera C2
My track cars
2017 Grand Sport
The Porsches I lust after!!!
911 GT3 R. Yes please!!
911 GT3 RSR. Ok If I have to!!
thank you so much for sharing, this thread needed some real objective input from someone who knows their stuff. Fantastic driving, nothing more fun than track days. I was really impressed with how long the 981 Cayman S held you off, and what the heck was that red Vette who kept pulling away from you? That was a monster. A ZR1?
I already commented on this thread but wanted to add that I find Porsches so common around where I live that I am bored with seeing them year after year with hardly anything changing in their looks. I know form follows function, and they are great performing cars, blah, blah. I have had two of them myself. But the fact is that around where I live there are far fewer Corvettes and when I pull up at the beach, my Stingray gets far more pedestrian gazes than the row of Porsches. So which car really has the exclusivity?
thank you so much for sharing, this thread needed some real objective input from someone who knows their stuff. Fantastic driving, nothing more fun than track days. I was really impressed with how long the 981 Cayman S held you off, and what the heck was that red Vette who kept pulling away from you? That was a monster. A ZR1?
Thanks for the kind words. The 981 runs really well. I am always impressed at how balanced they are and how well they get around. I do not however like they way the look as much as the 911.
I almost hit the white one that one time into the right hander entering the Octopus. I should have gotten a point much sooner!!
The red Corvette was being driven by a friend of mine and he always seems to be shaking one thing down or another. It's powered by a naturally aspirated LS7 and makes 620 rwhp. It started life as a C5 Vert and is now a fully caged and gutted racing car. As you can see it pulls hard.
What you don't see is my friend in his old C6Z SCCA STO car running me down. The reason I move left at the end of the video crossing start finish is because I didn't think he saw the flagger waving the checker and he was coming through!!!!
Porsche's are exceptional cars and make fabulous street cars IMO. They also make great track cars as well but they are just out of my price range in order to get the performance I am looking for.
I enjoy driving with the Porsche guys and the cars work so well. Like I said the Grand Sport at a Porsche event is just perfect. You don't go flying by everyone just because.
My buddy is a Porsche guy and asked me to at least try a 911 before I bought another Vette. I did....a 991 S....and it was less than astonishing. It was okay but I just didn't get what all the fuss was about. Terrible ride and boring interior/exterior.
The best part was that the salesman drove it first wanting to show me how "amazing" the handling was. He spun it out right in front of the nearby Chevy dealer just as a WGG GS was pulling out. Priceless. Guess what I own now? Timing is everything.
I dont think ill ever be able to get over the egg like shape of a Porsche. The cars I considered when I got my new 2018 z06 was a nissan GTR and a used dodge viper.
04-01-2018, 03:10 PM
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