coupedncal

First of all, let me say it outright I am a HUGE fan of Corvettes. I dig C6 and I really like the C7 as well. Having said that, I have felt this for some time the Corvette doesn't "age" as well as most Porsches out there. If you don't believe me, look at most C4 and C5 out there on the street. You put a C4 next to the same year Carerra and you will know what I am talking about. And in my opinion, the convertibles do age better than coupes for some reason. Some of it has to do with depreciation and cost of maintenance of a Corvette vs a 911 and that keeps the 911 only in the hands of select few but that is not the whole story. Or is it?

Again, my goal was not to create an uproar here but I am just wondering what could be done to turn this tide in our (Corvette's) favor. Any ideas out there?

triblk6spd

Excellent question. I think mostly because the Corvette tries to hard. The 911's just kind of get better gradually. I say this as an owner of a beautiful 997 Turbo and having owned/built what was one of the finest looking C6Z's ever.

Bill Dearborn

I think they age about the same which is amazing given all of the deficits Porsche has as a metal car. Given a Corvette that is driven and maintained on a regular basis the Corvette will always look better as it will hold up much better to all of the scratches, door dings, curb scrapes, bumper scrapes from the car parked next to it as the driver backs it out of a parking space. The Corvette survives all that with no issues while any metal car will rust quickly once the paint is broken through. The paint on both cars will sun fade about the same as neither has any particular advantage in paint technology. From a mechanical standpoint I believe that people who drive older Corvettes beat on them harder than owners of older Porsches do.

I had a 69 Big Block and a 71 LS6 Big Block that were daily drivers and I daily drove them (summer and winter) to work with other guys that drove 911s from the same time period. Those Porsches didn't do as well as either of my Corvettes.

Bill

VETTE-NV

Corvettes change more dramatically from generation to generation so older ones tend to become dated, although the better designs still look great, some even better than the new one. Unless you're a Porsche fan or serious car enthusiast, you won't see THAT much of a dramatic difference between a 40 year old 911 and a new one. According to Porsche guys, it was such a great design to begin with they don't have to change it much. Uhhhh.....okay.

To me, the short wheelbase and long overhangs look ridiculous, even though the 991 is marginally better. The very idea of a rear engined car is pretty stupid, but you've got to give their engineers credit for making it work so well for so long. It's funny that they have to keep the mid-engined Cayman and Boxster under powered so as not to outshine their precious flagship, even though the entry level Porsche is dynamically a much better car.

skank

I've never thought that the Porsches were the equal to Corvette from a design perspective. If you look at both during their new releases the Corvette has always looked more Avant Garde. The C7 will make the 991 look dated. And with Corvette pounding them into the dirt at the race track, Porsche has had to resort to segment timing at the Nordshliefe. They are nervous beyond their facade.

arkus

Both 1984

VETTE-NV

If you look on the Rennlist.com forum, there's quite an interesting thread about the 2014 Stingray. For the most part, they are sincere car guys that give the Corvette its props. There is, however, a good percentage of extremists (as there is on this forum) and they are brutal.....disparaging the car, its owners, and especially this forum. Worth a read, but not to be taken too seriously. They are, after all, Porsche guys. Cut 'em some slack.

NevadaVette

A 911 looks old the day it is built. Hard for a car that is shaped like a turtle to age much from where it started out.

momo20

imo the 911 looks way more dated then the c4 in these pics

skank

One's design inspiration is from a beetle and the other is from higher level.

VETTE-NV

I couldn't see anything except the gorgeous C2 in the background.

Aaron Keating

The Vette looks way better than any 911.
Even the least appealing vette (The C1) in my eyes is worlds beyond the 911's styling.

Also.

C4 FTW

arkus

1967 cars

VETTE-NV

Whoa......now who can argue with that?

texvette2

the corvette is an middle aged man toy race car. The Porsche is
a little more refined. Not aiming for the same market as a corvette.
The corvette wants to play with the upscale euros but can't because they need to drag in some of the blue collar buyer. Hard fence
to walk on. Didn't Porsche try some lesser model line. Just pulled
the good ones down. Even the 100K corvette just doesn't seem to
fit the bill either

Raitzi

Some aspects other than the way it looks:

Well I think it is way people see different aspects of the cars. Porsche 911 has always been more premium product over Corvette and car has evolved mode gradually than the vette. Also porsche drivers look more of handling feel related sports car attributes than acceleration and speed. Older 911 have very personal handling and feel compared to newer. Corvette buyers usually do not feel same way although there are people that feel C5Z was better than C6. Some Porsche buyers actually fit their newer cars with narrower tires to get some of that steering feel of pre 993 cars back. I think there ain't any C6 owner that feels they want to put tires narrower than stock on their car

skank

Yes' I've listened to to Porsche guys putting down the Corvette guys. They think we're a bunch of Cro Magnons. The C7 has seemed to change their mind from what I've heard from my Porsche buddies.

Mopar Jimmy

Well stated, and a good answer to the OP's original question posed in this thread.

z06inVB

I honestly could not tell a first year 911 from a newer model. The car never interested me.

skank

I think the Corvette was a higher quality automobile up until the C3. Then Porsche pulled ahead until the C5-C6 transition. The C6 certainly was better on a dollar value basis than Porsche. It looks like the C7 has closed the gap and certainly looks better than the 991.