986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - Please Help Me Out

Trakehner · 01-13-2006, 05:42 AM

OK.... I'll play.
To those from the 80's... you can argue as much as you want, but I would suggest you compare 944 Turbos to Corvettes in the same place the manufacturers did: The Showroom Stock series. I think you may find the records there eye opening.

I went from a '74 911 to an '88 924S to a '95 Vette, and then traded that in on an '89 911. Put a '98 986 in the mix, and I think I can compare.

The Corvette was a neat car, there were gobs of power, and it always went where I put it. The 986 was nimble, quick, and it always went where I put it.

Quality is an issue. I had an alignment problem with the 'Vette that NO ONE could figure out. What was worse was when it wore out the rear brakes before the front. That in itself was not an issue, but when I asked the dealer how it was that the left rear pad was down to metal, and the right rear pad still had 6 to 8 mm of pad left, he had no real answer, but suggested that if I paid for them to put on a new set, and it continued to wear that way, they might consider it a warranty issue. I had a similar frustration with a simple horn repair: if the temperature went below about 25 degrees F, the horn would not work. I asked to have that looked at, and the Service Manager said "well, you really shouldn't drive it in the winter". Hmm.

Now, before one starts insisting on the infalibility of the Porsche, I'd like to mention not only the Carrera chain tensioners I put on the 911 (and does anyone know anything about dylavar studs?), but also the 986 rear main seal.

So one might ask "was ist die untershied?"... and my opinion comes down to this:

From a driving perspective, the Corvette can "stay with" almost anything on the road, but the input it sends back to the driver is dampened. One thing GM will always do, especially after the Corvair (own one of those, too, a '65 Turbo drop top) is make a car that is predictable at the limits, that will not challenge Joe Six Pack. The Porsche, on the other hand, sends feedback to the driver and if the driver knows what to do with it, he can make the car really sing. Anyone can drive the Corvette quickly. To get the most out of the Porsche (and it's pretty good even if you don't get the most out of it) takes a little bit of talent and a lot of skill. The Corvette rewards the engineers, the Porsche rewards the driver.

From a quality perspective, well... things break. That's going to happen. Then what? My experience with Porsche dealers (the guys you're going to want to talk to if the car is under warranty and the guys you'll want to avoid if it's not) has been very good... they want you to come back (there are exceptions, and it's not like it used to be, but I have had good experiences). My experience with Chevrolet dealers was outlined above.

I probably won't buy another Corvette, unless I can find a really clean (or really needs to be restored) '67 some day. I have another 911 (this one a '74 Carrera) and I'm considering the purchase of a 987. I just can't decide if I want that or an Elise. There, the Porsche is much more refined, the Elise a go-kart. What I really want to know is why can't Porsche take a 987, strip out the non-essentials, get the wieght down to about 2300 pounds or less... and sell one of those. That I'd buy. The 986 was supposed to be a "modern 550". So why does it have power seats and tiptronic?

01-13-2006, 05:42 AM	#52
Trakehner Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: East Prussia Posts: 13	OK.... I'll play. To those from the 80's... you can argue as much as you want, but I would suggest you compare 944 Turbos to Corvettes in the same place the manufacturers did: The Showroom Stock series. I think you may find the records there eye opening. I went from a '74 911 to an '88 924S to a '95 Vette, and then traded that in on an '89 911. Put a '98 986 in the mix, and I think I can compare. The Corvette was a neat car, there were gobs of power, and it always went where I put it. The 986 was nimble, quick, and it always went where I put it. Quality is an issue. I had an alignment problem with the 'Vette that NO ONE could figure out. What was worse was when it wore out the rear brakes before the front. That in itself was not an issue, but when I asked the dealer how it was that the left rear pad was down to metal, and the right rear pad still had 6 to 8 mm of pad left, he had no real answer, but suggested that if I paid for them to put on a new set, and it continued to wear that way, they might consider it a warranty issue. I had a similar frustration with a simple horn repair: if the temperature went below about 25 degrees F, the horn would not work. I asked to have that looked at, and the Service Manager said "well, you really shouldn't drive it in the winter". Hmm. Now, before one starts insisting on the infalibility of the Porsche, I'd like to mention not only the Carrera chain tensioners I put on the 911 (and does anyone know anything about dylavar studs?), but also the 986 rear main seal. So one might ask "was ist die untershied?"... and my opinion comes down to this: From a driving perspective, the Corvette can "stay with" almost anything on the road, but the input it sends back to the driver is dampened. One thing GM will always do, especially after the Corvair (own one of those, too, a '65 Turbo drop top) is make a car that is predictable at the limits, that will not challenge Joe Six Pack. The Porsche, on the other hand, sends feedback to the driver and if the driver knows what to do with it, he can make the car really sing. Anyone can drive the Corvette quickly. To get the most out of the Porsche (and it's pretty good even if you don't get the most out of it) takes a little bit of talent and a lot of skill. The Corvette rewards the engineers, the Porsche rewards the driver. From a quality perspective, well... things break. That's going to happen. Then what? My experience with Porsche dealers (the guys you're going to want to talk to if the car is under warranty and the guys you'll want to avoid if it's not) has been very good... they want you to come back (there are exceptions, and it's not like it used to be, but I have had good experiences). My experience with Chevrolet dealers was outlined above. I probably won't buy another Corvette, unless I can find a really clean (or really needs to be restored) '67 some day. I have another 911 (this one a '74 Carrera) and I'm considering the purchase of a 987. I just can't decide if I want that or an Elise. There, the Porsche is much more refined, the Elise a go-kart. What I really want to know is why can't Porsche take a 987, strip out the non-essentials, get the wieght down to about 2300 pounds or less... and sell one of those. That I'd buy. The 986 was supposed to be a "modern 550". So why does it have power seats and tiptronic?