[Perfectlap]

I nearly bought a red C4S with tan interior back in early 2008. I always loved the flared rear fenders of the 996 C4 (or anniversary 996). I figured it would be my winter car. I looked at the deprecation rates and the car was holding value pretty darn well. But at work I started getting some early signals of trouble in the economy. Which got me thinking of the credit markets and what I thought was a bubble in car prices from the ease at which people were getting car loans. Well long story short, I figured the car would be a lot cheaper in a year. Boy was I ever right. The car lost over $20K in value by the end of 2009. Needless to say I wasn't going near anything 996. In comparison Boxster/Cayman prices didn't crash as hard because they weren't priced at such as premium to begin with. The market corrected the price of the non-Metzer engines vs. mass produced 911 engines in a hurry.

As far as the car itself... as I typically do, I did a test run in my car, and then the same route in the test drive car. The power was big, no surprise there. But so was everything else, it did not have the sharp turn in I took for granted (I was no R compound tires on the Boxster so that had a lot to do with it). But the whole weightyness of the car seemed very boring to me. And of course in a spirited turn if the back end stepped out power was cut to the rear precisely when you needed it most which gave you even more understeer. Who came up with this?? But that just underlines the point that the cars are apples and oranges. One is a grand touring that is plush for going in straight lines. The other is a cheetah in comparison. The interiors were exactly the same, in fact my Boxster had nicer options (carbon fiber shifter, painted center console, full leather, gauge rings, etc. But the C4S on mesh BBS wheels to me is still the nicest looking of all the air-cooled 911's. When I once spoke to my mechanic about maintenance costs vs. the Boxster he was not encouraging.