Porsche Survival

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by Deserion

The new 991 is no heavier than the outgoing 993 was in 1998. So I'm not exactly seeing where the "getting heavier" part is coming into play. Sure, the car is bigger and more powerful, but weighs about the same as the last of the aircooleds did. That's pretty amazing.

It makes very, very good sense for Porsche to offer the Cayenne and Panamera. By having higher volume vehicles, it allows them to have profits to still continue their business of producing sportscars. To me, if Porsche kept with the 911 and Boxster only, they might not be doing very well at all, if they would still exist.

3200 pounds is a heavy car, In 1995 or in 1012.

The 991 is about 300 pounds heavier than the 996, by the way.

[papasmurf]

Cars have not been lighter in a long time (since the 80's). All the early 90's sports cars (300zx, supra, 3000gt/stealth, vette, viper) were 3000+ lbs and many of them were much closer to 3500. The nsx and a few ferrari's were some of the few that were around the 3000 lb mark. I am a huge advocate for cars getting lighter (~2800) as I think it would do wonders for fuel economy and their would be no need for cars to have 400+ hp to have the performance they have today but it is not going to happen until people are content to do without navigation, backup cameras, A/C in the seats and glovebox, etc that they have come to expect of cars at this price point. When you can get many of those items on a kia or hyundai, it makes no sense not to have them on a car that costs 4-5 times as much. I am not fond of the trend of the 911 and boxster getting larger with each generation but will live with it as long as the weight stays the same. Porsche still builds some of the lightest cars on the road. Just check out the weight of a lamborghini murcielago or ferrari 599....they are anything but light weight and have a lot more exotic materials in them than any porsche currently in production. Porsche is doing what it has to do to sell cars....no one will buy a stripped down 911 or boxster in volume numbers...at least not at the prices they are selling at now. If you lower the price and the sales go up, then you anger those that think you are cheapening the brand. No matter what they do, there are going to be those that are upset. They are simply catering to the demand and marketplace. The lotus elise is a great lightweight car stripped down to the basics (like you suggest porsche should move towards again) but they are not exactly flying off the showroom floor and on every street corner are they?

[Deserion]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

3200 pounds is a heavy car, In 1995 or in 1012.

The 991 is about 300 pounds heavier than the 996, by the way.

Try again, on both parts.

The 2012 991 weighs 3,042lbs.
The 2011 997 weighs 3,075lbs.
The 1999 996 weighs 2,901lbs.
The 1998 993 weighs 3,064lbs.

So no, it's not 300lbs. heavier.

And for reference, a 1992 964 weighs 3,031lbs. Wow, so the brand-new 911 weighs in at 11lbs. more than one from 20 years ago, while being larger, more powerful, and more livable, and somehow that's "heavy"?

[Ghostrider 310]

I had thought I read in Excellence that the new model was a bit lighter than the outgoing model. The width kind of makes it look heavy, I'm sure the new 911 is plenty fun. What I dislike the most about it is the way the front turn signals and running lights integrate with the front end. I'm no fan of the obtuse angled signals and how they look integrated with the intakes.

[grantsfo]

Reports from end of 2011

Porsche – Down 6.6 Percent

Porsche reported its second straight month in a row with a downturn in year-over-year sales. This month Porsche’s sole gainer was the Cayenne with 1085 sold compared to the 997 sold last November. Only 167 Boxsters and Caymans, and 608 Panameras were sold last month. The 911 is predictably down as well, with only 395 sold last month as many hold out for the 991, scheduled to hit dealerships early next year.



While I agree that Porsche as a corporation is doing the right thing to survive, affordable Porsche sports cars have not survived. The company in order to survive has sold its soul. Its not same company it was from 50s to about mid 70's.

Frankly I'm more interested in companies like these that seem to be surviving just fine making innovative affordable sports/racing cars for driving enthusiasts.

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Remember when Porsche made fun affordable sports racing cars? They sold these for $7250 in 1964 - About $50K in 2012 dollars.



Porsche has abandonded the people who made the company successful for decades to put SUV's in the hands of wealthy people around the world.

Occupy Zuffenhausen!