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Northern986, I recently bought an 06 base, and drove a lot of 986's originally thinking that's what I'd buy. In summary, the differences are subtle, but here is what I noticed in cross shopping, that address yor question, I hope they help:
The interior upgrades were night and day, the exterior is much more subtle. The seating position feels lower, with a slightly higher beltline in the 987, your preference may vary. Some like the older car's styling, and I was on the fence early, but over time came to prefer the more updated aggressive styling of the 987. Three things jumped out at me here: 1) Headlights, no question better on 987! 2) 987 looks and feels overall slightly bigger 3) 987 has more of a coke bottle shape, making the wheel arches and track seem more aggressive.
Performance wise, the glaring thing I noticed was that I wouldn't be happy with a 987 with the base 17" wheels. The front tires are only 205's and that's just not enpough rubber on the road. I could make the front tires complain way too easliy.
986 3.2's have a little more torque, but the difference is not night and day. If you want to drag race, buy another kind of car. The 987 has plenty of power to be fun. I actually like the 5 speed inthe 987 better than the 5 or 6 speed in the 986. The 986 5 speed has LONG throws, and the 6 speed is notchy. The 987 5 speed throws are shorter and the feel is improved. It's geared pretty tall, which makes it slower off the line, but in daily driving the taller gearing is more comfortable and I appreciate having to shift less.
There are lots of little things slightly improved on 987's, think about the normal evolutional improvements, and think about the level of the competition by about 2003-2004 when the 987 was being designed, lots of little things, like bigger wheel bearings for example, that are just better, combine to make the car feel more solid.
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