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Originally Posted by thstone
Sorry, I just meant to say that part of my thinking was that a used (cheap) Boxster was an easy way to try the Porsche owners experience and if I liked it, then I could easily upgrade to a higher performance (and more expensive) 996/997 later.
Mainly I was trying to avoid sinking a big investment into something that I'd sell in 6 months for a big loss if I didn't like living with it.
But there is no sensible reason why someone couldn't go straight into a 996/997. Many people do that all of the time.
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It is no cheaper to own a Boxster than it is a non-Turbo, non-GT Carrera. Perhaps slightly less but not enough to back up your notion that Boxster is a more economical way of testing the Porsche waters. Particluarly with the Boxster S since it has nearly the same transmission, suspesion and cockpit instruments, 18 wheels, staggered tires, basically everything from the doors forward are the same.
Also, if by higher performance you mean lesser handling, then I would agree. That's somewhat of an important element in a Porsche.
The other thing about the Carrera is that it's in a unique (and not in a good way) category of sports car. One that you have to learn how to drive even in you already know how to drive a high performance sports car -- for no measureable lap time advantage. In other words you could climb into a Boxster and set a fast lap right out of the box because of its neutral balance. If you climbed into the Carrera you'd have to learn how to manage the pendulus cornering of a rear engine car and modify your line accordingly. Some think this is "rewarding" but that's not demonstrated as a lap time advantage over a similarly powered mid engine car. Put it this way, If both Boxster and Carrera had identical engines this pendulus cornering of the Carrera would still not produce a faster lap time. I suppose this is good for a driver who is prone to making mistakes since it gives him some advance warning. But why plan on making a mistake in the first place?
Another interesting thing is that I once started two polls in another web forum along the lines "If Porsche offered a mid engine Carrea today would you buy it?".
One poll ran in the GT3/GT2 forum and the other in the Standard/S/C4 forum. Obviously the GT3/GT2 forum is more likely to have drivers who venture onto the track or regulary autocross. 75% of these guys said they WOULD definitely buy the mid engine Carrera. In the standard Carrera/S/C4 forum 75% said they WOULD NOT and cited all sorts of comments about how rear engine was superior.
