987S scoop?

[Adam]

Is it just me, or do the boxster brakes(paricularly box S) look way more finished and just plain better than a C5 or C6 vette. A c5 owner said the other day that he wished his brakes resembled mine.....Of course AC-DELCO VS.BREMBO. What would he have expected?

[wombat7]

Most Porsche brakes look very good when compared with other cars. But a lot of that has to do with the fact that they are Brembos. I mean look at other cars that have Brembos from the factory and they look the same as a Box, for example look at the Lancer Evo 8 and 350Z Track Edition. Both have Brembos from the factory and look sweet sitting there behind the wheels. The Vette doesn't have the big name brake manufacturer supplying for it so they just look like HUGE generic calipers.

Yet another reason why I love Porsche, they don't skimp on anything ... which comes back to rape us all in the end but oh well... the price for being a part of the Porshe family and owning a car with suck superior engineering

[eslai]

Originally Posted by wombat7

Yet another reason why I love Porsche, they don't skimp on anything ... which comes back to rape us all in the end but oh well... the price for being a part of the Porshe family and owning a car with suck superior engineering

Gee, I don't know if I can agree with that. I've already had my 987S back at the dealership for the following problems:

1. Headlight misalignment - fixed.
2. Rattling in rear quarter panel - loose clip, replaced.
3. Screwy CD player - new stereo on order.

I'm not sure I can say I'm all that impressed. Especially with the stock stereo.

Don't get me wrong--I love the car, but I'm not sure that Porsche isn't skimping here and there, and there is a heavy premium they're foisting on us consumers. Their parts pricing is exorbitant. I'm not looking forward to the day that the warranty expires.

As for brakes, does the C6 even have monobloc calipers? From what I can tell by looking at my friend's, they look like floating calipers, but maybe it is just the generic design.

[wombat7]

Let me restate what I said in the previous post. Porsche does not skimp when it comes to performance parts for their cars, they may however skimp on some of the interior parts for newer models.

Unfortunately, Porsche has gotten away from what made them one of the true sports car manufacturers in the world. It seems like Porsche is now trying to cater to the every day casual buyer who wants that famous shield as a status symbol instead of the racer that they used to. This can be seen when you compare the 993, the car that I feel is the last true Porsche, to the 996 or even the 997. The 993, while have some creature comforts, was truely a sports car where you could argue the 996 and 997 are GT cars. Now don't get me wrong I would still take a 996 or 997, and the performance is still top notch, but they are now more of a luxury car not a sports car. In order to keep the cars affordable, they may have to go cheap on some of the new luxury parts that they are adding to the cars. This can explain why the price of a 911 has stayed relatively the same throughout these three evolutions.

Now to try to take this post back on topic... I think one of the main reasons for Porsche having different color calipers on the base model Box and the S is purely for the status thing that I talked about earlier. While this may be a detail that the every day person may overlook, it is something that a salesman can use to make a potential buyer really feel like they are getting a superior product. If you set the two models side by side, of course the red calipers are going to draw some more attention that the black ones and unfortunately, thats what a lot of new Porsche buyers are looking for, something esle to grab peoples attention and to say hey look at me I'm driving a Porsche.

Well time for me to get down off of my soap box...

As for the calipers on the Corvette, I think that they are monoblock calipers, I don't understand why they wouldn't be but I will do some research and post back...

[wombat7]

Yes the Corvette calipers are monoblock. They just look like they are floating... Here is a pic of a stock set that has been powder coated red...

[eslai]

Ah I see--yeah kind of strange that they'd make them look like floating calipers...

As for your ideas of the porsche marque and where it has headed, I'm not sure I can agree. The very definition of "sports car" has changed over time. Would you not call a Ferrari 430 or a Lamborghini Gallardo a sports car either? Both of those are very refined these days and do cater to a luxury market.

Granted, they all sell more sporty versions of their cars for real racing or just for a more "hard-core" experience, but that does not mean they're in the same grouping as a 993--it's very difficult to compare idealogy and technology from different eras. Back then, the 993 followed the general description of a sports car--they all were rather inhumane inside the cabin.

[wombat7]

I will agree that the F430 and Gallardo are refined... to a point. They do not have all the high tech gadgets and stuff that you find in a current 911. They still have the raw feel of a sports car where the 911 unfortunately does not. Even Car and Driver commented on even though the interior of the 430 was luxurious and modern, it still had the raw feel of a sports car. If you compare the ride and handling of a 997 to that of a 993, you will find that the ride is softer and definately more tame. You should also find that the handling of the 997, while still spectacular is not as precise as the 993. Porsche has been forced to change its philosophy in order to survive in today's market. There is no longer a large market for the raw, unrefined pure sports car that the 993 was. People now want a sporty car that they can just putz around town in. Now granted there are still some of them that are tracked, but the majority of newer Porsches are garage queens and are not bought for the pure sports car that they were.