I stand corrected. My brother's has all the premium + aluminum interior

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It's a lot of silver paint.

That's the beauty of the 986. You can buy second hand upgrades from Boxster and all 996 variants all the way up to GT2.
And conversely, sell your 986 upgrades to 996 owners.

And if you've ever looked underneath a Cayman, there are 997 Carrera part numbers all over. Must be true for the 987 Boxster as well.

My brother's care is all wrapped in alcantera leather. You're saying I can do the same to my 986?

Wrapping interior bits with leather is an extremely cheap and effective way to upgrade any interior, I did the door pull covers and storage bin covers on both doors for ~$20 all in.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psf8e18c6e.jpg

Basically. virtually everything in the Tequipment catalog as far as interior parts that have a 996 part number will work on a 986 interior. Although it would be much cheaper to simply take your car to an well known upholstery shop and tell them which parts you want to have wrapped in alcantara. You already have the "cores" no need to buy them again if all you're doing is covering over them. The cost of original Tequipment parts are insanley expensive, particularly the carbon fibre ones. Which is probably why you see so many 986 and 996 with bare plastic interior bits.

Protest too much?
 

Maybe I am reading too much into some of the posts, but there seems to be similar "views" on the difference between the Boxster and the 996 Turbo and the differences between the Base Boxster and the "S".

The 996 is a beast, and I mean that in the best way possible. Can it compare to the Boxster in the corners....Nope. Can the Boxster compare to the 996 Turbo in the straights...Nope.

I can't imagine if the Boxster S and the 996 Turbo were available for the same price (same years, mileage, options etc.) almost everyone here wouldn't JUMP into the 996. Not that we don't all love our cars, but come on. Just like I don't believe that if the Base Boxster and the "S" were priced the same people would be buying the base.

Really...

I believe that the body color interior plastic was an available option on the Boxster as well. I've got $275 in having my interior custom painted in Artic Silver (PPG color and clear). I will look much...much better than a stock 996. My neighb has been trying to sell me his 02 C4 cabrio. It is slight faster than my 02S, I think. It just feels a little peakier after 6000rpm. The interior is no better in terms of build than my box, because it's almost entirely made up of the exact same parts.

Nope, just not my car Coffin. If someone GAVE me a low mileage 996 TT I would promptly sell it and buy a Cay R or GT3. The 996 Turbo just doesn't do it for me. Others will certainly disagree and that is what makes the world go around. Different opinions are a good thing. :cheers:

Well that's about as likely as a Ferrari F430 going for the same price as a Fiat 500 (non-Chrysler version).

Can't really expect a race engine to go for the same price as the brand's street engine. Something would have to be seriously out of wack for that to ever be the case.

But in all honesty if you told me that for the next 10 years I could only drive one car recreationally and that I could have either a 981 S or a 991 Turbo and I could not sell either, I had to keep the one I picked for those 10 years, I wouldn't be jumping into the Turbo without thinking it over for a good long while and I'm prett sure I would be leaning towards the car at half the price of the other. Well I can tell you which one I'd probably get bored with sooner.

Absolutely understand it if the 996 "doesn't do it for you". My statement had more to do with the posters stating that they "don't need the power", "I can only drive so fast", "i can upgrade my interior to be the same" etc..... If all of that were true, then why aren't they driving a MR2 Spyder. Mid engine car, that will certainly go faster than the law will allow, interior is upgradable too!

But you also make the point that I am really getting at. I noticed you did not say you would promptly sell the 996 turbo and buy a Boxster. You "upgraded" to the Cay R or GT3.

All of this keeping in mind I LOVE MY BOXSTER!!!:cheers:

Well that is obvious. The point was all about context. If the money wasn't an issue to the buyer might have been a better way to say it.

Ignoring price completely, I would pick the Boxster every time. It's just plain more fun to drive. And I don't even own a Boxster any more. No dog in the fight.

And look at the crap you started lol........................:matchup:


BTW....While I wholehearted agree it's VERY hard to beat a 986, especially and S, bang for the buck, it is both amusing and sad to witness some beat other makes / models down (not to mention their owners) to elevate what they own. I've seen it on ALL car specific forums.

Notice how I've avoided talking about how great the car that replaced my Boxster is? :P

Hehehehe.............:cheers:

So many cars, so little time. :) I have owned my Boxster for 8 years, more than any other sports car. I also still love to drive it. There are lots of performance cars I would like to own before they plant grass over me but the 996 TT just doesn't make my short list. Nice cars, drove em on a race track, been there, done that, got the T shirt.

:cheers:

I went to our local dealer to order a new Boxster S for about 81K and when they told me they were not interested in trading in my Boxster, I bought a 2002 Turbo they had on the lot for $49K and kept my Boxster. Not quite 1/2 the price, but close enough!

There we go, the ideal solution!

Hey, I did the same about 2 months ago! This is a great solution, IMO. I paid just over 50k for a 17,000 mile 02 TT X50 (450hp, 467tq stock) with some nice upgrades (full coilovers, full headers/exhaust). Kept my 2004 Boxster SE550, and between the two they're worth less than a new 981S.

I wanted the TT as an all-weather, enclosed, more spacious car. As such, I may even remove the coilovers after awhile -- they've made it a great handling car, with the understeer now dialed out, but at the price of a choppier ride in daily commuting. I keep telling myself that is what I bought the car for, not track/mountain prowess, since I have the Boxster already. But dang, I do love the way that car powers out of tight turns that would leave the poor Boxster bogging down when the PSM cut power to prevent spinning the inside rear tire.

Anyway, it's hard for me to fault the TT. It was a $149k car (the dude checked EVERY box when it came to leather: Bose speaker grills, AC VENT SLATS!, seat BACKS, door sills, horseshoe, etc.) so it is finished even better than my Full Leather Boxster, but that's just a function of the options list. I will say that the doors close with a more satisfying thunk, something I totally didn't expect since I thought everything would be the same between the two doors. No idea what the difference is, but it's more pleasing in the TT.

And then there's that powah... :)

The beauty of the Boxster, mine being a 2001 Boxster base is that I am not concerned where I park it, if it is stolen etc because I don't have many $$$ tied up in it. (That is what insurance is for ).If I had a newer 996 then I would be more paranoid about it. The Boxsters 2nd hand are pretty cheap to buy, if the engine blows up it is not the end of the world -for me anyway. If it happens it happens.

If you have a Box and 996 you definitely have the best of both worlds. Two different kinds of car and each have their own unique benefits. But then you need a bigger garage presumably if your GF has a car too.Anyway good choice guys!:)

C&C over the weekend and guess who appears?