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I lived in Los Angeles in the early ‘00s and owned a guards red 964 convertible. It was a wonderful thing. I live Dumfries and Galloway now and drive a 15 year old Kia Picanto, I think I actually love the Picanto more.
On the RS4 front - lets say I wanted to own one for a year or two, how old is old and why? I'm toying with it, but our garage exits into the next street via private car park behind 6 flats, I'm pretty sure my 5am starts to some trips are going to piss a few people off....
And with regard to the OP, I don't intend to be living here with the Porsche.
B5 all the way for me - by far the coolest.
Go and drive one and then see if you change your mind.
I went to a Porsche dealer and drive a Boxster 981. Really nice car, amazing sound, fast, bags of grip.
I went away and bought a Merc E-Class
Problem with the Porsche is that it’s bloody quick, lots of grip and can be driven every day. Therefore becomes dull ownership quite quickly
Im very much in the camp these days of an easy to drive car for 90% of the time and then something like a Caterham/ Elise etc for the 10% to make driving special.
Porsches are just too comfortable, fast, grippy to be special on a road after you have had one for more than 6 months
Just read your currently in a 3 series. I won’t buy one again or a 5 series. They handle in such away to tease you in to thinking your in a sports car, but then fail to deliver on the last bit as they are in fact a big family car. The Merc I’m in now has no pretence of that. You know it’s there to get you from A-B in comfort and that’s it.
Get a comfy car and a much more raw weekend car, certainly not an Audi of any description!
It’s an interesting point. It did occur to me that having a sporty dad wagon but deferring to @bullets suggestion of a few Porsche track days is a much cheaper way to experience the car yet let someone else assume the costs of ownership. <br /><br />
I did the same with my E46 330i, the picture on the fridge, endless research etc and the power of universal thought landed me with one. I regret selling that car tbh but it’s a different kettle of fish to 911 ownership. The reality today is I probably need a daily sleeper to avoid attracting the Scrotes, whilst waiting for a two seater in retirement. This issue with that is that the 340i touring (for example) is a £40k car second hand and I’d get roughly £12k only for mine so er, pcp. I was looking at 2018 440i the other day which are cheaper becuase the shape is unpopular albeit the “hatch” would happily swallow a bike and camping gear. <br /><br />The Z4 as an easier retirement alternative to both and appeals to a BMW fanboy.
im going to have a scout around the various clubs as I’m wondering whether a happy medium is to have a Porsche “hobby” - club meets sans ownership with discounted track day potential.
Alex22 thanks for the vid, will watch that later.
Funcydunc, you could be right. Our ‘23 Sportage hybrid is an excellent family utility currently, but Mrs K has already stated she wants to downsize when Jnr drives himself - about 2-3 years and likely that’ll be an all electric hatch - a Cupra Born type thing. So that’ll leave me to own the larger long legged vehicle in the mid term.
Not sure what your total budget is but I’d say comfortable estate (not a fast one) and then mx5 / Caterham etc for weekends
<br />Borrowing a car at a track day is not fulfilling imo
My Porsches have cost me less than a few Porsche track days. Including tracking them...
Tbh the best Porsches are the base models and do not make great track cars. They are fantastic road cars.
I never ever get bored of driving them. I have a boxster and a galaxy now, I never reach for the galaxy key unless I have more than 1 passenger.
I've had mx5s and they are great, but not the bargain they once were when a boxster is better and similar money.
Buy an early boxster right now as as the values are on the floor due to winter, Xmas etc, if you don't like it you will turn a profit in spring/summer
I’ve no where to keep it, remember this is a voyage of discovery leading to a later purchase.
You can leave a 986 on the street. Being older and easier to steal conversely means it's probably less desirable and harder to steal now.
My best pal picked up a 986 for £1200 a few weeks ago. It had sat on a driveway for a good few years at that point. He spent the weekend cleaning it, put a fresh battery in it, and stuck it in for an MoT. It failed on a top mount and brake pipes. He's spending the winter refreshing the suspension with the view to using it all summer. At that money, he literally can't lose money on it. They're still out there...
Borrowing a car at a track day is not fulfilling imo
Agreed. Recently drove a V10 R8, Ferrari 458 and Lamborghini Gallardo on a track day. Fun? Yes absolutely, but you have mere minutes in each car. Basically in, gun it for a few laps, park. No time to actually get to know the car like you do when you own one.
This thread has got me once again ogling the silly kit car poor mans Ariel Atom for sale not too far from me.
As others have said, a 'nice' sports car would be an awkward fit for me, I'd prefer something proper silly. The usage would be closer to a motorbike (which would have to go to fund the car) Also, I can't afford / justify decent nice car money.
I've never driven a Porsce, but I could imagine it becoming a bit routine, compared to a roll cage with wheels which is always going to be a bit of an event.
That said, a 911 is lovely. If you truly lust over one and have the money, go for it.
Just to clarify, my idea about the Porsche Experience was to feel what a 911 was like to drive up to it's limits, not as a substitute for owning one.
As a package though as opposed to the usual 'drive a supercar' rubbish you get 90 minutes of one to one instruction from one of their drivers with no rev limits etc and a chance to try the various tech such as launch control, traction settings on the kick plate skid pan and even a bit of drifting if you want. And if course if you do bin it (as has a top Porsche UK exec apparently) it's not your problem.
10 years time? That’s 2033 and manufacturers will be winding down ICE production. Times will have moved on by then. Today’s 911s will be retro. Which may be great and you may want to be driving an old technology car but it’s something to consider. Cities will be less and less likely to let you in. The filling station network will become weird. The future is coming at us very fast.
My thoughts on the ‘You can’t fully exploit a 911 as it is so fast everything is illegal so buy an MX5” discussion.
You very rarely drive flat out down a road in any car and to be honest it is fairly dull until you get over 150mph when the road suddenly seems to get narrower in my experience. The fun comes with the twisties where you are balancing the car and trying to keep the revs high without overloading the wheels.
The Porsche will be able to go around the corners faster than the MX5 but not massively so, perhaps 55- 65 rather than 45-55. It will also have the choice of 2nd - 6th gear to do it in. If you want to have fun then use 2nd or 3rd gear and drive exactly the same roads as the MX5 and it will be a blast, I promise. Of course, you still have the option to go where the speed limits don’t exist/matter and do the same at 150mph which the MX5 probably won’t do.
And for the rest of the time you have the car you lusted after and is lovely as a daily drive if you want to use it for that.
Do it. Dad has a very late 993 C4 Cab. I use it on the odd occasion I have time. It feels special, sounds special. Goes like the clappers if you want to, it drives lovely at all speeds. Only car he ever had that has gone up in value, it was one of the very last air cooled and one of only few in that spec in rhd. He is toying with the idea of selling it and a 1974 mgb to “invest”in an E-type. I don’t think he will use an E though not nearly as usable as the 993.
One negative, other road users. Often get people obviously washing windscreen for long periods when in front of you. I guess that happens in other flash motors though.
Oh, I forgot to mention that what you REALLY want is this, please.
https://autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310022558526
I need to sell it to fund the modifications to my 911
Is that a serious price for a z3?
I currently have 3 z4s as they are so cheap to buy unless it's an Alpine or M or maybe a 3.0si compared to the z4 they are plug ugly and the mileage it's been around the block a few times
Please don't take offence but I'd have thought £1500
I'll just leave this here.
The donots are cheap but by the time you have had a full body replacement, engine mods and a professional respray the price mounts up. That price doesn't cover the costs.
Think of it as a cut-price Singer Porsche retro-mod 😉
10 years time? That’s 2033 and manufacturers will be winding down ICE production. Times will have moved on by then. Today’s 911s will be retro. Which may be great and you may want to be driving an old technology car but it’s something to consider. Cities will be less and less likely to let you in. The filling station network will become weird. The future is coming at us very fast.
To be fair, in 10 years time the USA and the Russia/ China axis will be in the middle of WW3. If you want a Porsche , I would get on and do it now while the roads still exist. With current politics I get the feeling that running out of fossil fuels will be irrelevant