Quote:
nberry said:
What is at work here is nothing more than a illogical emotional attachment to a marque. If they put a Porsche badge on a Z350 you guys would gobble it up!:)



I must admit: I was lured into test driving my cars by the name and (hopefully) the real benefit of precision design and testing toward the goals of both reliability and performance.

However, with the advent of readily available computational power many companies can afford to deal in tolerances which would provide performance without causing unnecessary reliabilty problems.

I worry about Porsche because I'm sure there are passionate people there. I worry about them and other historically superior companies who are being challenged by their contemporaries. When a 30K (or less) Subaru WRX STi is just as exciting technologically and reliability-wise as a 996 (or even 997) the marquee taste had better be undeniable. (Please no flames... I realize this is probably an over generalization.)

In the end... all companies are products of the people who put them together. And the world is moving on... there are lots of smart people about. Advantages of heritage, once real are no longer. In such an environment "marketing" and "efficiency of business" must take over... e.g. brand management, etc.

So let us change our expectations to "Porsche will at all times at least produce cars comparable to their competitors." And that to do so will be just fine. The problem becomes... is their marketing really moving in the correct direction? Does their message stir the soul? At least Ferrari race their cars as a factory effort. That's righteous. Porsche resting on their laurels over time will become more and more of a crutch that they must toss.

Now all that said... and I admit it must sound negative... I have found no greater satisfaction driving than the two Porsches I have owned... Boxster S (briefly) and 996C2. My own fickleness willing I will own my 996 until it rots. It is all the car I can imagine wanting as a daily driver... and for the few track days I hope to attend over my lifetime. Cars at this price point are for me once (or hopefully maybe twice) in a lifetime purchases...

All IMHO of course!