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Strebel,
Welcome to the forum man.
You say the sound will be great, excellent. I was scared about that.
Are talking standard or sport exhaust. Is RC right saying there will ne longer be sport exhaust available?
I never said that there won't be a sport exhaust available, I just said there is a rumor that there won't be one available on the 997. Huge difference, Francois.
Facelift or not? Well, I'd say the 997 is a completely new Porsche, even if it might not look that way at the first look.
The change from the 996 to the 997 is not as siginificant as it was from the 993 to the 996 but the 997 is definetely not only a facelifted 996.
We shouldn't forget one thing: the 996 is the most successful 911 ever built. Why should Porsche completely change the design and the technical specs? A new and fresher look, a revised engine and suspension, an overworked interior and some quality improvements are already more than a facelift.
Personally I'm only a little bit disappointed that the 997 engines don't get that power jump I expected. Porsche doesn't have to put 500 HP on a normally aspirated 997 but at least they could raise the base power to 360 HP. It is a shame that the new Mercedes SLK(!) 55 AMG probably will have more power than Porsche's sportscar icon, the 911.
I know that power isn't everything but the weight on the new 997 won't be lower than on the 996.
That said, I think that the 997 will be a very nice 911. Probably much nicer than the 996. However I'm not sure how much of a success it will be because people really seem to expect something spectacular, something much more powerful than the 996 and something completely new. I'm afraid they won't get that and the fact that the Cayenne is doing so well, especially in the US, might hurt 911 sales further. I know that some people don't agree with me but I really think that the dropping 911 sales also have something to do with the Cayenne. Time will tell.