I am a little confused. I can remember when many folks here traded from early 996's to later 996's because of the different headlights, front & back ends, improved radio and a larger engine. Even if the appearance of the 997 isn't a radical change from the 996 it seems that there are certainly more changes from the latest 996 to the 997 than there ever was from one year to the next within the 996 years. In the past I have had conversations with many newer 996 owners who wondered way I hadn't traded my '99 in for a newer/improved 996. I was holding out for a significant change. The 997 is a significant enough change for me to make the move to a new cab. Maybe the 997 change isn't significant enough for owners of later 996's to take a hit and buy one, but within the world of the 911 it is significantly changed. Looking back at the history of the 911, it has been unique in the lack of changes over the years. From 1965 to the late 80's it was basically the same car with some minor changes to the exterior such as bumpers, fender flares, etc (and the engines keep getting larger). The interior basically remained unchanged from '65 to 1998.

In terms of horsepower, the 911 has never been a leader. I would guess that the Corvette has always had more HP. Is there a year that the 911 had more HP than the Vette? Haven't there been many years where some of the pony cars and others like the Pontiac GTO had more HP than the 911? This is nothing new.

Having said all that, I too wish they had many some other changes. I think that the standard 911 should have had 340+ HP. A 380 HP S would be real exciting. For me going from a 3.4L 296HP 996 to a 3.8L 355HP 997S will be a substantial improvement.

Phil