Parked next to a new Covette in Kittery, Maine.
Both cars looked great, but I'd always buy a Porsche. Both rear ends are very large and the quality of the two cars is much improved. The Corvette still looked like something from Detroit and the Porsche looked like it belonged on the autobahn. Enough said.
-After the second weekend:
1. I know I'm very happy with the 997s vs. a 996 turbo
2. I have run the car over the Porsche recommended 4200rpms but have not gone over 6000 rpms. I'm straddling the fence between what Porsche says and other forum members have said. The dealer assured me that I was not hurting the car now or in the future. For other new owners, I'm driving it agressively without taking it to extremes. Whatever comes naturally when driving a high performance sportscar.
3. I live in Seacoast NH and the winding road along the Atlantic is perfect for running the car hard. I've been 80-90 mph through the curves and PSM has never kicked in. Incredible acceleration through the turns with lots of confidence. I've been 125mph on Interstate 95 and the car was very stable on the below average road conditions. A new 3 mile private road course is being built in Tamworth, NH and I hope to test the top speed under controlled conditions.
4. The interior should sell every previous Porsche owner. Not one squeek or rattle. I love the painted silver dials and the metal pedals. The balance between metal and leather throughout the car is very tasteful. My taste in music ranges from Metallica to Elton John and the Bose system gives me low, low bass and high fidelity clarity. In short, my wife got in the car on Saturday night and said, "this is sooo much nicer than your old one."('99 996)
4. I spent over an hour customizing a car seat for my 4 yr old daughter behind the passenger seat. For those of you who are lucky enough to have great kids and cars, I cut the Graco booster seat($59 vs. $600 from Porsche) in the back to match the narrow seat. I made sure not to compromise the inherent structure of the seat and I removed the leather seat pad. I will never put her in the front seat until she is twelve regardless of the fact that you can turn off the airbag.
5. I look at the current horsepower war as silly and meaningless. I think the law of dimishing returns has hit the sportscar market. Given the fact that any car manufacturer can easily engineer as much horsepower as they want in any car(i.e. the new 500hp M5), does it make it a faster and better car? Should we and are we going to sell our 997's.
I think Porsche is one step ahead of everyone by acknowledging this issue and realizing that people don't drive in straight lines and want interaction with their cars. PSM,PASM,Sport Chrono,... are all enhancements to our driving pleasure if we want them and or need them. You can turn them off or not order them! Porsche is making cars that average drivers(like me) can drive well beyond their limits very easily. The 997 is one of the first cars to take advantage of current technology and will probably set a new kind of benchmark. It's breaking track records without large displacement.
6. I am sometimes guilty of buyers remorse, but I have zero regrets on this purchase.
