Dock I understand what you are mean entirely about tactile feel and quality bits in the cockpit. And thats exactly where Porsche has jumped off a cliff quality wise for the price.
But if you dont know what they built before, you would not be dissapointed by what they do today.
This is what stinks for 100K plus today.
We get insturments that are part of a cheap to make cluster instead of individual insturments with glass and real metal bezels. At least the 997's are bigger than the 996's.
No Porsche only weighted turn stalk with precise detents but a flimsy VW souced one. The good one vanished in the late 70's.
A cheap gearshift knob with that tacky "Alu" look fake metal - born with the 996. Its the meanest cheapest gear shift nob for the money in the entire auto industry.
Auxilary switches from low bidder sourcing with no heft or substance. - more 996 baddness
Even the Key is not special or clever, but just cheap.
A lot of the special Porscheness of the cockpit is just not there anymore. From the hanging pedals to the cheap light switch, tiny ashtray, to the Audi S4 heater/AC controls, the car is just not as special as it used to be inside.
The Porsche interior design people must work for a Scotsman.
Without the European style of font and pictographs on the switches, it could be a Nissan in some ways.
And Since when did any Porsche ever need "crested" seats? or "Crested" center consoles? or Buick like color matching steering wheels? Or Fake quad exhaust pipes? All of that smacks of Datsun 240Z like crap and really just pisses me off. Those are tacky, over reaching and fake cues. Whats next? lighted door sill gaurds?
White insturment faces are so Dodge, so Pep Boys, so Shucks like.. that Porsche should be barred from importing cars until they stop using them and recall the ones already here to change them out to yes... Black!
Now ask me how I really feel?