Old vs New – Porsche 911 | Ali Allage (SPT) - Online Marketer, Serial Entrepreneur, Writer, Automotive Enthusiast, Web Developer

Old vs New – Porsche 911

Porsche 997

Being a diehard porschefile, I’ve always questioned if the 996 or 997 could really be called a true 911. By now all you 996/997 owners have let out a big grown, but don’t judge this post as a bash. Being a previous owner of the 996 myself, I have to admit my experience wasn’t the greatest. It could be the model year (2001), but things like the interior falling apart, front end wander at high speed, and many other problems really killed the experience. On the pro side, the car had power. But is power everything?

After I sold my 996, I was a bit disappointed that my experience wasn’t fulfilling enough. Based on that, I decided to start a quest on finding the ultimate 911 because I didn’t want the 996 to be my last memory of a 911. Fortunately I was able to gain access to a 993 and a 997 to really figure out if newer is better or tried and true was the way to go.
993 vs 997

I have to say the 997 is far better than the 996 in many different ways. Performance, quality, and looks are much improved on the 997. The one issue I have with the 997 is the overall size and weight of the car. Rather than a nimble sports car, I felt like I was in a heavy powerful tank that could get around corners very fast. Overall the 997 felt much like I would imagine a 911 would , especially over the 996. With all the modern conveniences it did at times feel more like a GT car rather than a true sports car. I would images the GT3 and RS would be much different, but since we are only comparing standard models, the upper range models don’t apply.

The 993 on the other hand is a completely different story. Much smaller in size and weight, the 993 feels like the 911 I dreamt of in my head. Very simple interior, quality construction, awesome handling, and reasonable power made me feel that I was in a true sports car. Compared to the 997, the 993 left it to the driver to get it around obstacles and rewarded you if you did it right. Unfortunately it did have an ugly side if you got it wrong, but don’t all 911′s in some way have this problem?

Okay so fast forwarding to the point of this post, are the older 911′s better than the newer generations? My answer after driving a 993, is yes, but you may feel different. What are your thoughts?

Porsche 993

Other Posts That May Interest You:

Tags: porsche 911, porsche 993, porsche 996, porsche 997, porsche carrera

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 2:12 pm and is filed under General Yip Yap. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Michele Royalty says:

September 20, 2010 at 3:46 pm

I have a 993 blue turquoise cab. Recently, I ran into a fellow with a custom color 996 (my same blue turquoise color). He came to Mammoth Lakes (my town) and did a photo shoot of both cars and I had the opportunity to ride (not drive) in his car.
The pictures tell part of the story. I just love the 993 look and size. Mine is a manual stick and his is a tiptronic. Again, I am kind to a purest and love a stick. It is more fun, if not quit as efficient. The newer car felt bigger and did not have the bare bones feeling that my car has.
I Have only 25K on this 1997 baby, and have a 2000 jag sedan and 2004 Hummer for the snow country where I live. This is an excellent combo of cars and the Porsche will last until the day I die if I choose to keep it. I keep looking at the new cars as time goes by and I think i have the best for me. So I vision myself as an 80 year old driving this fantastic vintage car and trying to explain to the kids what a Stick is.

Old vs New – Porsche 911

Other Posts That May Interest You:

One Response to “Old vs New – Porsche 911”

Leave a Reply