2001 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 from UK and Ireland - Comments

The car has been faultless, but so it should be for a car that's only 6 months old.

Before buying my 996, I had driven both a 1995 993 turbo (in excess of 450bhp - brutally fast) and a 1984 911SC 3.2 (very old-fashioned to drive). I believe that 911s are fantastic cars, but the 996 is in a different league.

I love the interior and can't fault the build quality. The layout is superb and has the bespoke feel of TVRs coupled with design restraint and build quality to lend a much more professional and grown up impression. So much improved over the older generation 911s.

When buying this car I also considered the new BMW M3 (too great a similarity with it's common saloon car brethren), the TVR Tuscan (too impractical to be my only car but a wonderful vehicle) and the Jaguar XK8 (too soft and possessed of a rather staid image). The Porsche beats them all hands down, the multitdue of plaudits heaped upon this car are well earned.

I'm a big fan of TVRs, but as soon as I drove the 996 I was sold. It is really in a diffent league to anything else I have ever driven. The handling AND ride are extraordinary. This car is the best car I could have bought, irrespective of price.

My only criticisms are that it lacks the urgency of acceleration that my TVR used to have, despite being faster. Also, TVRs sound so good, they make your heart melt. If the 911 had these two things as well, I'd never drive another car again.

The 996 is noisy (noisy in a bad way: it's not nearly as enjoyably vocal as its air-cooled predecessors), the interior is of risible quality (one assumes you've never traveled in a BMW or Audi), and the Carrera 2 suffers from surprisingly bad understeer, especially when driven uphill or downhill in the wet. There's also little sensation of speed: I'm surprised you downgraded from a Turbo to a normally aspirated model as the latter is dull as ditchwater by comparison. I get a more enjoyable sensation of speed standing on a Circle Line elevator.

Which reminds me. Because of the lack of weight over the front (I can't imagine if Porsche were to launch the 911, they'd choose the same bizarre 68%/32% weight distribution that has taken them decades to get right), the ABS is perpetually cutting in on broken and uneven surfaces: it can catch you out. Mind you, at speed they suffer absolutely no fade and go some way to restoring confidence.

However. The standard-fit stereo is lacklustre, the optional sunroof buffets at 30mph, and although the car is now a common sight throughout the UK, you still have people making gestures at you and refusing to let you out of junctions.

The 996 is the one car I thought I'd love, and eventually sold it in a mixture of annoyance and confusion some four months after purchasing it. It is a good car, certainly, but worthy of its sixty thousand pound price tag? Not. It's a thirty thousand pound car with a 100% sucker tax for the badge on the front: you only have to look at Porsche's per-car profit to realize that. A fool and his money are indeed soon parted...

I was also a bit disappointed with the standard 996, and agree that it is now more of a sporty grand tourer, rather than a race-bred performance machine. It is too big, feels too soft, lacks rawness, the engine does not sound anywhere near as good as the older models, and the car doesn't have much sensation of speed. Yes it is a bit faster from A to B, easier to drive etc, but it lacks spirit and is too smooth and refined for its own good in my opinion. It also has worse build-quality - shut the door on a 964, 993 or 968 and you hear a satisfyingly solid "clunk", whereas the 996 feels flimsy in comparison, just like the Boxster. For me that's one cost-cutting measure too far. I've decided to go for a late 993 instead - I can't stand purist snobs, but I'm afraid they're right in this case!

I have lived my dream of owning a Porsche 911 (996). Since I was 17 I wanted this car. I am now 49 and bought one 3 months ago. Unfortunately I am trading it in next week for my 12th BMW. I cannot fault the car, but the novelty wore off very quickly of driving the badge. I am now returning to the fold of the "ultimate driving machine". I had an itch, I've scratched it and got the teeshirt. Everyone in their life should own a 911, even if it is only for three months.

Hear, hear! Once you've experienced the comprehensive abilities of a BMW at half the cost of a 911 you can see why most folk don't keep their Porsche for more than a year. I could understand the fuss if the 911 was a head turner, but it ain't. I could understand people's fascination if the car was wild, noisy, modern-day interpretation of the original. But it's a quiet, relatively common, bland GT with very UN-GT standards in the cabin. Ours is not to reason why.

Only the GT3 feels like Porsche has to feel. Coming from a '82 SC to 964 I ended up with a GT3 (looks not so good than the older ones) and I have to say HELL YEAH that's the way I like to take the road. With some modifications on Exhaust and Mototronic it shows the potential of the Concept 996.If you drive the normal 996 C2/4 you feel that

someone sold you a Mercedes. May be it will take years to love the new Porsche shape (up to year 2001),but for the

true porsche drivers feeling you hould drive a GT3 at least once...

Some people are hard to please!

My 2002 spec 996 is certainly smoother than the hilarious 1980 930 I once had and in some respects no better than the XJR I traded in on it, but it is the only car I can think of that will get me to work without breaking my back and still thrash anything you like on a track day. If you don't like the (lack) of noise, have the sports exhaust fitted or drive at higher revs. On balance, I think these refinements are an improvement, but it is a subjective thing. My old 930 was fun, but only on the roads at the time. Today, it would be plain frustrating.

I sometimes think Porsche do things too well. If their cars had half the foibles and shortcomings of equivalent cars, it would no doubt be dismissed as "character". That sort of character is available for thousands less in a 1960's weekend car.

As for other marques, yes there are lots of interesting new cars to drive at the moment. Aren't we lucky? But so what>

I work for BMW. I drive new and old BMW's everyday. Rather than buying a BMW, I saved up and went and bought a Porsche. It was the best thing I ever did in my entire life. Even better choice than getting married to my wife.

When I take this car to the track, it handles, accelerates, and speeds like a dream. I've raced many other cars like Corvettes, Mustangs, Vipers, 360 Modena, 355s, Supra, RX-7s, BMW, and some tuner cars. They don't stand a chance. They're too busy burning their tire rubber. By the time they select the right gear, I'm gone. It's the most decent car out there, period.

Just got my 2001 911 turbo and it was a blast.

I had many cars before, but this is my first Porsche and I can tell that is a car of different breed.

Tested out on US freeway/highway and looking for corvette, viper, ferrary etc etc to race and they all just see my tail pipe in the end. Well maybe it is the way I drive that gives me the edge, but well well, 911 turbos is the

"King of the Road"

I will be bringing on the track next month and we'll see how it goes there.

Well Here In the uk the 996 c4 still turn heads, I got mine 1month ago and love it, yeah I agree there are faults... slight rattles and lack of space, but what is perfect these days. I have owned 6 bmws ranging from 318 to 330 sport coupes

and had my problems with them too, but I wanted a 911 from being 8 years old

and now I am 37 my dream has come true. one thing is for sure driving this car has only made me now hungry to buy a 997, the 996 is smooth, fast and with sports ex, sounds angry... oh and it sees of ferraris too. and that to me is enough, so stop moaning and enjoi. these cars rock. I feel that the problem with a lot of people they buy these cars when the're to old, and so go back to quiet bland bmws or mercedes,, how boring.