The 911 is going...

JoePeps said:

A 911 has been my realistic dream car to own for a very long time and thanks to a bit of luck from an old pension I managed/forced myself to buy one at 27. But after some long thinking I've decided to go back to a BMW, a manual M2.

Ended up going for a gen 2 997 C2S PDK with a lot of very good options from Porsche in Nottingham, was over the moon when I bought it but quickly realised I was never quite gelling with the car like I wanted to and as much as I tried to force myself to love it after 8 months I decided it had to go, far too expensive to not love it every time I start it up.

What will I miss:

- the looks, such a pretty car
- the interior is lovely
- waking up to the view of a 911 on my drive

What I won't miss:

- PDK
- too much grip
- not having fun
- ride quality
- road noise

It just has too much grip for the power and you have to drive like a complete idiot to push the limits and that's too much on the road. Had I bought a manual I would probably have fallen in love as it would be a bit easier to play with the back end at low speed for my abilities. It also never sounded as good as it needed to for me, it has the sports exhaust but coming from a V8 with a modified exhaust it was never going to cut the mustard for me.

I've learnt that everytime I've sold an M3 (2 x E46's & 1 x E90) that I've always regretted it and ended up going back down that route, so I'm hoping instead of swapping cars so much I'll be happy with the M2 as it should tick the boxes that I want it to. Seriously looking forward to a manual again as it just feels so much more natural to me.

Cost was always going to be a big factor when buying something like this, and I hoped that it wouldn't be 'too' bad to run but went into it with my eyes open. Fuel wise it has averaged 21mpg over the last 4k miles, which is about right as I've not really been bothered about driving it for fun and going for a thrash, however today I got an average of 12mpg over 40 miles having one last thrash, and I did enjoy it strangely! I have lost about £5k from buying it to PX'ing it in, including interest on the finance; and that's over 8 months and 5500 miles. Other than fuel and tax I've not spent a penny elsewhere. A lot of cash to lose but it has ticked a dream box for me and I'm happy enough with that.

A few final pics from earlier:

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resigner said:

I can see where you're coming from OP. The wife has a BMW M240i cabrio. Fast, nice, but I HATE the auto smg shifty box thing, even in manual mode, just isn't right for me. My 997.1 C2S cab is a manual, and for me, manual is the only way. The purity of being able to change exactly when I want to using a mechanical thing, instead of a paddle or shifter in alleged manual mode, is key to the enjoyment. I also hear you about being able to push the car to it's limit, you just can't do that on public roads because they are so capable. Love mine, and will keep it for a long time I think and add more cars instead of changing it. It's my daily driver, but love a classic so next on the list are MGB Roadster and/or a porsche 914 which I love the look of in a good colour like orange or lime green. I have a list of cars I'd like to own and add to it all the time Much more important to me than having a new Turbo S etc, I like to own things, not finance them, so £10k for a good MGB roadster or £15k for a 914 is much better use of my money.

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davidjf7 said:

Alfaian said:

If you don't like a 911 you're either a) can't afford to run it or b) gay :grin:

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:grin:

It's weird, but it took quite a while for me to totally gel with my 997.2 C2S PDK. I've had it for 4 years now and am deeply in love with it.

Maybe 8m wasn't enough? :dont know:

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911UK said:

JoePeps said:

A 911 has been my realistic dream car to own for a very long time and thanks to a bit of luck from an old pension I managed/forced myself to buy one at 27. But after some long thinking I've decided to go back to a BMW, a manual M2.

Ended up going for a gen 2 997 C2S PDK with a lot of very good options from Porsche in Nottingham, was over the moon when I bought it but quickly realised I was never quite gelling with the car like I wanted to and as much as I tried to force myself to love it after 8 months I decided it had to go, far too expensive to not love it every time I start it up.

What will I miss:

- the looks, such a pretty car
- the interior is lovely
- waking up to the view of a 911 on my drive

What I won't miss:

- PDK
- too much grip
- not having fun
- ride quality
- road noise

It just has too much grip for the power and you have to drive like a complete idiot to push the limits and that's too much on the road. Had I bought a manual I would probably have fallen in love as it would be a bit easier to play with the back end at low speed for my abilities. It also never sounded as good as it needed to for me, it has the sports exhaust but coming from a V8 with a modified exhaust it was never going to cut the mustard for me.

I've learnt that everytime I've sold an M3 (2 x E46's & 1 x E90) that I've always regretted it and ended up going back down that route, so I'm hoping instead of swapping cars so much I'll be happy with the M2 as it should tick the boxes that I want it to. Seriously looking forward to a manual again as it just feels so much more natural to me.

Cost was always going to be a big factor when buying something like this, and I hoped that it wouldn't be 'too' bad to run but went into it with my eyes open. Fuel wise it has averaged 21mpg over the last 4k miles, which is about right as I've not really been bothered about driving it for fun and going for a thrash, however today I got an average of 12mpg over 40 miles having one last thrash, and I did enjoy it strangely! I have lost about £5k from buying it to PX'ing it in, including interest on the finance; and that's over 8 months and 5500 miles. Other than fuel and tax I've not spent a penny elsewhere. A lot of cash to lose but it has ticked a dream box for me and I'm happy enough with that.

A few final pics from earlier:

Click to expand...

An interesting view point, which I respect.

Click to expand...

resigner said:

I can see where you're coming from OP. The wife has a BMW M240i cabrio. Fast, nice, but I HATE the auto smg shifty box thing, even in manual mode, just isn't right for me. My 997.1 C2S cab is a manual, and for me, manual is the only way. The purity of being able to change exactly when I want to using a mechanical thing, instead of a paddle or shifter in alleged manual mode, is key to the enjoyment. I also hear you about being able to push the car to it's limit, you just can't do that on public roads because they are so capable. Love mine, and will keep it for a long time I think and add more cars instead of changing it. It's my daily driver, but love a classic so next on the list are MGB Roadster and/or a porsche 914 which I love the look of in a good colour like orange or lime green. I have a list of cars I'd like to own and add to it all the time Much more important to me than having a new Turbo S etc, I like to own things, not finance them, so £10k for a good MGB roadster or £15k for a 914 is much better use of my money.

Click to expand...

resigner said:

The list keeps me going on the hard days when work is mad, my own business, but mad and stressful! I aim to have a classic or 2 at all times when circumstances (and the wife!) permit.

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JoePeps said:

Thanks.
As said we can't all like the same things

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911UK said:

JoePeps said:

Thanks.
As said we can't all like the same things

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A Porsche isn't for everyone and that's more than just the image

You're are owning a motoring thoroughbred which is going to be an engineered sports car every day of the year, without compromise. It will always be able accelerate/handle a lap of a track, fast A/B road or a vmax out at a moments notice for all of it's life, whilst retaining a reasonable market value.

Whereas the main stream manufacturers offer more comfortable car, often with more power in what is a compromised less capable Sports Cars that caters for a broader market. Which is why they sell x100 in terms of volumes for much lower cost when the engineering excellence isn't needed.

Porsche, there is no substitute.

Click to expand...

911UK said:

JoePeps said:

Thanks.
As said we can't all like the same things

Click to expand...

A Porsche isn't for everyone and that's more than just the image

You're are owning a motoring thoroughbred which is going to be an engineered sports car every day of the year, without compromise. It will always be able accelerate/handle a lap of a track, fast A/B road or a vmax out at a moments notice for all of it's life, whilst retaining a reasonable market value.

Whereas the main stream manufacturers offer more comfortable car, often with more power in what is a compromised less capable Sports Cars that caters for a broader market. Which is why they sell x100 in terms of volumes for much lower cost when the engineering excellence isn't needed.

Porsche, there is no substitute.

Click to expand...

effy said:

It's as if I wrote this myself, I had a 997.2 3.8s with the PDK, but couldn't fall in love with it, after my M3 V8, I sold back in March with a few £K loss, and purchased an M4 although with the DCT which my M3 had, I've fallen in love with the car and don't have any regrets, and like you said that box has been ticked :thumb:

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JoePeps said:

davidjf7 said:

Alfaian said:

If you don't like a 911 you're either a) can't afford to run it or b) gay :grin:

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:grin:

It's weird, but it took quite a while for me to totally gel with my 997.2 C2S PDK. I've had it for 4 years now and am deeply in love with it.

Maybe 8m wasn't enough? :dont know:

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Auto just isn't for me mate, I appreciate they are superior in almost everyway, but I just like manuals more.
I've had quite a few in different cars and just can't get on with them.

8 months is a long time for me to keep a car....!

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