997 Turbo £45-50k budget…..

slidingaround · 22 Apr 2025

isysman said:
I recommend driving a 997 Turbo and a 991 back to back or as close as possible. I drove a 991.1 GTS when they came out when my 997 Turbo was standard and it felt just as fast but with more modern interior, handling, looks.

I do love the look of both to be honest. Driving them back to back would be great.
I feel the 997 Turbo would have a better residual, something that is a consideration for me but not a deal breaker.

slidingaround · 22 Apr 2025

isysman said:
I think you know if you are a manual or auto box type of guy!

Yeah my gut says Manual, PDK the Tip but I’ve driven neither.

slidingaround · 22 Apr 2025

AlpinaB3S said:
Me too

I am very happy with the Tip gearbox but everyone has their own view. Its also important to realise that a lot of the negativity around the tip is the pricipal of having an auto vs a manual, not so much about the tiptronic gearbox itself, which as an auto I think goes really well with the turbo. I know it took me a while to realise that when I was looking and took the negativity as being about the actual gearbox used. I dont think most of it is

When I was buying last year there were a couple of manuals with higher mileage for sub £50k. General feeling from a previous thread you might want to read is that a manual will cost you about £10k more than a Tip so either be prepared to pay it or compromise somewhere else if you really want one. I would definately say try one if you can before writing them off completely. I got a much nicer low mileage car with a tip box for the price of a well used manual with 50k more miles.

Thanks, some good points to consider.

I take it you don’t regret your decision?

slidingaround · 22 Apr 2025

trassalpl said:
Having had both (a 997.2 Turbo with PDK, and my current 991.1 C2S also w/ PDK), I would strongly recommend testing both platforms / engines. They're both amazing cars, but the difference between Turbo and N/A is significant in terms of character of the car and the use you have in mind for it.

For me, the N/A was the better fit for my use, as I drive that car on smaller country/mountain roads and prefer having to rev up the engine than pressing the pedal and having to lift off after 1/2s because it's already going too fast.

Interesting, do you daily the car? Or is it more of a weekend blast about?

trassalpl · 23 Apr 2025

slidingaround said:
Interesting, do you daily the car? Or is it more of a weekend blast about?

I don't have a daily commute, but it's my go-to car. But in both cases I would pick the N/A engine (it's the same one on the 997.2 btw, so maybe worth considering too). 997.2 and 991.1 are both great platforms, the 991.1 definitely has the advantage in terms of comfort, the PDK is stellar. 997.2 feels a bit more compact, which is lovely too (although the turbo is a wide car).

Uncle Monty · 23 Apr 2025

The 996 Turbo drives just like a normal 3.6 under 4k revs , the engine felt almost identical to my previous n/a Cayman S but over the 4k mark it jumps into another level of power and off you go but it's possible to drive it around like a na car only you can't build up the revs unless you're clear ahead.

AlpinaB3S · 23 Apr 2025

slidingaround said:
Thanks, some good points to consider.

I take it you don’t regret your decision?

Absolutely not. My previous 997 was a manual and it was great. I also wasnt firmly in either camp. If the right manual car came along I would have happily had it but for me it wasnt the most important factor. I had pros and cons for both, some of which are personal to me.

My wife will hardly ever drive it but she would be happier with an auto.
When just cruising around its easier
When I had the manual C2S and you are giving it some around a twisty road it was quite a challenge and to be honest. while we all think we are F1 drivers its just more to think about so ultimately slows you down.
Add another 130bhp for the turbo and I want 2 hands on the steering wheel as often as possible.

So in the end I found the best car I could and it happened to be a tiptronic. I had to drive it though to be sure I was happy with it, and once I had I was very happy. I havnt driven a non turbo tiptronic so cant comment on those but several people have commented that the tiptronic works well with the turbo. On the same twisty road I used to go on in the manual I barely change out of 3rd gear.

I do think it takes a while to get used to it though which might not suit everyone. Compared to a manual that you have complete control of it takes some miles to get the hang of how the kickdown works, when to use it in manual mode etc.

At the end of the day I can see why some people wont compromise on a manual and I can respect that. I think those that slate the tiptronic as being the gearbox from the antichrist are a bit over the top. Personally as an auto box I think the Tiptronic in my turbo is a good gearbox.

I can honestly say for me personally even at similar values I am not sure which I would choose so it was an easy decision for me to not pay a £10k premium for a manual. That said due to the rarity that premium will probably increase with time so from an investment persective there is some justification for paying it today.

Ultimately I found a car that I fell in love with the moment I saw it and my advice to anyone is to make sure you do that. If you dont find one that makes you feel like that with no compromise dont buy it. If you are parting with CIRCA £50k and all associated on costs, in todays market you shouldnt have to compromise on what you want, which wont necessarily be what I wanted or anyone else.

And if you get one enjoy it. They are amazing toys and we are lucky to be able to own them.

TurboSandGT4 · 23 Apr 2025

the 997 Turbo is an absolute beast

You can either
1. save more and buy later

or
2. buy now and stare at it when it goes wrong and save for the fix

I go with 2 using my man maths calculator

Acertron · 27 Apr 2025

I went for the tip box in the 997 turbo when I bought my car last September and have no regrets. It's like having 2 cars in one - a comfortable cruiser when you are in town or on slow moving roads, or on the motorway, then it turns into a beast when you open it up on back roads or on the track. The turbo has a lot of torque from low down in the rev range so even when you use the tip box in manual mode (ie driving using the buttons on the wheel), you are not changing gear very often anyway. You are shifting from second up to third and back down to second, because the car goes so fast in the lower gears. I also love keeping both hands on the wheel and focusing on the feel of the car through the bends. Also, I have heard people complain about the manual turbo because of what I just mentioned - you don't have much need to change gears. So, if you are someone who feels that driving is all about the gear change, why not get a manual C2s or C4s instead? That way you'll be changing gear more frequently to get the most out of the engine, if that's what you enjoy about driving. For me, what I enjoy about driving the turbo is its ability to terrify me with the sheer force of the acceleration.

In the past, on track days, I have always driven a manual. I recently took the turbo tip on track and didn't miss having a manual box at all.

Ultimately, everyone is different and enjoys different things about driving. But I would say: Don't let other peoples negative views on the tip box put you off because they think of themselves as 'driving purists' - drive one for yourself and make you own mind up. A lot of people who ordered the turbo when new opted for the auto box (which says something in itself) so there are a lot more autos around. The manual cars are very rare. So, the tip is a bargain! I think you are getting a hell of a car for £45k.

Last Tuesday I suffered a very bad knee injury in my left leg whilst playing football. Right now I'm thanking my lucky stars that I bought the tip!

If my knee recovers (at the moment Its completely immobile) and I can one day afford to add to my collection, I would buy a naturally aspirated manual Porsche, so that it provides a completely different experience to the turbo.

At the moment, being a one Porsche person, I love the flexibility of the turbo tip. It can be used to take the kids to their clubs, to go do a food shop, go on a golf trip, but also to drive like a maniac on track. I don't think many other cars can do all of those jobs so well.

Harryblue · Tuesday at 2:41 PM

I wish I could find the article about how to use the Tip properly.

So far I found a reference to it but not the actual article….”In December's PCA Panorama magazine, former racer and Porsche instructor Rick Bye talks about how to get the most out of the Tip. He talks about left-foot braking it and quickly planting the gas to the floor and quickly releasing to get it to downshift. One blip per gear, if I read it right. He recons the Tip is a bit misunderstood. Said if he had only one 911 it would be a manual, but if he had a second one for the track he would choose a tiptronic.”

Harryblue · Tuesday at 2:48 PM

I also remember Walter Rohl racing a Tip for a while and reviewing it favourably, but this was all before the internet was a tool everyone had instantly at their fingertips and unfortunately it seems a lot of these articles were never transferred to electronic format, so the best we can usually find is a scanned article from a magazine.

Acertron · Tuesday at 3:33 PM

Hey Harry,

Let me know if you find that article - I would be very interested. There are some ways of driving the tip that I think people don't know. For example, you can 'double tap' the throttle to 'tell' the car to keep the revs high any time you like. When I bought my car the previous owner was telling me about left foot braking on track - but I didn't realise it was specifically because of the benefit that you described. I assumed it was a just a way to get back on the throttle a split second faster, I didn't realise it was a way to downshift. I actually didn't try it on track because I didn't know the benefit (and wasn't confident I would get the right breaking pressure with my left foot. I wonder why that would be better than just flicking the down shift button on the wheel.

Harryblue · Tuesday at 7:55 PM

Acertron said:
Hey Harry,

Let me know if you find that article - I would be very interested.

I've searched and searched, it was posted on a forum somewhere years ago, a picture of the magazine article and posted as a jpg, it might have been more than a decade ago.

It changed my whole way of driving with the Tip and I went from being fairly uninspired to being thrilled by it. I never really disliked the Tip, but I never really loved it either, but what a revelation and after following the information in that article and practicing it on the track it really made a massive difference.

The PDK is superior, although I prefer the Tip to the PDK because it's got character and the PDK is just a soulless machine, I said I'd never buy another car with PDK but I would have a Tip.

Acertron · Tuesday at 7:58 PM

I'm so intruiged to start googling tip driving tips now!!!!! If anyone on here has a source of tip driving tips, let us know!

My tip is: if in doubt, floor it and throw it around like a go kart.