Porsche 911 test drive

[R3DLIN3]

After hearing others talk up the Porsche so much, I decided to go see for myself what it is all about. After sitting in a Cayman and realizing i'm too tall, the salesman suggested we take a 911 Carrrera for a test drive instead. Fit and finish of the car was superb. The alcantara headliner, wood dash inserts, the very adjustable seats, all were first class as expected. I drove the car as hard as I felt I could get away with without making the salesman scared or angry. Driving it to the limits probably would yield a different impression.

My brutal honest opinion: The car handled and rode no better than my Sky with the Koni shocks set at 1.5 turns out. My car would walk it to 60, and probably through the 1/4.

Conclusion: It is a very nice luxurious sports car, with a great interior and electronics. Fit and finish is outstanding. That said, it wouldn't make my "I just won the lottery" short list for cars that cost $90K. Again, I might would change this if I had a chance to drive it really hard, but this is just from my 20 minute experience today.

[GaryH]

And you can buy about 3 Skys for about the same price.

[DirtyMike]

my best friend has a 997 which i drive every now and then, and as nice as it is... i like my sky better

[Bogie]

The Carrrera has a very broad range of options and capabilities. Which specific fit did you drive?

[GeneralPatton]

Seeing how the Porsche Carrera is in a completely different league than the Sky by a long shot, the fact that you like the Sky just as much if not more in some aspects really proves how good of a job Saturn did with the Sky.

It is amazing what the Sky offers for the price, it doesn't have the pretty things like the Porsche per say, but for the price, Sky can't be beat.

Now, if only I could get my hands on one

[xmicro_Redline]

It is all a matter of how much money you have. At a middle class income, the SKY is a GREAT BANG for the buck and well styled. It seems that the car world has hit a funny spot, the return on investment ratio for a Foreign or exotic car seems to be less and less worth it, unless of course you have money to burn.

Case in point, the new Camaro (which I will be adding to my garage in 2010), with the SS LS3 V8 engine is a REAL STEAL at $33,500.00est. It does 0-60 est 4.5 sec(est). With Independent rear suspension (for the first time in it's history), 14+inch aluminum 4 wheel discs with 4 piston calipers, gauges galore, and a true muscle car structure and stance (wider and lower than the Mustang and Challenger, 2" wider, and 3" lower) this may be THE LAST of the True Gas powered Muscle cars!!

So we can all compare the SKY to Euro Money Machines, but the offering from America keep getting better and better, Thanks GM ..........Now just start building it here instead of Canada...........That is at least until the banks form the "Amero" and we all have the same money over here in North America.

[Bogie]

Originally Posted by GeneralPatton

Seeing how the Porsche Carrera is in a completely different league than the Sky by a long shot, the fact that you like the Sky just as much if not more in some aspects really proves how good of a job Saturn did with the Sky.

I think one of the big differences is because the Porsche is engineered in a different league, and many buyers never drive it in the league for which it is engineered, those buyers never experience the full potential of the car. So the difference in performance between a Porsche and a SKY, driven on roads in America (and maybe an autocross event here and there) is not very significant. The Porsche shines in endurance racing and track competition.

Also note that as you push the Porsche into the stratosphere of exotic performance it pretty much turns into a very expensive, very noisy, very hot, very uncomfortable beast....for everyday driving. Of course, if you buy it for track day, I hear you don't care about the expense, the noise is heaven, the hot is "so what", and the suspension is wonderful, resulting in a helluva lot of fun....on the track.