Hard 8

Cool, Fanman! That's what I suspected. I'm also wondering whether the overall feel of the cockpit and the interface with the controls, feel similar. I guess I just mean the overall sense of solidity and quality surrounding the driver; the way the pedals feel; the steering; the instruments, the seats, etc.

Any opinion there?

Hard 8

Also, I sold my spare tire kit and have yet to miss it. The trunk's much better without it, although the mouth is pretty narrow.

valpac

iTrader: (2)

Cars are not investments. Houses, on the other hand, are investments. Cars depreciate. Houses appreciate. Pretty basic stuff there.

No matter what happens to your vehicle (keep it forever, crash it, sell it) it will always be worth less over time. With few exceptions, this is true.

If I was your financial advisor and told you to put your money into cars versus real estate, I would not be in the advising business for very long.

Fanman

Hard8,

The overall feel of the cockpit in a 911 (996) is pretty good, but not lavish like a Mercedes or anything. I got the leather interior (about an extra $3K), so it was a bit nicer than the RX8, but it was still spartan compared to some of the luxo cruisers. Seats were nice too, but my friends M3 had better ones. The pedals were about the same as those on the RX8. What's kind've interesting on the 911 was it was configured in "Le Man's" style, where the brake is not a long horizontal block like most cars. it is narrow like the accelerator. The clutch is also skewed to the right (basically in the middle of the floor. Confusing at first, but then, when you are tracking it, the configuration makes it much easier to heel toe, speed shift. The clutch on the 911 is pretty good. You can feel a "click" when you engage it, and it's pretty progressive. It's better than my friend's M3 which I thought was kind've vague. It's better than the RX8's clutch for the simple fact that it has torque. Sometimes when I engage the clutch in my RX8 it takes a moment of hesitation because the torque needs to come up. I never needed to do that on my 911. Steering on the 911 was the best I have ever had. Especially with the sports suspension. every millimeter of turn, resulted in movement by the car. It was very precise. I thought that it felt better than my friend's M3 when we took it to Streets of Willow & Buttonwillow. My RX8 is much better now that I got the RB stuff. The steering is almost telepathic now. Very nice. Instruments are about the same. The RX's look a littel more modern. The 911 is kind've funky in that the tach is in the middle, and the speed gauge is off to the side, it funky increments no less. The RX's just look more modern, and the digital speedo is bigger. I would say that the Porsche isdefinitely a "drivers" car. Everything around you is just "German" efficient, and you know that the car, layout, chassis is to go fast.

Racer X-8

I once owned a 1970 Porsche 911E. I bought it around 1981. It was brought from across the pond - a genuine German 911. The instrumentation read "DRUCK" for oil pressure, "OEL" for oil level, etc. That's when I learned how to read speed in kph.

It was in sorry shape though.

I rebuilt the engine completely, blueprinted it. I put in a new matching set of Mahle pistons & jugs, cc'd the heads, a couple boxfulls of other parts. Man, did I ever spend a lot of time and energy doing that! And something like $4,000 in parts (I was the labor). That did not include anything to just improve its appearance by the way, just engine parts. Oh yeah, I did send the butterflys and all the linkage to California for a profesional rebuild (a real nice job!) The engine had mechanical fuel injection. That was cool. It was like a mini engine that sat above the real engine, run by a timing belt from a pulley on the end of one of the camshafts. It had its own camshaft with 6 lobes, each one pushed down on a tappet to compress the fuel, thru the injector line, to the injector. There were several mechanisms on it to vary the amount of fuel, as you would expect, like throttle position, temp, baro pressure. It even had oil lines from the main engine for lubrication. The injectors were mechanical. They were designed to not spray up to a certain pressure, then immediately umbrella spray, then immediately completely shut off at another pressure. I bought a bench tested set of 6 for $300. That was a real good deal, and we're talking 1982 pricing.
The local pro guru, a real nice and extremely helpful friend (Chub Harmstead), who helped me a whole lot, did the arrangement for the butterfly valves & linkage rebuild, and got me all those parts for real good prices, got the honors to do the tranny for another $3,000.

Back then, I could drop a 911 engine in less than 30 minutes. :D

The car originally was equipped with hydrodynamic struts - an exremely complcated thing that I never quite fully understood. I do know however that it provided chasis height without any springs or torsion bars. Wierd! I also know that they were very tempermental, had to be sold in matching pairs, and the pair sold for $1200. Ask me how I know that. Twice. Then I bought the front suspension off of a wrecked 914, which was a direct fit, for $500. Best $500 I ever spent on that car. No more hydrodynamic anything - torsion bars! Yay!

Lets see, what else can I remember. Brakes - everything was replaced. External oil tank was replaced. Peddle cluster was rebuilt. Electrical was a total freaking mess. I made a few wire harnesses myself. The headlight assemblies were replaced. The rear light assemblies needed major tlc. Body parts work only on an as-required basis. The big body job would come in due time.

I never got around to the final beautification projects that were planned. When I separated from my first wife, she got it. Oh well. She gave it an Earl Shives paint job and sold it at an undisclosed amount. Oh well.

Yes, the engine had a lot of power, a lot of torque. Steering was tight and very responsive, like a go-cart. And all that.

Need I tell you which car I like better? I was very impressed with that engine design. It was a fun car to drive. When it ran.

d5lv993

Have to chime in on this one. Just started browsing the board b/c am considering the 8 as a daily driver. Currently own a 97' 993 myself. Had a chance to drive the 8 once so far, felt really good. Like how smooth it feels and handles well. I also will give props to the 8 and their owners, as said earlier 911-owner did. Some I know think the styling is funky, but I think Mazda did a great job. Very eye-catching and the car is a great all-around package.
As far as the 911's handling and the car itself, it is to me fantastic. It is a car that I had always wanted and hope to always have ( at least in some form ). But, realize I need another car also due to lots of miles per year, and the 8 may end up fulfilling that position.

Wouldn't hurt to have 2 great handling sports cars.

:D

Chrisbert

d5lv993,
Join the crowd! Coming from the 993 you should know how to wring out the 8.

BasenjiGuy

As a former '85.5 944 owner I'll say the 8 is also equally well balanced and viceless. The 944 had better steering feel, and of course, that incredible Porsche-ness and German-ness that you can not get anywhere else. The seat/wheel/pedal ergo's (described by the press as "modified Nascar") were perfect for me.

The 8 has kind of a frictionless gliding sensation to it where the 944 had a heavier, and more accurate feel. They're both very easy to drive fast. The 8 probably has a little more oversteer. It has a pretty soft rear suspension set up.

However, I don't think it makes much sense to compare the 911 to an 8 because the 911 is fundamentally unbalanced, with its rear engine and approximately 40% front/60% rear weight disribution. Of course, this is what make the 911 unique, entertaining and challenging to drive. I've dreamed of having a 911 since the first time I rode in one when I was a kid.

samsonite1

I have an 83 and I agree. My 8 way outperformes the f-car.

zevans

The 8 has to be lighter, doesn't it? (Maybe not lighter than a GT3-RS :D )

Overport

I was driving alongside a 911 GT2 a few weeks ago up to Mt. Charleston, like you I was staying right behind the guy. It didn't really surprise me though, I know how much the RX-8 is capable of in the twisty stuff. I got alongside him and gave him a thumbs up. He returned.

Most of the Porsche owners I have encountered have been really nice people.

Chrisbert

Yep, same here on the owners. Seems like Porsche buyers are "car folks" and appreciate good engineering no matter what brand of car they see.

rx8 dx

I got smoked by a GT2 real bad!!!!! I mean the damn machine just took off and I wasnt even able to get near him. 477 hp are not a joke.