My brother and I just had a great conversion regarding what car to lease/buy next. Since we and I assume most you are car enthusiasts, why stick to the same type /make/model when there are so many to experience. Anyway to make a long story short, I was just interested to hear what would be your next car to own. As for myself, I am caught up between the E55, BMW M5 or 996 C4S I think it will be the C4S primarily due to the looks and AWD

 

FYI
The C4S is a pig, according to Porsche dealers and true Porsche fans. It has the same 3.6 liter engine as the base 996 and weighs 400lbs pounds more. Yeah you gat all wheel drive! But no engine improvements (horse Power) to help pull that added weight.
The do look nice, just wanted to point out its major flaw.
Tim

 

Agreed, Timster, but Speed is not my main concern, (CLK55 5.0 0 - 60 - 986 C4S 0-60 - 5.2) Functionality, Style and handling outweighs the speed aspect. I live in a very snow belt location, winter is a b!tch here. But you point is duly noted my ///AMG brother

...

 

I get confused! LOL
The C4S is a good looking car. My 01 996 Twin Turbo was a great looking car, but I was really disappointed in it's performance.
But I was looking for a Race Car right out of the box and the car just didn't perform. If I wanted to put another $20-30K into it would have been an awesome car. But I didn't want to go the added expense on a car that was already over $100K.
Have fun with what ever you decide on,
Tim

 

last time i visited a porsche dealer, i was told the AWD wasn't meant to make the car a snow-belter and shouldn't cause a driver to feel abundant confidence in bad weather.

remember, AWD aside, the car rides on high-performance tires. and those tires, regardless of sales materials, truly are fair-weather friends.

 

Timster it sounds like you need the New GT3...I think it ould sufice your desire.

Eric

Current www.968S.com...
...next up CLK55

 

"The C4S is a pig, according to Porsche dealers and true Porsche fans."

As an owner I would disagree. I guess it depends which dealers you talk to and which "true" Porsche fans those happen to be. You might also want to check out times at Nurburgring where the C4S is faster than the C2 and M3.

Some C2 owners don't like the heavier feel of the steering, but most C4 and C4S owners prefer it. I guess they also put awd on the Turbo for a reason.

The C4S comes with the Turbo's brakes, stiffer sports suspension, and bigger wheels 18" but also 295/30 rears as opposed to 17" and 265/35. You also get PSM as standard should you really screw up a corner.

If you live in an area that gets lots of bad weather I wouldn't hesitate to get a C4S over a C2, and many "true" Porsche fans seem to agree.

 

i'd prefer a C4S no matter the prevailing conditions.

however, one shouldn't mistake porsche AWD, cayenne notwithstanding, for a foul-weather solution, but rather a palliative.

i'd trade my 2002 208 (55) for a 209 CLK 4-MATIC the moment it's released, assuming i'm confident the bugs are worked out.

 

i'm very anxious to see the new bmw E60 545i.......

BMW E60 preview

 

timster, just outta curiosity how was the turbo disapponiting..
its faster than c2 c4 c4s....even a clk 55... so what was the problem with that ride?

 

i'm probulary going to get rid of the c32 amg [again] and let my wife take the the clk, and my whole life my dream car was a porsche 911 turbo. hopefully, if not that, a 911 targa. if not that, for sure, e55 amg.

 

I'm with you. The 911 turbo is my dream car. The 911 C4S is a close runner up though. It's got the same wide body as the turbo.

Another option instead of the 911 turbo is the Ferrari 360 Modena. I saw a 2001 for $124,000. This is truely a work of art.

...please don't wake me up...I'm still dreaming.

 

My dream like many people was to own a Porsche Turbo.
It took me a long time before I could afford one. When I finally got it, I was floating on air. Mine was a 2001 996 Twin Turbo, all wheel drive, tiptronic, Artic Silver. It was a beautiful car. ( It had 2600 miles on it)
Unfortunately the car was very disappointing. A corvette Z06 will beat it in every category. I ran it against a 2002 Z06 (Completely stock) from 50mph to 130mph. The Z06 passed me like I was standing still.
I also took the car and raced it in open road racing. At a 130MPH the car bounced like a basket ball. Very unnerving when you don’t feel you have control of the car. During the race I was running at 140MPH came to a crest of a hill, a gust of wind picked up the car and moved us 2 feet over. Very scary! It was very weird the car was smooth as silk at 160mph but at 130mph it bounced around allot. Yes I had the tires load balanced, and the alignment and suspension checked.
The car is built for people with smaller frames. I called it my ¾ car. The steering wheel, shift knob, and gauges, where all just about ¾ the size of most cars.
On long drives two hours or more, I had to get out of the car it made me very sore, back legs, arms. The driving position for me was very uncomfortable, it does not have a tilt wheel. It had a telescopic wheel, but it only moved about 1 inch not enough for me. For some people this will be the perfect car it just wasn’t right for me.
I am glade I bought it, it was something I just had to do.
Cheers,
Tim

 

to be honest, I didnt like Porsches that much. Back in my younger days, i did parking in NYC and some guy came to a wedding in some fancy place, but he told me he was in no rush so take it around the block once, so we went and it was just simply.....unbelievable. After that, a 911 turbo was my dream car.

 

WAIT A YEAR AND BUY THE NEW M5 WITH 20" Standard rims and a OUTRAGEOUS V10 engine with 500 hp.

 

My experience with the TT (and my own C4S) is that the suspension is supple, tracks beautifully and doesn't move around in the way you describe it. Did you have standard setup (wheels, tires, suspension) on the car or was it modded? Did you ever get it aligned and corner balanced?

As to the driving position it took me a while to get used to a more upright seating position, but as I'm only 5' 10" I'm not affected maybe in the way you were.

 

My dream car?

CL, next generation, perhaps?

...with extended warranty I have till 10/2008 to decide, while enjoying my CLK55 everytime I take it on the road.

 

Porsche GT3, Porsche TT, or Mercedes SL55 AMG

Handling is key