[not Steve] Trac

What a great car. It is a dream to drive, but very different from the S4. The torque in the 911 is all in the high RPM's. There is so little torque at the low RPM's that you really have to rev the engine just to get the car moving in first gear. But, once you are in gear, there is the unusual feeling that you accelerate harder and harder until you redline and shift. It's a very cool feeling that you just keep getting pushed further and further back into the seat.

Oh, and the shifter in that car is rock solid. I hear a lot of complaints about the S4 shifter on this board. No such problems with the Porsche, although I imagine a lot of you would prefer shorter throws on that car as well.

I would love to race a 911 when I get my S4, which is hopefully this week (it was on a 3/23/01 boat).

Pleasanton 335

You will get spanked by a 2001 C2......need a chip to hang..

rdrunner9

The 996 C2 has about the same amount of torque as the S4. The torque comes on at 1800RPM for the S4, the 996 hands it to you at around 3000RPM without hesitation.

The 996 C2 is about 300-400lbs lighter than the S4 so you would need to chip the S4 to keep up. Next time you have a chance to push the C2, try to throttle steer in tight turns. It is a joy

RR

But don't let off the gas! Unless it has PSM at least.

OneTurboSomeDay

Things really start happening around 4500rpm in the Porsche. This is around the point the variable length induction system changes. They are both totally different cars to drive. The handling of the Porsche blows a stock S4 away. A chipped S4 however is in my opinion more fun to drive on the street because of all the torque you have available. In some ways it feels similar to the 996 twin turbo from that standpoint (although quite abit slower than the turbo). The three things that bug me most about the S4 are floaty suspension, way overboosted grabby brakes and notchy gearbox. Fortunately the first two issues can be fixed quite easily.

I love both cars.

[not Steve] Trac

I thought that you had to give the car quite a bit of gas just to get it moving in 1st gear. But after that, I was pinned to the seat...

[not Steve] Trac

(I didn't get a chance to type much more before)

The handling and road holding ability of the Porsche is unbelievable. We were flying down the Merritt Pkwy in CT between 100 and 120 and there was barely noticeable body roll. And the tires were more or less glued to the ground.

I was also impressed with the luxury that has been added to the Porsche in this recent model. I've been in older 911's and they seemed kind of bare bones. This car had a sweet radio, automatic climate control, sunroof, nice leather seats, xenons and a cool trip computer.

On the other hand, I was somewhat disappointed with the fit and finish of the car. There were a few gaps between parts of the car where there shouldn't be, like between the radio components and the rest of the dashboard console.

One comment that I've heard here more than once is that S4 owners are really just waiting until they can get their 911. Here I have to disagree. I would not want the 911 as a daily driver. Part of our day was spent driving around Manhattan and was just too rough a ride. If you can't hammer the throttle, there's really no point in being in a 911. In such situations, I think that the S4's low end torque and softer ride would be much more fun to drive.

...just my two cents.

rdrunner9

I notice that my 996 C2 starts pulling at around 3 or 3.5K RPM. The 996 brings on a minimum of 220 lbs/ft of torque from 2700-7000RPM. For first gear, if you blip and launch at around 3K, you would be more pleased.

The 996 tach jumps from 3K to redline very quickly. At about 5.8K, the VarioCam kicks in, the exhaust note changes, and all hell breaks loose