Originally posted by Mini D
Saur,
The GT40 will kick the Ferrari's ass... that is my belief and is what I stated. Your belief is "yeah, maybe, but it still isn't a ferrari". That is where elitist comes from.
Also, if you believe that your porsche derives any extra quality or consideration because of it's name then you're simply lost. I've not seen many 10 year old porsches that were daily drivers that stood the test of wear and tear... especially in all the areas that make a car special. Raw horsepower delivered directly to the wheels has always been their strong point... combined with light weight aluminum. Once a car starts beating you in the weight and horsepower regime... you really don't have much to hold onto unless the handling is a notch above the norm (AWD or upgrad RWD). I don't think any of the FWD ricers will do in a Turbo Porsche, but I do think there are quite a few AWD ricers that can... and will beat the Porsche in virtually every other tangible aspect... leaving the Porsche owner with nothing but a balding head and an out of date leather jacket.
MiniD
Mini,
So basically what your saying is that Im a snob because I would rather have the Ferrari over the Ford or the Porsche over the Honda based simply on name recognition?
I understand your confusion then.
My preferences in cars are a result of experience. Sure there are cars that accelerate faster, brake harder, and corner better, but they dont offer that 'somthing' that a 911 offers. You cant quite put your finger on it - and it would be impossible to describe it to a non-owner.
Basically, name recognition is not the reason I would rather own the Ferrari - Id rather own the Ferrari because of those Ive driven, they leave me speachless - the same reason the word Ferrari is recognizable in the first place.
Your two remarks concerning Porsche cars leave me wondering about your actual knowledge base outside of magazine racing.
911's are well known for their reliability. Forget 10 years, the 911 SC's of the late 70's and early 80's are famous for their engine life - there are cars out there from this vintage with 400,000+ miles on the engine with nothing more than oil changes on the bills.
The second comment about Porsche's strongpoint being 'raw horsepower at the rear wheels' is further confusing. Porsche has never been, and will never be well known for powerful engines.
The racing history of the 911 is not unlike the Elise - a small, cheap, underpowered car that would run circles around the big boys from Italy and Britain for 1/4 the price. This can be seen to a lesser extent in the road test above when compared to the 360CS and the GT. On paper, the GT3 'should' be slower than the 360CS in almost all aspects - but its not. It records almost identicle times - and even beats the 360CS around the circut tested by almost 1/2 a seconds - and all for a little over 50% of the F-car's price.
Porsche is well known for a varity of things - but for me - the draw is the feeling coming out of the apex - there is nothing else like it and try as I might, I have yet to find another car that duplicates the connection between the car and the driver.
Thankfully I havent started to suffer from thining hair yet and I dont have a jacket, but even you, I would have assumed, would think better of arguing with an owner about his own automobile with such a limited knowledge and experience base.
