okay, i read the first page, and here's my input... as some of you know, i am a HUGE car buff, and every person who i meet who has a fairly cool car is eventually persuaded to let me test drive it...
i've driven an '00 Carerra 4, and an '02 Carerra Turbo... now, the 4 was one damn fine piece of machinery; it handles like a dream, and has plenty of power, with 300 HP or so... but the Turbo is a totally different animal... while the 4 accelerates quickly, and the gearbox is exquisiste, the Turbo's accceleration is something you have to experience for yourself; you just can't put it into words... the Twin Turbos spool up so quickly, that from a stop the force of the acceleration is such that you almost feel as if you've just been kicked in the chest- you will be going 100 MPH in a mere ten seconds... it's quite possibly overkill, and i highly doubt that you will ever need such insane amounts of power in any real world circumstances- though i do admit that i took it all the way up to 165 MPH, what a RUSH!!!... however, that being said, if money is not an issue, i would most definitely buy the Turbo... yes, it will cost you at least $80 K (at least that's what my buddy picked his up for) but you will have your dream car, and heck, when it comes time for the old 'Fuck You' maybe you can even get in some track time on a road course near you; after all, it would be kind of a waste if you never take it to a track and see what it can REALLY do...
now comes the rational side; i think that this may be the very first time that i TOTALLY AGREE with Tibor... you could save yourself about $40K and buy a Subaru WRX STi... i happen to frequent a LOT of car boards, most notably Honda-Tech.com, and i've personally read threads in which Porsche owners are bewailing the fact that some punk kid in an STi can hang with them... now, the STi will not have the level of refinement or the prestige of the Porsche, and the Scooby is nowhere near as appealing to the eyes as the Porsche, but make no mistake about it: aside from the acstetics, the cars are quite similar; both have horizontally opposed turbocharged engines and all wheel drive, and both handle quite well... AND, Subaru is most certainly a player when it comes to building race cars... the fact that Subaru has had several World Rally Cross Championships recently stands up for it's self... not to mention the fact that Subaru's Factory WRC driver Peter Soldberg, who is widely regarded as one of the best drivers in the world, recently helped pilot an Audi RS8 to the overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans... did that sink in? possibly the best driver in the world drives for SUBARU...
anyway, the Porsche is a wonderful rolling work of engineering art, and i highly doubt that you would ever grow tired of it, but if you simply CANNOT justify the $80+, then go buy an '05 STi, put a Cobb Stage Two Turbo Upgrade in it, and go out hunting Porsches... who knows, maybe you'll find out that beating up on your dream car in something that costs half as much is even more fun than actually owning your dream car...
just my $.02...
as an aside, i heard recently, perhaps when i was watching the LeMans coverage on the Speed Channel that World Rally Cross drivers, between accelerating, braking, hitting their shift points, turning, countersteering, and listening to their co-pilots have to do more mental calculations per second than the Pilots of Modern Fighter planes during a dogfight... how's that for hard core???
