I like this! This is the way to think about it... Kudos...
Im not going to accuse anybody of being a bad driver. I've pushed cars reasonably hard and luckily haven't got into trouble. Nevertheless its very likely to happen, even to the best most soberest of us.

Hopefully the car was ok. It didnt look too bad, which is good.

Another automotive afica-retardo, this is disgusting, I'm sorry. You'd think that these drivers would use some common sense out on the raods instead of behaving as if they are demi gods behind the wheel of ubercars. On top of that you'd also think they'd participate in enough drivers training courses behind the wheel to master driving a powerful machine. Heck, for all I care thsese people could pay Walter Rohl for a personal one on one session.

Well for some real Porsche meant a rear air cooled engine car witch if pushed it would lose control (tail happy-ness).
Some even considered that the 901 was not a real Porsche.

Also donau, thank God, you are a person who knows something about older cars/history of your favorite manufacturer.

This is also my understanding.

Thank you for the kind words Imhotep Evil. I have learnt to respect the opinions of many writers here, on a variety of topics. For example your views, and Robertos and others as well have been very enriching in the Royalty thread. And that is just one example, there are too many to start listing.

This always happens when Porsche introdces a new model. Hell, the 356 owners club here is totally separate from the Porsche Club and the 2 rarely come together. It takes a while for us to accept a new model or even change in general. It took me 3 years to realize the 996 was better than the 993.

haha, I still havent accepted that! However I do say that the 997 is better than the 993...

You're referring to lift throttle oversteer. This is common in mid and rear engine cars. The post-67 cars had a longer wheelbase so they were a little less prone to it. The 911s though, did not have that much torque so they are also less prone to it, while the turbos made a lot more torque at high rpms. At low rpms, 930's are dog slow. When the turbo kicks in though, look out (turbo lag). The problem was if someone was on the power in a corner and the turbo kicked in, the rate of acceleration could scare the inexperienced driver. Their first inclination, lift off the gas, or even worse, brake (which could also add some trail braking oversteer). This transfers grip to the front tires and unloads the rear tires. The car exhibits what is called snap oversteer, and goes off the road backwards. This is the feature that gave the cars this reputation. And the reputation really didn't get rolling until the 930 came out. By the time you were driving a 934/935 you knew how to drive a Porsche turbo. The turbo cars were never "better" than 911/901 in this respect, they were much worse. It is necessary to keep on throttle through a corner, so the turbo can be spooled up to launch you down the next straightaway.

There isn't much difference in the prices of the 993TTs and 996 Turbos. In fact the 993 TTs are often more expensive than the 996 Turbos. This obviously is at least partly due to the supply and demand ratios for these cars, so it could be argued that the 993 would at least hold it's value better than the 996. Especially with the 997TT coming out, my guess is that the 996TTs might still come down some. In fact, a 996 Turbo might even become an attractive proposition price-wise. However, that only addresses the value part of the equation. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about why the 996 Turbo actually is a better car than the 993TT. Being a newcomer in the Porsche world, and having spent quite some time at Rennlist, I have naturally been exposed to the opposing views. And therefore, for the balance, it would be interesting to hear your views as well. I think you are probably a great person to offer these views since you pretty much own a p-car of each generation.

The price difference in 993TT and 996TT comes down to supply and demand. Porsche sold some 6000 996TT per year in the US and I believe about 1200 993TT in 1996 and 700 in 1997. Also only 2 years of US production for 993TT, 5 years for 996TT. A good low mileage 964 turbo 3.6 is almost as much as a 993TT. Only 400 of those were sold in the US for 1994 only. So between supply factors and the fact that the 993 is a better looking car, that is why the 993 holds its value well. I have seen low mileage 993 C4S and C2S sell for similar money as mod-hi mileage 996TT.

Having said that and driven all these cars, I feel the 996TT is technically the better car. It is faster, although by a small factor, over the 993TT, and it is overall a better driving experience. However, the 993TT is more excitng to drive and has the classic Porsche interior, and exterior styling. If I were to grade each car on a number scale for different attributes, I'm sure the 996TT would come out on top, but not by a lot. The engineers at Porsche are the best in the world and each generation is better than the last, while appealing to a wider market. Look, the tiptronic 997TT is quicker than the manual version now!

Despite the 996TT winning my theoretical numerical scoring system, I have voted with my $ and own a 993TT, not a 996TT. I buy cars based mostly on emotional factors not on statistics. The most fun to drive 996 for me is the GT3, but I have never driven a GT2. I did ask David Murray, Doc Bundy, and Hurley Haywood once what they thought about 996GT2 and GT3 and they were all in agreement that the GT3 was better and they could turn quicker lap times in a GT3 than a GT2.

Good info. Where can I find production number information like this for all years and models of Porsche? Interesting that you mentioned that the 993 is a better looking car. I agree with this today, but a few years ago, I had a different view. I've noticed that just about everyone who owns Porsches thinks the 993 was the best looking of all 911s.

No doubt each generation of Porsches is technically more advanced than the previous generation. The new 997TT Tiptronic performance numbers are really amazing. But as you said, the 993 has something exciting to it, that is lost in the 996s. A comment that I often hear/read is that the 996s and 997s have become more GT like cars. Don't know if that's really true or not, but due to all the latest PSMs etc I can understand why someone thinks so.
I guess, to tie this to the subject of this thread: the less controls, the more exciting, and also the more dangerous. Therefore, as we go back in the generations, the 930s are the real exciting ones, and also the real dangerous ones. Feel free to dispute if you disagree.

That would (and hopefully WILL) be my vote as well. I'd like to add an arena red 993TT in my garage. Maybe one day a GT3 as well. But I need to have that thought grow on me.

Thanks for the reply. If you have the source for the production numbers, that would be great.