I’m a sucker for a smooth blue, and that is certainly what we have today in this 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera. This color, Aqua Blue, is a shade you don’t see often despite being an option on the 997.2 – and I’m not sure why. It certainly looks great and can pair up just fine with the tan, grey, and black leathers. Whatever is the case for why it was not ordered much, if you are looking for a deal because this is a base C2, it will not be found here.
The 2016 model year was the last for the 981 Porsche Cayman chassis, and you know what that means: Random special editions that no one has heard of or really even asked for. This is the Cayman “Black Edition” that was just a handful of options packaged together and some “Black Edition” door sills. There were no performance additions or even suspension upgrades. We probably saw this coming as there was a 2012 Cayman Black Edition which was, you guessed it, the final year of the 987 chassis. They really don’t do anything to resale value other than a “that’s interesting” passing comment since it literally is just a bunch of pre-selected options, but hey, those door sills are cool, right?
When Porsche launched the next-generation 992 Turbo S last year, most had a hard time believing the numbers it was pulling down. I know we really don’t live our daily lives in 0-60 times, but when that number is quicker than a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, you think about things a little differently. The car is that fast. It is still the same basic shape as the 911 Turbo has been for the past 20 years, still uses a twin-turbo 3.8-liter flat-six, but now can do a quarter-mile run in 10.1 seconds. Remember when 10 second quarter mile times were reserved for dedicated drag racers? All this for a starting price of $208,000. It should be illegal to sell a car this fast for that amount of money.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can actually buy one at that price. Today’s car, a 2021 Turbo S coupe is finished in a wonderful paint-to-sample color of Club Blue, only carried out around $30,000 in options. I say only, because it is very easy to click way over $50,000 in options on the configurator at 1 a.m. in your underwear before bed. However, actually paying sticker price isn’t going to happen just yet.
When Porsche launched the new 992 generation, they sure weren’t playing around when it came to numbers. No longer were the lowly C2 and C2S models just an entry point and if you wanted real numbers, you had to go GTS, Turbo, or a GT car. A base 992 throws out 379 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque, but the numbers on the road say it’ll do 0-60 in about 3.5 seconds. The 992 Carrera S that we are looking at today? 443 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque good for a 0-60 time in 3.0 second flat. Those are near supercar numbers out of a 911 Carrera S, which you really could drive every single day, and it has a base price of about $114,000. Boy, I hope these depreciate someday.
I know there is a massive yearning for the lightweight aircooled Porsche 911s, but given how Porsche had to deal with, the 991 generation turned out pretty good. It surely isn’t ugly or offensive in terms of styling, and the performance is always at the world standard in terms of how they manage so much performance out of a flat-six engine that fits behind a set of the rear seats. I don’t think there is single variant of the 991 that you couldn’t drive everyday if you were brave enough, granted there was no snow on the roads, and still be extremely comfortable doing it. Even the base model C2 examples, like the one we are looking at today, still brings strong performance terms of power and numbers. The thing I have to wonder is, how far will they fall in terms of price?
In terms of contrast between the 997.1 Porsche 911 Turbo and the 997.2 Porsche 911 Turbo, it is very clear – at least when it comes to comparing the cars with the gearboxes that only have two pedals. A few days ago we looked at the 997.1, it has a regular five-speed automatic transaxle with a traditional torque converter. It is slow, it is soft, and it sucks a lot of power. However the clouds cleared once the 997.2 came around and the Tiptronic box was replaced by the snappy seven-speed PDK gearbox. All of a sudden it isn’t a penalty to only have two pedals in the footwell; the 6-speed cars physically can’t shift faster than the PDK car. Yes, I know it isn’t all about 0-60 times and being the fastest, but PDK was a game changer for the 911 Turbo. Even better when talking about a 997.2 Turbo S, which is what we have up for sale today.
Oh yellow, how will you make us feel today?
This 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera is wearing Racing Yellow, not to be confused with Speed Yellow, which is very clearly a different shade. Racing Yellow has a little lighter hue and a little more “pop” than what you are used to seeing. While some might not mind this color, I have to warn you the choice of interior leather probably isn’t what you are expecting. It seems to be why this example seems a little less expensive than the current market rate, so let’s peek inside and let me explain.
Oh boy. Today’s car might be a nice refresher on how not the sell a car. In general, the modifications you make to a car do not appeal to other people when it comes time to sell. If they do, they very rarely add any value. Let me repeat that. They do not appeal or add any value to said car. Unless the modifications fix a problem factory, i.e., an aftermarket charge pipe on a BMW 1M after the OEM one explodes, you are better off selling the car as stock. This only increases as the value of the car goes up. $7,000 Honda Civic with wheels, coilovers, and an intake? Someone on Craigslist might bite. Lime green wheels and accents on a 997.2 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet? Grab a heat gun and start pulling.
For a much love as I give all the Porsche GT and Turbo cars, very rarely do I look at the standard 911 Carrera. Rightfully so as those headline-capturing GT and Turbo cars can basically go toe-to-toe with any car in the world and hold their own, but that certainly doesn’t make the base 911 any less good. This is especially true on the 991 chassis. The lowly base 911 is hardly that. It came in at a respectable 350 horsepower and a choice between the 7-speed PDK gearbox or a 7-speed traditional manual transaxle that was a world-first at the time. A 0-60 run needed just 4.4 seconds and this all could be done in a package tame enough to drive 365 days a year with no fuss. The price wasn’t cheap however as the base 991 started at $83,000. I wish I could put “started” in size 84 font as stuff you think would be standard can easily tack on another $10,000 without even realizing it. Got to have those 14-way sport seats, after all.
The new 992 Porsche 911 is starting to trickle into dealers and this past weekend I went to check it out. The local dealer had exactly one, a 2020 911 C4S, that was a demo car until the actual dealer stock arrived in a few weeks and I have to say, I was impressed. It’s no mistake that it is a 911 and looking at it, you’d maybe confuse it with a 991.2. Well, maybe until you got around back. The single lightbar will take some getting used to and the odd little third brake light was clever, but I think a bit repetitive. When the rear wing moves up, it also carries a brake light. However, that doesn’t “count” for regulations standards as the 3rd brake light has to be on a stationary body part. (You’ll see what I mean in the photo after the jump.) The interior was wonderful outside of the little shift knob that people have been griping about since it was introduced and I can see why. It is downright dainty compared to the hunk of the knob in the 991 cars and I don’t even believe you can shift the PDK with it. The old school center analog tach is a cool feature and I’m glad they didn’t go all digital with the dash like most of the cars in the price range. So everything was going swimmingly until he told me the price.
